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Trans advocates tell Senate HB 96 provisions on gender identity would harm youth shelters, health care and safety
Summary
Multiple transgender-led organizations and individual witnesses testified against provisions in HB 96 that would define sex as binary in state policy and restrict gender-affirming care, saying the budget language risks harming youth shelters, mental-health care and public safety.
A series of witnesses representing transgender advocacy groups, health care providers and affected Ohioans urged the Senate Health Committee to remove several anti‑trans provisions that were inserted into the House version of HB 96.
Dara Adkisson of TransOhio asked senators to reject language in the bill that declares Ohio’s policy should "recognize only two sexes, male and female," and warned the provision contradicts medical and legal consensus about gender. "This language is not only factually incorrect, it is inherently dangerous," Adkisson said, citing medical and legal organizations and pending federal litigation tied to similar executive-order language.
Healthcare witnesses and parents described clinical and ethical concerns. Catherine LaPree, a nurse practitioner who provides LGBTQ primary care including gender medicine, opposed Sections 333.13 and 9.05 of HB 96. She told the committee the American Psychological Association’s February 2024 statement found bans on gender-affirming care "disrupt not only the role of providers in offering evidence based care but also obstruct patients and parental rights in shared decision making."
Trans advocates and affected residents warned that provisions restricting gender-affirming care in youth shelters and mental-health facilities would leave shelters with an "impossible choice" of refusing to help trans children or returning them to unsafe homes. Evelyn Hulbert of Trans Unity Coalition described her own experience of abuse and said gender‑affirming care had been life‑saving: "This is the only treatment for gender dysphoria. Untreated gender dysphoria leads to suicide. This is a death sentence." Bree Taylor of Trans Unity Coalition raised specific opposition to a House amendment banning menstrual products in men’s restrooms, saying the rule would impede access for transgender men, caregivers and others.
Witnesses urged the Senate to strike the gender-definition language and related restrictions from HB 96, saying the provisions would harm public health and invite litigation. No committee vote occurred during the testimony; witnesses asked senators to remove the contested provisions before final passage.
