** UPDATE **
HB 183 was added on as an amendment to SB 104 and passed by the House on July 26, 2024. It is headed to the Senate for a concurrence vote after summer recess.
HB 183 may head to House floor for full vote.
•••
Tell the Senate President and Ohio Senators to reject SB 104!
Flush dangerous, discriminatory bathroom bans down the drain
and demand safe, inclusive spaces for trans Ohioans.
HOUSE BILL 183
Summary of House Bill 183
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SPONSOR(S)
Rep. Beth Lear (District 61) Rep. Adam Bird (Distrct 63) TARGETS K-12 public, community, STEM, and chartered nonpublic schools Education service centers Colleges and universities Trans and gender diverse students DESCRIPTION Requires all Ohio schools to segregate bathrooms on the basis of "biological sex" as determined by a person's birth certificate |
COMMITTEE
Passed - House Higher Education Committee INTRODUCED May 23, 2023 BILL General Info | As-Written | Analysis HEARINGS Read Testimony | Watch Hearings |
What does House Bill 183 do?
House Bill 183 is a “bathroom bill” that would restrict the ability of trans and gender diverse youth and adults to use restrooms and other facilities in schools and at colleges and universities in Ohio.
HB 183 requires the following of Ohio’s public, charter, STEM, and chartered nonpublic schools, as well as colleges and universities:
HB 183 requires the following of Ohio’s public, charter, STEM, and chartered nonpublic schools, as well as colleges and universities:
- Schools must designate restrooms, locker rooms, changing rooms, and shower rooms “for the exclusive use of a single sex,” with sex defined as what is listed on a person’s birth certificate
- Schools must ban members of each assigned biological sex category from using the spaces designated for any other biological sex
- Schools may allow co-ed access to single-person facilities
- The bill carves out a limited exception that these restrictions “do not apply to a child under the age of ten who is being assisted by a parent, guardian, or family member or to a person providing assistance to a person with a disability”
- In defining "biological sex," the bill states: "'Biological sex' means the condition of being either female or male, and the sex listed on a person's official birth record may be relied upon if the birth record was issued at or near the time of the person's birth"
- "No school shall permit a member of the female biological sex to share overnight accommodations with a member of the male biological sex. No school shall permit a member of the male biological sex to share overnight accommodations with a member of the female biological sex."
What is our position on House Bill 183?
OPPOSE
Bathroom bills are bad policy, and bad for our communities.
Bathroom bills are bad for students, no matter how they identify.
- While many lawmakers pride themselves on supporting “small government,” regulating bathroom use creates the ultimate nanny state, especially in undergraduate, graduate, and other adult education settings. A study from the UCLA School of Law has found no evidence that allowing trans people to use public facilities that align to their gender identity could increase any safety risks.
- Some Ohio communities and campuses have already protected the right to access restrooms for trans and gender diverse individuals, like Ohio State University or the City of Cleveland. Cleveland State University has completed hundreds of thousands of dollars of facility upgrades, including for restrooms, that would need to be overhauled again if HB 183 passed.
- Bills that hurt Ohio communities and Ohio families are also hurting our economic future. Similar bills have caused bedrock employers to leave communities, such as when PayPal exited North Carolina, taking 400 jobs with them out of the state.
Bathroom bills are bad for students, no matter how they identify.
- Trans and gender diverse students, like every other student in Ohio, deserve for their school experiences to be safe and healthy. Bills that demand educators police students’ identities, or determine if a child looks “girl enough” or “boy enough" to be allowed to use the bathroom, make everyone feel unsafe.
- Trans people already feel targeted with hate and harm. A survey from the National Center for Transgender Equality found that up to 75% of transgender-identifying community members reported that they “sometime or always avoided [public] bathrooms in the past year.”
- A study from Gender Spectrum found that 63% of trans students reported avoiding using bathrooms in public or at school. Not using the restroom creates health impacts that are both immediate and long-term.
- It doesn’t seem sensible to ask that everyone bring their birth certificate to the bathroom with them.
Follow & Support LGBTQ+ Organizations:
Equality Ohio, TransOhio, Kaleidoscope Youth Center, LOVEBoldly, Trans Allies of Ohio, Diversity Center of NEO, Equitas Health, Trevor Project, Human Rights Campaign, The Buckeye Flame, PFLAG CLE
Equality Ohio, TransOhio, Kaleidoscope Youth Center, LOVEBoldly, Trans Allies of Ohio, Diversity Center of NEO, Equitas Health, Trevor Project, Human Rights Campaign, The Buckeye Flame, PFLAG CLE
TAKE ACTION
Testimony Needed
HOW TO SUBMIT TESTIMONY
STEP 1:
PREPARE YOUR TESTIMONY
Read tips for preparing and submitting testimony HERE
STEP 2:
EMAIL TESTIMONY DOCUMENTS TO COMMITTEE
Email a PDF of your testimony & this completed Witness Slip
to [email protected]
**IMPORTANT**
Do NOT send your testimony until the appropriate hearing is announced.
You must submit your testimony 24 hours ahead of the scheduled hearing.
Indicate in your email that you are submitting testimony and ask for a confirmation of receipt.
All testimony will be uploaded HERE
STEP 3:
ARRIVE EARLY FOR IN-PERSON TESTIMONY
Arrive at least 1 hour prior to the scheduled hearing
There is convenient parking in the Statehouse Parking Garage