The Ohio High School Athletic Association is speaking out about how a new bill to ban transgender athletes from participating in women's sports would affect youth sports and the athletes that participate in them.
According to the Columbus NBC affiliate, House Bill 68 would bar all trans students from taking part in female athletics and revoke the OHSAA’s trans-athlete policy, a measure that provides a step-by-step process for a trans student to request participation. The policy states trans girls must complete a minimum of one year of hormone treatment and demonstrate, by way of “sound medical evidence,” that she does not possess physical advantages.
The OHSAA says that the policy it currently has in place is effectively protecting the integrity of girls' sports, while also allowing opportunities for trans kids to participate. Seven trans girls are participating in high school sports during the 2023-24 school year, while six took part during the 2022-23 school year.
“H.B. 68 would have a direct impact on the OHSAA’s transgender policy, which has been in place since 2015 and has served our member schools to provide participation opportunities for transgender students without putting biological females at a competitive disadvantage,” the association said. “The OHSAA will continue to advocate for our policy and support of all student-athletes and await the outcome of the Senate’s decision.”
If it becomes law, H.B. 68 would also allow an athlete to sue for relief or damages if they are “deprived” of an athletic opportunity by a trans girl, and prohibit a government or athletic association from taking action against schools that enforce the ban.
Connor McLaren, a trans Ohio high school student, testified at the Statehouse last year that she undergoes the OHSAA’s approval policy each year to participate in school athletics. She says the new bill would do nothing but deprive some kids, like her, of opportunity.
“Playing sports and learning to function with a team, making those connections, and learning how it feels to be part of a group that so genuinely supports you changed my life, and I can’t imagine what I would do without it,” said McLaren.
