Ban on transgender medical care, parental rights bill up for votes in Ohio House

Two bills that would change how LGBTQ children in Ohio experience public school and access certain kinds of medical care are scheduled for possible votes in the Republican-controlled House Wednesday.

The first, House Bill 68, would make it illegal for transgender minors to take puberty blockers or hormones and prohibit gender reassignment surgery.

The second, House Bill 8, would require schools to notify parents before any classroom conversations about gender identity or sexual orientation, and it would mandate teachers disclose if they know a child is questioning their gender identity or sexual orientation.

Here's what you need to know about each piece of legislation:

Medical care for transgender minors

This isn't the first time State Rep. Gary Click, R-Vickery, has introduced a bill to limit the kinds of medical treatments transgender children can access, but Wednesday could be the first time it gets out of committee.

That's the first hurdle in passing legislation, and supporters of HB 68 are optimistic they'll clear it Wednesday morning.

More:Ohio GOP reintroduces bill banning surgery, hormones for transgender minors

The "Saving Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE)" Act would make it illegal for Ohio doctors to offer anything other than talk therapy to transgender minors. And before any gender dysmorphia therapy could occur, children would have to be screened for "comorbidities that may be influencing the minor’s gender-related condition," like depression, anxiety, sexual abuse and autism.

It would take effect six months after its signing, and doctors who violated the law could lose their licenses. Transgender children currently on hormones would have to stop taking them or leave the state.

HB 68 would also make several statements about being transgender on behalf of the General Assembly, including a belief that most minors who question their gender identity will grow out of it by adulthood.

"Minors do not have the ability to provide informed consent to any of these dangerous procedures," Click said.

But the parents of transgender children strongly disagreed, saying they know better than the government what is "medically appropriate for our kids."

Parental rights

On Wednesday afternoon, the Ohio House will vote on a bill that pits a parent's right to know against a child's right to privacy.

HB 8 would require parental notification before "any oral or written instruction, presentation, image, or description of sexual concepts or gender ideology," and it removes teacher discretion about when to share certain things with parents.

The bill initially allowed school districts to withhold information if they suspected the parent or guardian might abuse or neglect the student for it. That provision was removed in April.

"The intent is not to exclude or prohibit that kind of instruction," Rep. Adam Bird, R-New Richmond, said earlier this month. "The intent is to let parents know that kind of teaching is coming. … It’s about parent notification."

More:Opponents say Ohio's proposed parent's bill of rights is increasingly anti-LGBTQ

But opponents say the language in this bill will be used to eliminate all discussions of gay people and out vulnerable children to potentially abusive caregivers.

"We have already seen in other states how phrases like 'sexually explicit content' can be weaponized even if it appears to be benign," Equality Ohio Policy Director Maria Bruno said. "They're creating a situation where there has to be a pre-clearance of any mention of LGBTQ identity. That is inherently going to have a chilling effect and perhaps even intimidate teachers out of disclosing their own identity."

Anna Staver and Jessie Balmert are reporters 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.