COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio House Republicans, right before taking off for summer break, inserted an amendment banning transgender girls from joining female high school and college sports teams into an unrelated bill Wednesday night.

It is the second time in less than a year it has happened and Democrats and members of the LGBTQ community are livid. 

Densil Porteous with Stonewall Columbus, an LGBTQ community group, said when he woke up Thursday morning he was shocked and disheartened about what Ohio House Republicans had done on the first night of Pride Month.

“It clearly demonstrates that there’s a full disconnect or a lack of concern, quite frankly, about the LGBTQ community, about a number of our elected officials,” said Porteous.

A majority of Republicans passed House Bill 151. It originally had to do with giving teachers mentorship opportunities, but Rep. Jena Powell, R-Arcanum, added an unrelated amendment that would stop transgender girls from competing in girls’ sports.

“This bill ensures that every little girl who works hard to make it on a podium is not robbed of her chance by a biological male competing against her in a biological female sport,” Powell said Wednesday.

The bill requires transgender girls to compete in male or co-ed events and have a doctor sign off on their biological sex. If not, schools could be sued. It also makes sure schools cannot be sued for imposing the ban.

Powell said, “We must protect the integrity of women’s sports.”

Before House members passed it Wednesday night, the “Save Women’s Sports Act” had not moved in the Ohio House Primary and Secondary Education Committee after it was introduced last year. House Republicans previously passed the act in another unrelated bill in June 2021 about college athlete’s name, image and likeness, but it died in the Senate.​

“To put it before something this controversial while having it not being heard is bucking the process,” said Rep. Phil Robinson, D-Solon. “And that is something we do not want to do now and don’t want to set that precedent moving forward.”

Republicans said biological girls are at a disadvantage to their transgender counterparts. Porteous disagreed and said the bill is not about defending women’s sports.

“They didn’t ask for assistance or help. I’m fairly certain of that,” Porteous said. “And I think our elected officials are wasting their time and not putting the energy they need to in other critical areas at this particular moment.”

The Ohio High School Athletic Association allows transgender athletes to compete in events against their gender under certain circumstances. Five currently are doing so.

The OHSAA could not be reached for comment.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans support forcing transgender athletes to play on teams that align with their birth gender, according to a Gallup poll published last year.

While the bill passed the House on Wednesday, the Senate will not likely pass it for months, if it at all, with the legislature officially on summer break.

A spokesperson for Gov. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, said it is too early to comment but his office is monitoring the bill.