LibGuides: Ohio School Law: LGBTQ

Ohio Laws

HB 8 (2024)
Passed by the legislature on 12/18/24 and signed by DeWine. "Parents Bill of Rights" requires trans students to be outed to their parents. Also give parents veto over "sexuality content" in school curriculum.
SB 104 (2024)
Signed by Gov. DeWine. Requires K-12 schools and colleges to mandate that students can only use the bathroom or locker room that matches their sex assigned at birth.

Cases

Adams v. School Bd. of St. John's County
2023 11th Circuit ruling that a Florida school board didn’t violate transgender high school student Drew Adams’ equal protection rights when it banned him from using the boys' bathrooms.
West Virginia v. B.P.J. (4th Cir. Ct. of Appeals 2024)
US Supreme Court will decided in 2026 whether Title IX prevents a state from designating girls' and boys' sports teams based on biological sex determined at birth; and (2) whether the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment prevents a state from offering separate boys' and girls' sports teams based on biological sex determined at birth.
Dodds v. US Dept of Educ., 845 F.3d 217 ( 6th Cir. Court of Appeals 2016)
Holding that discrimination against transgender students likely constitutes sex discrimination under Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 and the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution).
Grimm v. Gloucester Cnty. Sch. Bd.
4th Cir. Ct. of Appeals held that equal protection and Title IX protect transgender students from school bathroom policies that prohibit them from affirming their gender. We join a growing consensus of courts in holding that the answer is resoundingly yes. The US Supreme Ct refused to grant the School Bd's petition for cert on 6/27/21.
Hildreth v. LaRose (2023)
Ohio Supreme Court Strikes Down Frank LaRose’s Push for Fraudulently Worded Bellefontaine Drag Ban.
Kattenbach v. Hilliard City Schools
2023 US Dist Ct case in Ohio where parents argue that teachers encouragement of preferred pronoun use violates Title IX.
Mahmoud v. Taylor (2025)
The US Supreme Court said public schools likely burden parents’ religious exercise when they compel elementary school children to participate in instruction on gender and sexuality against their parents’ religious convictions and without notice or opportunity to opt out.
Parents Defending Educ. v. Olentangy Local Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ. (2023)
Sixth Circ. Ct. of Appeals said that policy that prohibits students from misgendering trans students is ok.
Tennesse v. US Dept of Education 2024
The 6th Circuit said the department had not followed the proper procedures for making new rules and did not address whether a federal law banning sex discrimination in education extends protections to LGBTQ students.
U.S. Supreme Court declines to weigh in on battle over bathrooms for transgender students
USA Today 1/16/24.

Executive Order

Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling
Whitehouse.gov 1/29/25

New Ohio Legislation

SB 1 (2025)
A ban on diversity and inclusion efforts as well as a ban on labor strikes by faculty and staff.

Education Department Regulations

Federal judge in Alabama lets Title IX rule protecting LGBTQ kids go forward in four states
Ohio Capital Journal 8/1/24. Though the final rule is slated to go into effect on August 1 it’s now blocked in 22 states and has faced mounting legal uncertainty.
Federal Register Notice of Interpretation: Enforcement of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 with Respect to Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Light of Bostock v. Clayton County
6/16/21
A Policy Interpretation: Title IX and Intercollegiate Athletics (1979)
The three part test provides that provides that institutions comply with Title IX if they meet any one of the following parts of the test: (1) the number of male and female athletes is substantially proportionate to their respective enrollments; (2) the institution has a history and continuing practice of expanding participation opportunities responsive to the developing interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex; or (3) the institution is fully and effectively accommodating the interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex.
Tennesse v. US Dept of Education 2024
The 6th Circuit said the department had not followed the proper procedures for making new rules and did not address whether a federal law banning sex discrimination in education extends protections to LGBTQ students.
Ohio Board of Education approves anti-LGBTQ+ resolution
NBC4 12/13/22
Alabama v. Cardona (2024)
Allows new Ttitle IX regulations to take effect in Alabama.

Articles

The Emerging First Amendment Right to Mistreat Students
Andrew Koppelman,73 Case W. Rsrv. L. Rev.
1209 (2023)
Misgendering, Academic Freedom, the First Amendment, and Trans Students
Laura Beth Nielsen, Elsinore Kuo, and Evan Zhao, 73 Case W. Res. L. Rev. 1047 (2023).
OHIO: A CASE STUDY IN SUBNATIONAL AUTHORITARIANISM
Emily M.S. Houh, 16 Drexel L. Rev. 713 (2024)

SERVING TRANS* PATRONS IN PUBLIC LAW LIBRARIES
Jennings, Bethany Mills. AALL Spectrum, July/August 2017

Links

ABA Resolution 515 9/10/21
That the American Bar Association urges state, local, territorial and tribal legislatures, education officials, and school boards to include information about the historical and social contributions of LGBTQ individuals in curricula of publicly funded elementary and secondary schools; and FURTHER RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges state, local, territorial and tribal legislatures, education officials, and school boards to include age-appropriate LGBTQ-inclusive sexual health education in the curricula of publicly funded elementary and secondary schools to promote public health best practices and improve youth mental health outcomes.

4 Things Public Schools Can and Can’t Do When It Comes to Dress Codes
ACLU.org
BC Faculty Members Criticize BC Faculty & Staff Experience Survey In Open Letter
Boston College Newspaper 4/10/22
Catholic Diocese of Cleveland issues official policy barring LGBTQ+ expression
Ideastream Public Media 9/11/23 reporting on policies of Ohio Catholic Schools
Florida Settles ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Lawsuit: Teachers Can Talk About Gender And Sexual Orientation Outside Instruction
Forbes 3/11/24
HB 1557: Parental Rights in Education
Florida's proposed "Don't Say Gay" would ban the discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation in K-12 schools.
How Discriminatory Censorship Laws Imperil Public Education
National Education Policy Center report 2023
How to Address Bullying in School
Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio
Kentucky among the states where new laws govern pronoun use in schools
WUKY 11/21/23 Parents have to be consulted before using pronouns for student which don't match the sex assigned at birth.
LGBTQ+ librarians grapple with attacks on books - and on themselves
AP News 6/22/24
Ohio teacher told principal using students' preferred pronouns violated her religion.
NBC News 12/19/22
President Trump’s Plan to Save American Education and Give Power Back to Parents
South Dakota bans transgender athletes in high school sports
2/4/22
A TRANSGENDER ADVOCATE’S GUIDE TO UPDATING AND AMENDING SCHOOL RECORDS
Lambda Legal
US Education Department says Denver school’s all-gender bathrooms violate Title IX
APNews.com 8/28/25

HHS Regulations (Administration for Children & Families)

Trump Administration Puts 46 States and Territories on Notice to Remove Gender Ideology Content from Sex Ed Materials
8/26/25 Ohio is included. Ohio schools are threatened with the loss of more than $4 million dollars in federal grants.
Federal judge in Oregon to block Trump directive to erase 'gender ideology' from state sex education
Reuters 10/20/25