COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill Wednesday that will ban transgender students from using school bathrooms that fit their gender identities. 

What You Need To Know

  • The bill is for public K-12 schools and universities

  • It does not apply to school employees, emergencies or people helping young children or those with disabilities

  • Twenty-six states have now adopted laws restarting or banning gender-transition care for transgender minors

The bill applies to public K-12 schools as well as colleges and universities. However, the legislation doesn't apply to school employees, emergencies or people helping young children or disabilities. Schools will still need to provide single-use and family bathrooms. 

The bill also specifies schools to designate separate bathrooms, locker rooms and overnight accommodations based on the student's gender assigned at or near birth. The legislation would not apply to school employees, emergencies or people helping young children or those with disabilities, and schools would still be able to provide single-use and family bathroom facilities.

The measure was met with both opposition and support in recent months. State Sen. Jerry Cirino, a Kirtland Republican who sponsored the bill, said it's about safety and security. The ACLU of Ohio urged the governor not to sign the measure, which it condemned as a violation of the right of privacy of LGBTQ+ Ohioans that will make them less safe.

Twenty-six states have now adopted laws restarting or banning gender-transition care for transgender minors. The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments Dec. 4 on whether Tennessee’s ban on such treatments can continue to be enforced; any ruling is likely to impact policies in other states, too.

At least 11 states have adopted laws, like Ohio’s, barring transgender girls and women from girls and women’s bathrooms at public schools – and in some cases, in other government facilities.

And at least 24 states have laws dictating which sports competitions transgender girls and women can join.

Ohio's bathroom bill was debated for 19 months before finally clearing the GOP-led Legislature on Nov. 13, during Transgender Awareness Week. It was tacked onto a separate piece of legislation by the Ohio House that related to the state's College Credit Plus program, which allows high-schoolers to earn college credit.