Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) signed a bill Wednesday that requires transgender students from kindergarten through college to use a bathroom that corresponds to their sex assigned at birth, although it has no enforcement mechanism.
The move came one year after DeWine vetoed another Republican-backed measure that would have banned gender-affirming care for minors.
The bathroom bill requires public and private educational institutions to designate multiperson bathrooms and locker rooms “for the exclusive use” of either males or females. Single occupancy and family bathrooms are still permitted.
At least 14 states have adopted laws like the new one in Ohio restricting who can enter gendered bathrooms, according to the Movement Advancement Project.
The backlash to advancements for transgender rights has been fueled by President-elect Donald Trump and his supporters who used the culture war debate to sow misinformation about transgender people and their allies. Trump claimed falsely, for example, that children might leave for school representing one gender and return home as another, having had surgery during the school day.
His campaign ran ads against Vice President Kamala Harris that stoked the fire of the culture war: “Kamala’s for they/them. President Trump is for you.”
But some Democrats have also begun walking back support for trans rights. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) said in the wake of Trump’s electoral victory that members of his party “spend way too much time trying not to offend anyone.”
“I have two little girls. I don’t want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat I’m supposed to be afraid to say that,” Moulton told The New York Times, prompting a top aide to quit.
In Ohio, Republican lawmakers eventually overrode the governor’s veto on gender-affirming care for minors, resulting in a ban that took effect in August. The lawmakers also placed restrictions on transgender girls and women in sports.