Ohio governor signs 'bathroom bill' into law, restricting students from using opposite-sex restrooms
Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has signed a bill into law that will prevent schools from allowing students of the opposite sex into restrooms and locker rooms.
The legislation, the Protect All Students Act, dubbed the "bathroom bill," was sent to DeWine’s desk earlier this month after the state Senate passed the bill 24-7 on a party-line vote. The House version of the bill was passed before the chamber went on summer break in June.
The law will take effect in 90 days and will restrict transgender students from using facilities associated with their gender identities.
It applies to public K-12 schools and institutions of higher education. It requires schools to designate separate bathrooms, locker rooms and overnight accommodations "for the exclusive use" of either males and females, based on one’s gender assigned at or near birth, in both school buildings and facilities used for a school-sponsored event.
DeWine’s signature was not guaranteed and Democrats, teachers unions and civil rights groups had hoped that his veto earlier this year to a ban on sex changes for minors and hormone therapies for transgender individuals under 18 would yield a similar course of action. In the end, the state's Republican-dominated Senate voted to override that veto and the ban came into force.
DeWine did not release a statement announcing he signed the bathroom bill on Wednesday.
"Common sense is on a winning streak in America today," said Aaron Baer, president of the Center for Christian Virtue, which backed the bill, in a statement.
"No student should be forced to go into the bathroom or locker room with a student of the opposite sex, and Ohio’s kids are better protected now because of Governor DeWine’s decision to sign this bill."
Riley Gaines, a former 12-time All-American swimmer at the University of Kentucky and an advocate of keeping biological males out of female sports, echoed those words.
"Common sense is making a comeback nationwide," Gaines wrote on X.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost thanked DeWine "for siding with biology, history, safety and common sense."
The ACLU of Ohio was among the groups that had lobbied for a veto and condemned the measure as a violation of the right of privacy of transgender Ohioans that would make them less safe.
"We will always have the backs of our trans community," the organization wrote on X. "Every Ohioan deserves the freedom to be loved, to be safe, to be trusted with decisions about healthcare and to access the facilities that align with their gender identity. We will not leave anyone behind. Trans Ohioans belong."
School employees, emergency situations and people assisting young children or someone with a disability are exempted from the restrictions, and schools can still offer single-use or family bathrooms.
Various battles regarding the issue of transgender people using bathrooms that align with their gender as well as participating in female sports are playing out across the nation. President-elect Trump has repeatedly vowed to keep men out of women's sports.
At least 11 states have adopted laws barring transgender girls and women from girls’ and women’s bathrooms in public schools and, in some cases, other government facilities.
The laws are in effect in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah. A judge’s order putting enforcement on hold is in place in Idaho.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
