Ohio Senate votes to ban trans girls in female sports in high schools and colleges

The Ohio Senate voted Wednesday to ban transgender girls from female sports and restrict the medical care of transgender minors.

House Bill 68, which passed the House earlier this year, would prohibit transgender girls and women from playing on female sports teams in high school and college. It also would prevent doctors from prescribing hormones, puberty blockers or gender reassignment surgery before patients turn 18.

A change added Wednesday would allow Ohio residents already receiving hormones or puberty blockers to continue, as long as doctors determine stopping the prescription would cause harm.

More: What is gender dysphoria? Answering your questions on Ohio care for trans youth

Proponents say the measure is necessary to protect children. But LGBTQ advocates and health care providers contend it peddles misinformation about transgender medical care and could harm young Ohioans who need treatment.

The Senate approved the bill 24-8 as protesters chanted outside the chamber, urging lawmakers to oppose it. It now heads back to the House for a final vote on changes made by Senate Republicans.

"HB 68 will cause people to leave Ohio, and no one should be forced from their home for any reason − but especially not because of extreme laws undermining their freedom and their safety," said Dara Adkison, an advocate with TransOhio. "Ohio is our home, too, and it always will be."

Ohio Senate adds changes on parental consent

The legislation does not ban talk therapy, but it requires mental health providers to get permission from at least one parent or guardian to diagnose and treat gender dysmorphia. A previous version of the bill required consent from both parents or guardians.

Senators also removed a provision that would've delayed the law's effective date for six months.

"Some parents may say, 'My parents beat me with a stick until I was black and blue, and I'm going do the same thing to my kid.' Well, we prohibit that," Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, said. "So somewhere along the line, the state does have to intervene. It really is a protection of the child kind of thing."

For transgender student-athletes, House Bill 68 says the genitalia a child is born with determines what sports teams they can play on. Right now, the Ohio High School Athletic Association allows transgender girls to join female teams if they've completed at least one year of hormone therapy. As of 2022, only one transgender girl played on an Ohio varsity team.

It's unclear how the bill will fare if it reaches Gov. Mike DeWine's desk. DeWine opposed previous efforts to ban transgender girls and women from female sports, saying the issue shouldn't be handled by government. That measure was initially separate from the medical care bill, but House lawmakers combined them into one proposal.

A DeWine spokesman said the governor is monitoring the bill but declined to comment further.

"I think Ohioans should be puzzled why they've not been listened to," Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, said. "They have told us twice...that they don't want the government interfering in their health care. And here we are again, not only interfering in their health care, we're usurping the ability of parents to make decisions for themselves."

Haley BeMiller is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio Senate votes on transgender athlete, medical care ban