During a Jan 21, school board meeting in Tipp City, Ohio, some residents used anti-transgender rhetoric to publicly oppose designs for a new school bathroom.
Last year, residents in the rural village – located about 20 miles north of Dayton – approved an $87 million bond issue to help fund construction of the new school, which will house K-8 students.
Currently, design plans for the new building include three bathrooms with small, locking toilet rooms and communal hand washing spaces open to all students, regardless of gender.
On Jan. 21, some residents parroted anti-transgender sentiment regarding the design, which could be illegal to build and operate under Ohio’s new anti-transgender bathroom ban.
However, board members expressed interest in collaborating with residents to build a “future proof” building that meets students and teachers’ needs as trans and gender expensive students gain and lose civil rights in an unpredictable political landscape.
Complying with Ohio’s bathroom ban
Last year, lawmakers passed Senate Bill (SB) 104, requiring trans and otherwise gender expansive people to use the public restroom that corresponds with the gender marker on their original birth certificate.
The bill – which Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law on Nov. 27 – mandates that schools designate bathrooms, locker rooms, changing rooms and shower rooms for use exclusively by either “male” or “female” students.
The bill also explicitly prevents schools from building or maintaining a bathroom “designated as nongendered, multigendered, or open to all genders” if the bathroom can be accessed by more than one student at the same time.
Board member Angela McMurry reminded residents the school is also beholden to the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission’s (OFCC).
The village received an additional $30 million in funding for the school from OFCC, which will review the plans after they are finalized to ensure they comply with building code and meet federal accessibility requirements.
“They would never allow anything that wasn’t appropriate for the state of Ohio to be built,” McMurry said.
Public comments parrot national anti-trans rhetoric
Registered Republican and Tipp City resident Karen Weber openly wept while providing public comment on the design.
Weber directly referenced the state’s bathroom ban while addressing board members, explaining that she and other residents believe “there are boys and there are girls.”
State lawmakers have similarly rejected the biological complexity of human sex chromosomes and primary and secondary sex characteristics – including the existence of many intersex people.
Tipp City resident Sam Zakkour also offered public comment opposing the design, citing an alleged 2016 study published by the “Child Psychology and Education Journal.”
The Buckeye Flame could not find evidence of a peer-reviewed journal published under the name “Child Psychology and Education Journal,” or any journal published under a similar name.
Additionally, The Buckeye Flame could not confirm the existence of the 2016 study, which Zakkour claimed found increased rates of “apprehension and discomfort in school age children” who used “group restrooms” white at school.
Tipp City resident and registered Republican Kathy Bone accused board members of “trying to reengineer our children with these unisex bathrooms.”
“Transgender bathrooms are against the law,” she said, appearing to interchange the separate terms ‘transgender’ and ‘unisex.’
“Senate Bill 104 is a law, and you are dishonoring the public and your seat by breaking the law,” Bone told board members. “This plan needs immediate action taken to be stopped. Mr. Moran needs to be fired and you all need to step down.”
“You’re pathetic,” she added.
Designing around anti-trans legislation
“We’ve had a lot of input on the bathroom configurations,” said Tipp City Schools Superintendent Aaron Moran. “We’re still making changes.”
Board member Kyle Thompson reminded residents the construction on the $100 million project won’t begin until at least early next year – and urged people to remain “civil” and engaged throughout the long process.
Residents have also expressed concern around other changes to the initial design – including the addition of a third floor, designated non-classroom spaces, the price of utilities, the removal of pre-existing tennis courts and the number of elevators and staircases in the building.
Thompson acknowledged “legitimate concerns” regarding the current design and said incorporating feedback from teachers and administrators is of top concern.
“I’m grateful to the portion of the community that has respectfully and intelligently submitted feedback on the building design. I think that’s important,” Thompson said. “I’m disappointed, a little bit, by the depths to which some people have sunk in terms of inflammatory discourse, their unfair accusations, insults. I don’t think there’s any place for that when it comes to something so community- centered.”
Thompson told other board members he hopes to achieve a design that he called “future proof.”
“We all know that the political winds can shift at any moment. I’m interested in designing a building that can withstand political wind-shifts,” he said – in an apparent reference to the state bathroom ban.
“Just because there are laws in place right now in the state of Ohio doesn’t mean they’re going to be that way in 10 years,” Thompson added. “No matter what laws are in effect, no matter what bills are signed, I think we can design something that’s common sense, that achieves all the goals that we have and that serves the community well.”
The Tipp City Exempted Village Schools Board of Education is scheduled to meet next on Feb. 18. 🔥
ignite action
- If you are a young LGBTQ+ person in crisis, please contact the Trevor Project: 866-4-U-Trevor.
- If you are an transgender adult in need of immediate help, contact the National Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860
- To register to vote or to check your voter eligibility status in the state of Ohio, click here.
- To find contact information for your Ohio state representative, click here.
- To find contact information for your Ohio state senator, click here.
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