New Ohio Bill Authorizes ‘Genital Inspection’ in Bid to Block Transgender Student Athletes
In new GOP attempt to "save women's sports," Ohio doctors could legally sexually assault children to verify their sex.
Politics

Last week, House Republicans discreetly passed a new anti-trans bill through the Ohio Statehouse. At 11:15pm on Wednesday night, the “Save Women’s Sports Act,” or House Bill 61, which would effectively ban transgender girls and women from participating in high school and college athletics, moved swiftly onto the State Senate. While this bill isn’t at all unlike a vast majority that are currently advancing in statehouses across the country, this one features exceptionally egregious measures—namely, a “verification process” that allows doctors to examine and confirm the genitals of any athlete that might be “accused” of being transgender. It also includes measures for a testosterone level and genetic makeup check.
According to Morgan Trau, a Columbus-based ABC-affiliate reporter, the bill wasn’t originally on the legislative schedule. At the last minute, Republican representatives added the language to a different, entirely unrelated bill, H.B. 151—a revision of Ohio’s Teacher Residency Program.
“If a participant’s sex is disputed, the participant shall establish the participant’s sex by presenting a signed physician’s statement indicating the participant’s sex based upon only the following: (1) The participant’s internal and external reproductive anatomy; (2) The participant’s normal endogenously produced levels of testosterone; (3) An analysis of the participant’s genetic makeup,” the bill reads.