Alicia Burkle's family, including her daughter, who is transgender, has been hit hard by the Franklin Court of Common Pleas' Aug. 5 decision upholding a ban on gender-affirming care.
"I would say we're pretty gutted right now," the Cleveland Heights resident said. "We were really, really hopeful, especially with the judge having put on the restraining order and hearing the case. We were really hopeful that he would have sided with the side of the trans youth, so it was a big blow to us yesterday to get the information that not only was it ruled that it was constitutional, but now it's effective immediately. It was really devastating."
At issue is House Bill 68, which bans certain medical care and social services for transgender youth. This includes the provision of puberty-blockers, which delay the changes of puberty in transgender and gender-diverse youth who have started puberty. The bill also bans trans athletes competing in girls' and women's sports.
The legislation also places additional regulations on mental healthcare for transgender youth, according to Liam Strausbaugh of the National Association of Social Workers' Ohio Chapter.
Under the legislation, licensed mental health providers are prohibited from diagnosing or treating a "gender-related condition," which he said actually not a diagnosis recognized by the American Psychiatric Association, without first meeting additional requirements.
Those requirements include obtaining consent from at least one parent/guardian/custodian, screening the minor for other comorbidities including depression, anxiety, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and other mental health conditions, and screening for physical, sexual, mental, and emotional abuse and other traumas.
However, given that these screening provisions are already part of mental health assessments, the only new requirement is for mental health providers to seek additional parental consent before providing care, Strausbaugh said.
Proponents of the bill, including Ohio Rep. Gary Click (R-Vickery), lauded the court's decision.
"This has been a long hard fight to protect minors in the State of Ohio," he said in a statement. "Sex change procedures, including dangerous drug interventions and surgeries, are a failed experiment that has been harming children around the world. Today, the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas upheld the right of the people of Ohio to ban such radical and risky procedures through their duly elected representatives."
Burkle said lawmakers like Click are putting trans youth at risk.
"They're politicizing the identities of these kids in such a negative way," she said. "Gender-affirming care is lifesaving. I would never ask someone to not get their child cancer care or diabetic care. I would be advocating for them to be able to get the care that will save their life and be affirming them. I would just ask for the same thing from these lawmakers."
The problem is lawmakers have contempt for trans youth, said Dara Adkison, executive director of TransOhio.
The legislation is "further stigmatization of just trans youth existence, because there's a very vocal minority of people who would like it if they didn't exist at all," they said.
The ACLU of Ohio is appealing the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas decision.
Beyond this bill, families are also concerned about other legislation, including a bill before the Ohio Senate banning trans youth from using bathrooms that match their gender identity, Burkle said.
While she and her family want to stay in Ohio, bills like these make her question if that's possible.
"I think our goal would be to stay where we are," she said. "Moving is not completely off the realm of possibilities, just because of other bills that are coming down the pike. So there's just more, more and more anti-trans legislation that we're keeping our eye on."
The purpose of these bills is to make life as uncomfortable as possible for the trans community, Adkison said.
"It is an intentional waterfall of an onslaught to try and make it as difficult as possible for our trans people and gender nonconforming people to exist in Ohio," they said, adding that the community will not be deterred.
"There's no amount of legislation that can make us not exist," they said. "They can't make us go away. I'm sorry that our existence is such a such a problem for a small handful of legislators, but tough."
TransOhio provides small grants for trans community members who may need to leave the state, including to receive gender affirming health care, Adkison added.
HB 68 "really just strips their ability to live authentically and be who they are, their true selves," Burkle said. "It's no one else's place to say how another person identifies."
