Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine bans gender-affirming surgeries for transgender youth

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine issued an executive order Friday banning hospitals from performing gender-affirming surgeries, often referred to in the trans community as top and bottom surgeries, on people under age 18.

The move comes after the governor last week vetoed a more comprehensive bill that would have also banned puberty blockers and gender-affirming hormone therapy, health care that is much more commonly received by transgender young people in the U.S.

The vetoed bill, House Bill 68, also would have banned trans girls and women from playing on girls and women's sports teams in high schools and colleges in Ohio.

HB 68 passed with a supermajority of Republican support, meaning the state legislature could override DeWine's veto. An override vote could happen as soon as next week, the Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA TODAY Network, reports.

After DeWine vetoed HB 68, transgender advocates around the country praised the announcement, saying the Republican's governor sent a message to the rest of the party, which has successfully enacted anti-transgender and anti-LGBTQ laws during the past three years in states they control.

Last week, transgender advocacy groups in Ohio also warned of imminent harm young trans Ohioans would likely face regardless of DeWine's veto.

TransOhio, a trans-led statewide LGBTQ advocacy group, has started an emergency fund for families who may need to seek care out-of-state, and said in a news release that HB 68 is a "deeply discriminatory" bill that "cast a dark shadow over the rights and safety of transgender youth and their families in Ohio," despite DeWine's veto.

Very few youth get gender-affirming surgery, advocates say

Parents of transgender youth and trans advocates in Ohio say they're worried about what will happen if the legislature overrides DeWine's veto of HB 68, and gender-affirming hormone therapies are outlawed in the state.

DeWine's decision to ban gender-affirming surgeries impacts a relatively small number of trans minors, according to experts. It's much more common for young people who are questioning their gender to transition socially, by using new pronouns and expressing their gender differently with new clothes, hair styles and makeup, said Imara Jones, a transgender activist and founder of TransLash Media.

"For most kids, gender-affirming care is literally just affirming their identity," Jones said. "It has nothing to do with the medical establishment."

Contributing: Haley BeMiller, Columbus Dispatch