Latest news with #TransOhio
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Columbus City Schools reverts to birth names for transgender students
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Parents are speaking out after Columbus City Schools reverted students' names to those reflected on birth certificates, saying the move came without notice and harmed transgender and gender variant students. Columbus City Schools spokesperson Tyler Carter said the district made the change to ensure compliance with Senate Bill 104, which took effect Feb. 25 and requires Ohio public school students to use the restroom that aligns with their assigned sex at birth. However, the bill does not require districts to use birth names in school records, and the district did not respond to NBC4's request for clarification. Dara Adkinson, executive director of TransOhio, said there was no legal obligation for CCS to make this change. Adkinson said TransOhio has heard from a number of concerned parents and faculty after the district changed its student records overnight. They said many students were outed to their classmates without warning, including students with legal name changes and sealed court records. How dismantling the Department of Education will affect Ohio schools 'The schools have smart boards, and there were students that were outed during attendance to their classes and their teachers, none of whom knew that they were trans,' Adkinson said. Columbus City Schools rescinded its transgender and gender variant student policy in February, removing the district's policy protecting names and pronouns. The policy said it was required to maintain an official record of students' legal sex and name assigned at birth but would otherwise use a student's chosen name in school records and documents. See previous coverage of this decision in the video player above. 'To ensure legal compliance regarding official student records, Student Information System records had to be updated to match the information on student birth certificates or court orders,' Carter said. When the policy was repealed, local LGBTQ+ youth support organization Kaleidoscope Youth Center thanked the district for rescinding it, saying changes would have legitimized discrimination. Now the district is no longer required to respect students' gender identity in student records, but it said during it would continue to ensure all students felt safe and included at school. Adkinson said parents have mentioned pursuing litigation, and lawyers have reached out to TransOhio to express their concerns. 'I cannot imagine being a middle school student and being outed in such a violent manner to my classmates, taking all agency away from those kids,' Adkinson said. Could same-sex marriage be on the ballot in Ohio? Adkinson said parents reported having no notice of the change until it was reflected in parent and student portals. Families also shared this frustration on social media. Carter said every parent or guardian who had requested a name or gender change for their student received a notice, and students older than 18 received notice personally. However, a parent shared a copy of the letter with NBC4, pointing out that it was postmarked March 20, at least 24 hours after the change. Adkinson said the district does not have to stick with this decision, adding many parents have reached out to the school board asking for it to be undone. In an email to a parent shared with NBC4, board member Sarah Ingles responded to concerns indicating she and other board members had not been aware of the decision. In the email, Ingles said she asked for a full report from district administration, including possible remedies. 'You don't have to stay with a bad decision just because you made one,' Adkinson said. 'I hope that they roll it back, but I don't know that there's any way they can truly make it up to those students.' Adkinson said there are ways to help, like teachers calling attendance by last name alone or families contacting the district. However, they encouraged people not to bring it up around students who were affected by the decision, saying they may not want to discuss it. 'In this moment in time, just because a lot of discrimination is being championed, doesn't mean that our institutions need to rush to discriminate in new and creative ways that are presently still illegal,' Adkinson said. Carter said the district will continue to work with students and families to provide support. Parents said they have been able to call the school to update students' information but only as a 'nickname.' The next regular Board of Education meeting will take place April 1 at 6 p.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ohio university displays 'biological' sex bathroom signs in wake of new state law
One of Ohio's largest universities has begun displaying signs limiting restroom use to 'biological men' and 'biological women' following the enactment of a new state law. The University of Cincinnati began displaying the new signage last week in its residence halls and some other on-campus buildings in response to the passage of a law that restricts bathroom use in public and private K-12 schools and colleges to members of the same 'biological sex.' Signed into law by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine in November, the legislation officially goes into effect Tuesday. A public institution with more than 50,000 students, the University of Cincinnati appears to be the first Ohio college or university to comply with the new law. A representative for TransOhio, a statewide transgender advocacy group, said the school is the first it is aware of that's 'taking any action in response to the bill.' The law does not specify how exactly it should be enforced, making it unclear how other schools will comply. At least 15 states restrict which restrooms trans people can use in school settings, but only five have laws that apply to colleges and universities. Of these five, only two — Florida and Ohio — have measures that include private colleges and universities, according to the LGBTQ think tank Movement Advancement Project. A spokesperson for the University of Cincinnati confirmed there have been 'signage updates in some residence halls and locker rooms' on campus. 