The Ohio Statehouse on Capitol Square in downtown Columbus. The capitol houses the Ohio General Assembly, which consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Credit: David Petkiewicz | cleveland.com. (via TNS)

The Ohio affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union sued the state March 26 over a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors set to go into law next month.

In December, the Ohio General Assembly passed House Bill 68, also known as the Ohio Saving Adolescents from Experimentation Act, banning medical gender-affirming care for minors and barring transgender girls from playing on high school and college sports teams.

Medical gender-affirming care may include medical, surgical and mental health services for transgender and nonbinary patients, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

On Dec. 29, Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed the bill, instead proposing administrative rules to regulate transition care, like requiring six months of mental health counseling for minors before any gender-affirming treatment and banning gender-transition surgery for minors. The counseling rule previously applied to anyone under 21 but was altered to anyone under 18 after public comments were gathered, according to the Associated Press.
On Jan. 24, the Ohio Senate overrode DeWine’s veto. The bill is now set to become law on April 24.

The ACLU’s lawsuit, which was filed in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, states the bill is unconstitutional due to its violation of the one-subject rule, meaning no bill can have more than one subject. The lawsuit states House Bill 68 contains two different acts: the SAFE Act and the “Save Women’s Sports Act.” 

The lawsuit is targeted at the healthcare ban, not the regulation of transgender athletes on school sports teams. 

The sponsor of HB 68, Rep. Gary Click (R-88), said the bill does not violate the single-subject rule.

“It is a single subject issue applied to two situations,” Click said in an email. “Sex is an immutable biological fact. Applied to children, it means that we should not be conducting dangerous and harmful experiments. Applied to sports, men have a biological advantage that remains unchanged by chemical and surgical alterations. The single issue is that sex is an immutable characteristic.”

Along with the single-subject rule, the ACLU lawsuit says the bill violated three provisions of Ohio’s constitution: the Health Care provision, which states that no federal or state law shall prohibit the purchase or sale of healthcare or health insurance; the Equal Protection Clause, which states that every individual must be treated in the same manner; and the Due Course of Law, which states that parents have the right to care and control their children, including the right to get medical care for their children.

The plaintiffs in the case are the Moe and Goe families, who both have 12-year-old transgender daughters with gender dysphoria diagnoses. The lawsuit states the two girls will be unable to seek care in Ohio due to the pending health care ban. 

Gender dysphoria is the psychological distress that comes from incongruence between a person’s sex assigned at birth and their gender identity, according to the American Psychiatric Association. 

Jian Chen, an associate professor of women, gender and sexuality studies, said the bill and other anti-transgender legislation have already harmed transgender youth and families “by threatening to shut down their power to make decisions about their own bodies and lives,” and the bill becoming law will create further issues. 

“If HB 68 gets implemented, it will make this harm even more real by cutting off vulnerable members of our communities from informed health services and isolating them from support systems in families, schools, and communities,” Chen said in an email. “I think the attack on trans and gender expansive people — especially youth, women and femmes, and black indigenous people of color — is a political focal point for mobilizing assaults on other marginalized communities. So we are all affected.”

Click said House Bill 68 is important for the state of Ohio because “children are being permanently harmed.” 

“Families are being misinformed and manipulated,” Click said. “Physicians and psychologists are not in agreement and many are calling on legislatures around the nation to regulate an industry that has failed to regulate itself.”

Click said he would not alter the law because of the threat of families with transgender children leaving Ohio. 

“States are the laboratories of democracy,” Click said. “Not every state will come to the same conclusions. However, the majority of Ohioans support the SAFE Act. I have a dual responsibility to represent the majority of my constituents and to be an ethical leader. It would be inappropriate for me to compromise solid legislation based on the emotional manipulation of an extreme minority.”

If the lawsuit prevails, Chen said it will “begin to set the tone for dignity and respect” for transgender people in Ohio and nationally.

“It’s irresponsible and heartbreaking to see our political representatives distorting what the majority of Ohioans and Americans want, which is valuing human differences and connections,” Chen said. “I hope that the lawsuit and all the organizing done by dedicated groups like TransOhio, Kaleidoscope Youth Center and Trans Allies of Ohio will send a clear message to the young people in our communities that they have our real care and support.”