COLUMBUS, Ohio ( WCMH ) — The Ohio High School Athletic Association has amended a policy that allowed fewer than 10 transgender students to take part in athletics last school year after a law went into effect banning trans athletes from participating in women’s sports.
House Bill 68, which bars all trans students from taking part in female athletics, became law on Tuesday when Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Michael Holbrook lifted the temporary restraining order that had been blocking the measure. The legislation will also prohibit Ohio’s children’s hospitals from providing gender-affirming care to trans minors, and was originally set to take effect on April 24.
“The OHSAA is aware of the court’s decision regarding House Bill 68 and our transgender policy is now updated to comply with state law,” a spokesperson for the association said in a statement to NBC4.
The OHSAA’s trans athlete policy , a step-by-step process for a trans student to request participation, allowed seven trans girls to take part in high school sports during the 2023-24 school year and six during the 2022-23 school year.