'As a public institution, we are following the law and seeking to meet our mission to create an environment where we provide opportunity, develop educated and engaged citizens and enrich our city, state and world,' the spokesperson, M.B. Reilly, said in an email. News of the college's new signage quickly spread after a photo of one of the signs, which reads 'biological men,' was shared Thursday on the social media platform Reddit, drawing thousands of comments. Multiple school employees and students who spoke with NBC News said they did not receive any communication from the university about the new signage beforehand. A QR code linking to a list of single-occupancy restrooms across the campus is attached to the new signs, two students said. Supporters of the law say it is necessary to ensure the safety and privacy of Ohio students. When the bathroom policy was signed into law in November, its chief sponsor, Republican state Sen. Jerry Cirino, called its passage 'common sense' and said the measure 'protects our children and grandchildren in private spaces where they are most vulnerable,' according to The Associated Press. Several transgender students at the University of Cincinnati told NBC News they expect the new bathroom law will make their daily lives more difficult, forcing them to walk longer distances to find restrooms to use. 'I had a panic attack for the first time in a while,' Corvo Hopkins, a 21-year-old junior who is transgender, said in a phone interview. 'I haven't been able to think about anything else.' Hopkins added that the new bathroom signs send a message to trans students that 'we're not valued, they don't want us here, and that living on campus, we're not safe.' Noah Ciolino, an 18-year-old freshman with irritable bowel syndrome, said he moved 10 floors down in his on-campus dormitory building Saturday, because his former suite didn't have a single-occupancy bathroom nearby. In order to 'legally use the right restroom,' he said that he would have had to ride the elevator to a girls floor or take the stairs. He said he worries about what will happen if his current floor's only gender-neutral bathroom is occupied during an emergency situation. 'It's been hard to complete assignments, because I already struggle with depression as it is,' Ciolino said of grappling with the changes on campus. 'Have you ever tried to swim in the opposite direction of where the stream is going? It's like that.' The new bathroom signs aren't the only changes the university has seen this month. On Friday, the school's president, Neville Pinto, sent a letter to students addressing its rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion policies following an executive order by President Donald Trump mandating the elimination of DEI in higher education. 'Given the extent to which our university, like most educational institutions, relies on federal funding to deliver and sustain our core mission, it is untenable to operate as if noncompliance with these directives is an effective option,' Pinto's letter read. 'Our leaders have begun evaluating jobs and duties related to DEI and examining our DEI programming, initiatives and projects to bring all areas into compliance. In addition, we have begun removing references to DEI principles across university websites, social media and collateral materials.' On Monday, hundreds of students and staffers gathered on campus to protest the DEI rollback, according to NBC affiliate WLWT of Cincinnati. 'I spent three years on this campus helping make a space where students can feel welcome and feel like they can take that mask down and just can be themselves,' Christian Caffey, a student assistant at the school's LGBTQ Center, told WLWT. 'To have Pinto send out the epitome of the end of office day at 3:45 email, then get out the door and hope everybody cools off over the weekend. That email says, 'Hey, we're going to scrap all the DEI effort as quickly as possible.' That felt like a shot of the heart.' This article was originally published on
NBC News
25-02-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Ohio university displays 'biological' sex bathroom signs in wake of new state law
One of Ohio's largest universities has begun displaying signs limiting restroom use to 'biological men' and 'biological women' following the enactment of a new state law. The University of Cincinnati began displaying the new signage last week in its residence halls and some other on-campus buildings in response to the passage of a law that restricts bathroom use in public and private K-12 schools and colleges to members of the same 'biological sex.' Signed into law by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine in November, the legislation officially goes into effect Tuesday. A public institution with more than 50,000 students, the University of Cincinnati appears to be the first Ohio college or university to comply with the new law. A representative for TransOhio, a statewide transgender advocacy group, said the school is the first it is aware of that's 'taking any action in response to the bill.' The law does not specify how exactly it should be enforced, making it unclear how other schools will comply. At least 15 states restrict which restrooms trans people can use in school settings, but only five have laws that apply to colleges and universities. Of these five, only two — Florida and Ohio — have measures that include private colleges and universities, according to the LGBTQ think tank Movement Advancement Project. A spokesperson for the University of Cincinnati confirmed there have been 'signage updates in some residence halls and locker rooms' on campus. 