How SB 1 aims to erase DEI programs, including LGBTQ+ spaces on Ohio’s public university campuses

By Matina Bliss, Communications & Programs Director, Honesty for Ohio Education

The Ohio Legislature is determined to pass a bill that would upend higher education in Ohio. Senate Bill (SB) 1, colloquially referred to by its opponents as the “Higher Education Destruction Act,” is the resurgence of Senate Bill 83, a nearly identical bill that was introduced in the state legislature in March of 2023. 

SB 83 was ultimately defeated due to widespread public opposition. However, despite this rejection, this legislation was re-introduced by state Sen. Jerry Cirino earlier this year and has become a priority bill for many Republican state lawmakers. 

If passed, SB 1 would impact academic freedom by censoring what professors can and cannot teach. It would also prohibit faculty from striking, jeopardize diversity scholarships and, most alarmingly, ban all Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs, training and departments across Ohio’s public colleges and universities. Senate Bill 1 is a threat to Ohio’s LGBTQ+ students and educators – and if passed, will play a major role in the enrollment of queer students at colleges and universities across the state. 

Last week, hundreds of people traveled to the Statehouse to express their opposition to the bill. During a Senate Higher Education Committee meeting, over 200 people were scheduled to present opposition testimony and over 800 submitted written opposition testimony. Many of these individuals were queer students. Students shared fears of what would happen to their college life if SB 1 passes. Not only would they lose access to LGBTQ+ spaces and programs, future students, seeking this community and inclusion, would turn toward colleges and universities in other states. In some cases, students may not attend a higher education program at all if they do not have the means to move and attend an LGBTQ+-inclusive school out of state. 

Audrey Ansel, a junior at Ohio University majoring in communication studies, works as a student staff member at Ohio University’s Pride Center. Audrey is one of the many students that stood in front of Senate Education Committee members, including Sen.  Cirino, to express how SB 1 would harm current and future students. In her testimony, Audrey shared how Ohio University’s LGBTQ+ and diversity-based resources brought her from North Carolina to Ohio to attend school. 

“The resources and atmosphere that drove me to choose Ohio for college will all but disappear from campus when/if SB1 passes,” she said. “The Pride Center will be forced to close, along with the Women’s and Multicultural Centers. Programs such as the LGBT Studies certificate that brought me to Ohio will fall under scrutiny and likely have to fight to continue existing. And students will wonder if their university does truly support its unique and diverse student population now that these life-saving resources are outlawed on campus. Where will the students go who come to the Pride Center when they don’t know where to turn? What will happen to students in vulnerable populations looking for resources within their community? How will the atmosphere change in classrooms where professors are forced to make room for harmful and derogatory viewpoints?” 

Despite public opposition to the bill, committee members voted along partisan lines to advance the bill to the full Senate floor for a vote. The bill passed in the Senate on February 12, 21-11. 

This is not the end for SB 1, as it still has not passed the Ohio House. And while on its face, the bill may not seem like a direct attack on LGBTQ+ Ohioans, it certainly will have a severe impact on the queer students and faculty of Ohio’s universities and colleges, in addition to all marginalized communities in our higher education spaces. 🔥

IGNITE ACTION

• To access Honesty for Ohio Eduction’s Ohio Statehouse Legislation Tracker, click here.
• To access The Buckeye Flame’s full 2025-2026 Guide to Ohio’s LGBTQ+ Legislation, click here.