Ohio Senate Dems urge Governor to veto Parents’ Bill of Rights

The Ohio Senate Democratic Caucus sent a letter to Gov. Mike DeWine on Friday urging him to veto the Parents’ Bill of Rights.

After midnight on Wednesday—the last day of Ohio’s two-year legislative session—the Ohio House voted to approve HB 8. If Gov. DeWine signs the bill into law, the legislation will force teachers and school staff to out LGBTQ+ youth to their parents and will limit the mention of LGBTQ+ identity in school curricula.

“This legislation…places marginalized children at risk of harassment and abuse based on their personal identity,” Senate Democrats wrote in the letter.

Their push for a veto specifically called out the possibility of teachers and school staff being forced to out LGBTQ+ students, highlighting that such an outcome would place LGBTQ+ students “at a greater risk of abuse or mistreatment in their own homes.”

“Therefore, students who are going through something have one less safe adult they can go to,” the letter reads.

Senate Democrats also took exception with the new language added by Republicans this week mandating that all schools find a time during the school day when students are able to leave school for religious instruction.

“It is likely to increase the prevalence of unsafe situations for children not only by allowing them to leave the school in the middle of the day, but also by impacting learning for all other children in the classroom as a result of this disturbance,” the letter stated.

Release time for religious instruction (RTRI) has become a hot-button issue in Ohio in 2024. Across the state, local school boards have struggled with how to navigate the advancements of Lifewise Academy, an organization that coordinates the removal of students during the school day to attend Bible classes. Lifewise’s curriculum specifically states that LGBTQ+ identity is a sin and “all sin angers [God] and makes Him sad.” 

What’s next

The House vote completes a nearly two-year journey for the Parents’ Bill of Rights. 

HB 8 was one of the first eight bills introduced by Republicans in 2023, establishing it as one of their top priorities for this two-year legislative term. The bill has been labeled by LGBTQ+ advocates as the “Unsafe Students Act,” a “Don’t Say Gay/Trans Bill” and an endangerment to all LGBTQ+ youth in Ohio public schools. 

With a dozen hearings in House and Senate committees since its introduction nearly two years ago, opponents of HB 8 have submitted hundreds of pieces of testimony, outnumbering supporters of the bill by a margin of over 100 to 1. 

Opponents have included the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), who have repeatedly testified that HB 8 violates their professional guidelines and all tenets of a healthy therapeutic process by violating students’ “right and desires to privacy.”

Republican lawmakers have not been swayed by these arguments about professional ethics or standards, opting instead to repeatedly cast teachers and school staff as bad actors who are withholding information from parents.

Gov. Mike DeWine previously indicated he would sign the bill into law, specifically endorsing the language on RTRI. 🔥 

IGNITE ACTION

• Read the full letter from the Ohio Senate Democratic Caucus here.
• Interested parties can contact Gov. Mike DeWine by phone: 614-644-4357 and 614-466-3555.