'As a public institution, we are following the law and seeking to meet our mission to create an environment where we provide opportunity, develop educated and engaged citizens and enrich our city, state and world,' the spokesperson, M.B. Reilly, said in an email. News of the college's new signage quickly spread after a photo of one of the signs, which reads 'biological men,' was shared Thursday on the social media platform Reddit, drawing thousands of comments. Multiple school employees and students who spoke with NBC News said they did not receive any communication from the university about the new signage beforehand. A QR code linking to a list of single-occupancy restrooms across the campus is attached to the new signs, two students said. Supporters of the law say it is necessary to ensure the safety and privacy of Ohio students. When the bathroom policy was signed into law in November, its chief sponsor, Republican state Sen. Jerry Cirino, called its passage 'common sense' and said the measure 'protects our children and grandchildren in private spaces where they are most vulnerable,' according to The Associated Press. Several transgender students at the University of Cincinnati told NBC News they expect the new bathroom law will make their daily lives more difficult, forcing them to walk longer distances to find restrooms to use. 'I had a panic attack for the first time in a while,' Corvo Hopkins, a 21-year-old junior who is transgender, said in a phone interview. 'I haven't been able to think about anything else.' Hopkins added that the new bathroom signs send a message to trans students that 'we're not valued, they don't want us here, and that living on campus, we're not safe.' Noah Ciolino, an 18-year-old freshman with irritable bowel syndrome, said he moved 10 floors down in his on-campus dormitory building Saturday, because his former suite didn't have a single-occupancy bathroom nearby. In order to 'legally use the right restroom,' he said that he would have had to ride the elevator to a girls floor or take the stairs. He said he worries about what will happen if his current floor's only gender-neutral bathroom is occupied during an emergency situation. 'It's been hard to complete assignments, because I already struggle with depression as it is,' Ciolino said of grappling with the changes on campus. 'Have you ever tried to swim in the opposite direction of where the stream is going? It's like that.' The new bathroom signs aren't the only changes the university has seen this month. On Friday, the school's president, Neville Pinto, sent a letter to students addressing its rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion policies following an executive order by President Donald Trump mandating the elimination of DEI in higher education. 'Given the extent to which our university, like most educational institutions, relies on federal funding to deliver and sustain our core mission, it is untenable to operate as if noncompliance with these directives is an effective option,' Pinto's letter read. 'Our leaders have begun evaluating jobs and duties related to DEI and examining our DEI programming, initiatives and projects to bring all areas into compliance. In addition, we have begun removing references to DEI principles across university websites, social media and collateral materials.' On Monday, hundreds of students and staffers gathered on campus to protest the DEI rollback, according to NBC affiliate WLWT of Cincinnati. 'I spent three years on this campus helping make a space where students can feel welcome and feel like they can take that mask down and just can be themselves,' Christian Caffey, a student assistant at the school's LGBTQ Center, told WLWT. 'To have Pinto send out the epitome of the end of office day at 3:45 email, then get out the door and hope everybody cools off over the weekend. That email says, 'Hey, we're going to scrap all the DEI effort as quickly as possible.' That felt like a shot of the heart.'
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ohio's transgender school bathroom ban begins this week as law takes effect
Getty Images. A new Ohio law banning transgender students from using school bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity takes effect Tuesday. Ohio lawmakers passed the bathroom ban bill and Gov. Mike DeWine signed it into law in November. The new law requires people at Ohio K-12 public schools and public and private colleges and universities to use the restroom that matches up with their gender assigned at birth. It also bans students from sharing overnight accommodations with people of the opposite sex from their assigned sex at birth at K-12 schools. However, the law does not prevent a school from having single-occupancy facilities and does not apply to someone helping a person with a disability or a child younger than 10 years old being helped by a parent, guardian or family member. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'Any policy that requires faculty to monitor students' bathroom usage is just bizarre and creepy,' said Dara Adkison, executive director of TransOhio. 'I think that we're going to see schools enforcing and not enforcing to various degrees because many schools are just simply more focused on students' education than monitoring their bathroom use.' Sam Bates, a transgender high school freshman in Columbus City Schools, is worried about the new law. 'I really hope that the people making these rules are able to put themselves in the shoes of a trans youth trying to just go to the bathroom and think of it that way before they make final decisions,' Bates said. The American Medical Association officially opposes policies preventing transgender individuals from accessing basic human services and public facilities consistent with gender identity. Slightly more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth in Ohio considered suicide in 2022, according to the Trevor Project. Eight Columbus City Schools students spoke out against the new law at a recent school board meeting. 'I go to the restroom to do my business, and then leave,' Austin Tapp, a transgender Columbus City Schools high school student said at the Feb. 18 board meeting. 'I cannot see how I could cause a disruption by using the single-stalled men's restroom at my school, and neither do my teachers or my classmates.' Several of the students asked how the new law was going to be enforced. 'Teachers can't stand by the bathroom entrance all day, and having surveillance cameras in any restrooms is illegal,' Kaia Aitken, a ColumbusCity Schools student, said during the board meeting. A couple of the students talked about how the law will be harmful to all students, not just transgender students. 