COLUMBUS, Ohio—Republican state lawmakers have tucked new provisions in the state’s revised budget bill targeting pro-transgender policies, books and symbols, including a proposal that the state of Ohio would officially recognize only two sexes.
The measures, among hundreds of budget revisions unveiled by Ohio House Republicans on Tuesday, would also ban public libraries from placing material related to sexual orientation and gender identity in areas where minors are likely to see them, prohibit state agencies from flying LGBT pride or other politically themed flags, and restrict state aid for youth homelessness from going to shelters that “promote or affirm” gender transition.
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Should the state of Ohio's official policy be to only recognize two sexes -- male and female?
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No. That’s absurd. But I more concerned about removing LGBTQ material from libraries- THAT is a terrifying in and of itself- and it’s also a terrifying precedent to set. What’s next? Removing literature about slavery? The holocaust? And also- there is simply no excuse for restricting access to services for anyone homeless, let alone homeless youth. Good lord. Where are these people’s humanity?!
The GOP revisions to the two-year budget plan – which still has a long way to go before becoming law – come as the Trump administration and conservatives nationwide are taking aim at transgender rights and perceived liberal indoctrination efforts.
One of the provisions would make the state of Ohio’s official policy to recognize only two sexes – male and female. It would also put into state law the statement that “These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.”
The proposal defines “male” as “an individual belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the small reproductive cell” and “female” as “a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the large reproductive cell.”
That wording is identical to that used in an executive order issued by President Donald Trump shortly after taking office in January declaring that federal policy only recognizes two sexes.
House Finance Committee Chair Brian Stewart, a Pickaway County Republican, told reporters Tuesday that declaring there are only two sexes is “common sense” and conforms with federal law.
“It’s like saying the world is round instead of flat,” Stewart said, “and we think it was warranted to be in the (Ohio Revised) Code so we could put that kind of discussion behind us.”
The practical effect of a state policy recognizing only two sexes, Stewart said, would be to make it the “overriding standard” by which all state programs and policies would be evaluated.
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“So, we’re going to have one male restroom and a female restroom,” Stewart said, referring to the “bathroom bill” lawmakers already passed. “We’ll have programs for girls and boys. We will have, you know, programs for men and women. We’re not gonna do things beyond that.”
The policy would be in line with laws that GOP legislators passed in the past two years. One requires transgender students at most K-12 schools and colleges in Ohio to only use bathrooms and locker rooms based on their biological sex at birth, while another prohibits minors from receiving gender-affirming medical treatment and bans transgender athletes from playing women’s high-school and college sports.
State Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney of Westlake, the top Democrat on the House Finance Committee, said she’s not sure why Republicans’ “continuous attack” on Ohio’s LGBT+ community should be extended to the state’s budget bill, and that their proposals should have “no place anywhere in state code.”
“I would ask why they feel the need to put this into the state budget,” Sweeney said. “They should do a stand-alone bill and have people be able to come and testify for or against that piece of legislation.”
A second budget provision added Tuesday would require public libraries to place material “related to sexual orientation or gender identity or expression” in a part of the library that is “not primarily open to the view” of people younger than 18 years old.
“Gender identity” would be defined as “an individual’s internal and subjective sense of self, disconnected from biological reality and sex and existing on an infinite continuum, that does not provide a meaningful basis for identification and cannot be recognized as a replacement for sex.”
Under a third newly added budget measure, the only flags that could fly on the grounds of a state agency would be the U.S. flag, Ohio flag, and POW/MIA flag. The Ohio Statehouse would be the only building exempted from the restriction.
Such a proposal is similar to new, controversial state laws in Utah and Idaho that restrict the display of LGBT pride flags, as well as other politically themed flags, on the grounds of government buildings.
Stewart said Tuesday the proposal is designed to tamp down political divisiveness in Ohio, both among liberals and conservatives.
“Our public buildings are for everybody,” Stewart said, “and so the flags that fly outside should be symbols that are broadly accepted by everybody, rather than sort of inserting government into some of these more divisive ideas.”
A fourth measure would forbid any of the $5 million-plus earmarked in the budget for addressing youth homelessness over the next two years from going to shelters that “promote or affirm social gender transition.”
Jeremy Pelzer covers state politics and policy for Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.
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