A first hearing was held on Tuesday for a bill that would prohibit Ohio public school teachers and staff from referring to transgender students by any name not listed on their original birth certificate.
The “Given Name Act” (HB 190), which currently sits in the state’s House Education Committee, threatens schools with losing a percentage of critical state funding if they are found not to be in compliance.
HB 190 applies exclusively to transgender students and would not prevent cisgender students from using shortened versions of common names, such as Anthony, Michael or Elizabeth.
The bill would also effectively out all transgender teachers and staff, by barring them from using titles or pronouns that are “inconsistent with [their] biological sex”
Bill sponsors Reps. Josh Williams (R-Sylvania) and Jonathan Newman (R-Troy) testified on Tuesday.
Newman is a first-term legislator and “pastor entrepreneur” with ties to Ohio’s Center for Christian Virtue (CCV), a conservative Christian lobbying organization that was formerly designated an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group by the civil rights group Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
Newman does not believe transgender people exist.
“I don’t think there is such a thing as transgender,” Newman told the Dayton Daily News. “That’s not reality. A boy never, ever becomes a girl. A girl never, ever becomes a boy. That’s not reality. That cannot happen.”
What is the ‘Given Name Act’?
HB 190 would explicitly prohibit faculty and staff in Ohio public schools from “knowingly and intentionally” doing any of the following:
- “[Requesting] students offer their transgender names or pronouns”
- Calling students “by a name or pronoun not aligning with the student’s biological sex without written permission by a parent or legal custodian.”
- “[Requiring] a public school employee or contractor to address a student using a name other than the individual’s legal name, or a derivative of that name, or by a pronoun or title that is inconsistent with the individual’s biological sex.”
Additionally, the bill explicitly requires that educators and other school employees report transgender or gender-expansive students to school administrators in the event that they ask to be addressed by a new name or new pronouns in the classroom. School administrators are then required to report these requests to parents.
According to HB 190, even if parents of trans youth request that the school refer to their child by a name or pronoun not on the student’s birth certificate, school staff can still refuse. This conflicts with the Parents’ Bill of Rights, although HB 190 sponsors said the Parents’ Bill of Rights informs the text of their bill.
The Given Name Act outlines several punitive measures for violating the law, including an investigation by Ohio’s Department of Education and Workforce and “ten percent of state funding withheld monthly until the school is found to be in compliance.”
Bill sponsors testify
In their testimony, the bill’s sponsors were outspoken in the aim of the bill: to reduce the possibility of students identifying as transgender.
“This bill recognizes the importance of the Parents’ Bill of Rights and recognizes that more protections are needed to prevent school employees from assisting in the social transitioning of students in their gender identity against their parents’ wishes,” Newman said.
Rep. Williams took that argument a giant leap further. He argued that the HB 190 will result in a reduction in suicides, citing unnamed studies finding that an increased suicide rate “among adults who have transitioned.”
“If we’re going to talk about a reduction in suicide, I think this bill intentionally accomplishes that,” Williams said.
Rep. Phil Robin (D-Solon) asked about the rights of parents of trans youth and whether they could require that school staff use names and pronouns that do not match the student’s legal names.
Williams said no.
“The courts have confirmed that the teacher can not be compelled, especially if they have a deeply religious belief,” Williams said, without citing the cases.
Rep. Sean Brennan (D-Parma) asked how students could be protected from “a bad parent you might be concerned about as a teacher.” Williams responded that there are laws already in place that protect students from abuse and that teachers do not have the right to keep a student’s request for a different name and pronoun from the student’s parents.
“That’s no different than when I was in the 7th grade and I got accused of not turning my homework assignments in, and I told my teacher not to tell my mom because I was going to get a butt-whooping at home,” Williams said.
Williams then again referenced the idea of reducing the number of trans youth, pivoting to the right of parents to prevent their children from identifying as LGBTQ+. “Parents are not required to affirm a kid’s gender identity or sexual orientation,” Williams said. “Once they turn 18, [kids] get to make that decision for themselves.”
The next step for the Given Name Act would be proponent testimony: those in support of the bill. 🔥
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