'This does not protect the students,' Mischa Wright, a Columbus City Schools student said. 'It harms them. It creates a circle of hate and judgment and fear for young people in this school system, creating such tension and malice at this age is detrimental to their mental health.' Enforcing the law will be the biggest issue, said Cleveland attorney Robert Chaloupka. 'It puts the liability on the school, but then doesn't tell the school how to implement that,' he said. 'I think when you're going to create a restriction of this type, then I think it's important to state why this is happening and also how people are supposed to comply with it.' There is strong potential for litigation once the law takes effect, he said. 'An actual situation is going to happen,' Chaloupka said. 'Maybe somebody is disciplined by a school because the school feels that they violated whatever policy that they put in place due to this law, and then that person possibly challenges the school.' The ACLU of Ohio has not yet filed a challenge to the new law. 'That doesn't mean that we will not sue,' ACLU of Ohio Spokesperson Celina Coming said in an email. 'We are continuing to closely monitor the implementation of the law.' Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost sent a letter offering guidance to Ohio Department of Education and Workforce Director Stephen Dackin. 'The short answer is that Ohio schools must designate and limit the use of single-sex bathrooms to those who share the same male or female biological sex,' Yost wrote in a letter dated Jan. 29. 'Ohio law requires it, and no federal law requires otherwise. No other legal authority interferes with what was once common sense: Boys use the boys' room, and girls use the girls' room.' Ohio universities are also getting ready for the new law. 'Bowling Green State University is in the process of making minor changes, including adjusted signage, to those restroom facilities that require updates and is evaluating options to provide students access to additional facilities,' according to the university. Ohio State University's facilities were determined to be in compliance with the law, according to the university. Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘There's a lot of fear out there.' Transgender Ohioans respond to Trump's two sex executive order
(Stock Photo by) Transgender Ohioans are grappling with confusion, chaos and fear in the weeks following President Donald Trump's executive order saying there are only two sexes. 'Trans folks have always been here, and transgender communities cannot be erased by the flick of a pen,' said Dwayne Steward, executive director of Equality Ohio. 'However, the chaos that's been created by this has definitely caused severe harm to transgender communities, to the extent that families are planning to leave the state or the country and people are talking about de-transitioning, which will cause major psychological trauma.' On Trump's first day back in office on Jan. 20 he signed an executive order saying the U.S. government will only recognize two sexes, male and female. 'These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality,' according to Trump's executive order. 'Gender ideology is internally inconsistent, in that it diminishes sex as an identifiable or useful category but nevertheless maintains that it is possible for a person to be born in the wrong sexed body.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Dara Adkison, executive director of TransOhio, called Trump's executive order propaganda. 'The laws haven't changed, the policies have not officially been changed, but we are seeing in some places both anticipatory and preemptive compliance with potential policies that can be enacted, and that is doing some real harm, but it's also what is causing so much confusion right now,' Adkison said. The U.S. State Department has stopped issuing U.S. passports with 'X' gender markers and has suspended processing all applications from Americans looking to update their passports with a new gender marker. The executive order does not apply retroactively to current passports. 'Some transgender folks who are trying to get a passport currently or make changes to their passport are having a hard time with that,' Adkison said. 'For people who have applied for one and haven't received it back yet, we don't know what that process looks like, because it's unprecedented, and we're just figuring it out, crowd-sourced information with you know everyone across the state and national partners, and wishing we had more concrete answers for folks.' Steward has seen an increase in people who have been contacting Equality Ohio's legal clinic due to issues they are having with passports and changing their ID. 'The preemptive compliance that is happening from the various agencies around these executive orders is very troubling and dangerous,' Steward said. 'We're seeing some trans folks have reported that their passports or IDs have been confiscated.' The Trump Administration is fostering an environment that is unsafe for transgender people to exist, Steward said. 'They're trying to legislate trans folks out of existence, but trans folks have always existed,' Steward said. The Trevor Project saw a 33% increase in volume of phone calls, text messages, and chats to their crisis line on Inauguration Day (Jan. 20) and a 46% increase on Jan. 21 compared to typical daily rates weeks prior. 'There's a lot of fear out there, and justifiably so, and we're just trying to help people through what is based off of stuff that is actually happening versus what we are being told could happen in the future,' Adkison said. Adkison said this executive order also excludes intersex people, who are individuals born with variations in their sex characteristics that do not fit the typical binary definitions of male or female. It is estimated that up to 1.7% of the population has an intersex trait, according to the Center for American Progress. 'Intersex people are very real and concretely exist as well,' Adkison said. Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
