The Ohio Board of Education passed a resolution Tuesday that rejects proposed changes to broaden the definition of sex-based harassment and discrimination to include gender identity and sexual orientation for LGBTQ students.
In a 10-7 vote, board members passed the resolution to “support parents, schools, and districts in rejecting harmful, coercive, and burdensome gender identity policies and to protect federal funding subject to Title IX.”
Earlier this year, the Biden administration announced it would add Title IX protections for LGBTQ students. Title IX, which passed in 1972, is a federal program that protects people from discrimination based on sex.
The resolution was created by Board Member Brendan Shea (District 5) after reading that Attorney General Dave Yost filed a lawsuit along with 21 other attorneys general arguing that the new proposed changes to Title IX were illegal.
“This is classic federal policy – literally converting carrots into sticks and using them to beat a political agenda into local schools. When will the Biden administration learn that making law is the legislature’s role?” Yost said.
The resolution states that President Joe Biden’s plan “illegally bypasses the legislative process and undermines the very protections for female students that Title IX sought to provide.”
The resolution continues to say that “the board urges lawmakers to make sure to protect the rights of parents, the innocence of children, and the opportunities of girls in schools and athletics.”
“Denying the reality of biological sex destroys foundational truths upon which education rests and irreparably damages children,” Shea said.
Board Member Michelle Newman (District 8) added an amendment to the measure eliminating the first three paragraphs.
Those paragraphs said that education “rests on the understanding that there are objective facts and absolute truths,” and that biological sex “is one such objective, scientific fact.”
The Merriam-Webster definition of “sex” as “either of the two major forms of individuals that occur in many species and that are distinguished respectively as female or male, especially on the basis of their reproductive organs and structures” was also removed.
Mike Toal, the member whose changes to the resolution served as the final version of it after he made minor adjustments to original author Shea’s language, opposed the removal of the paragraphs, saying there were no court rulings “of some kind that redefines sex to include gender.”
The vote drew reproach from Democratic lawmakers.
“This State Board of Education Resolution is yet again another egregious and harmful attempt to attack and isolate transgender children,” State Representative Michael Skindell (D-Lakewood) said.
“As elected officials, we have a duty to prioritize the safety and well being of all students. This anti-LGBTQ+ resolution is nothing more than lawless, state-sanctioned bullying that hurts children and parents across Ohio,” State Representative Phil Robinson (D-Solon) said.
Beth Murdoch, a board member of Hilliard City Schools, said that this resolution is positive for Ohioans as parents should be able to raise their children as they see fit without interference from schools.
“Let’s stop using schools as a training ground for activists for our favorite causes. Let’s not pretend that schools have equal or greater rights than parents when it comes to raising their children and let’s get back to educating our children,” Murdoch said.
Shae told The Ohio Star that he was disappointed in the removal of the preamble of the resolution, but he was in no way surprised. He continued that the passage of the resolution is a huge win for Ohioans.
“I think this is 90 percent of what we wanted. This is a major win for all students and parental rights and pushing back against federal overreach,” Shae told The Star.
The new Title IX guidance is a resolution and not a law.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected].
