Ohio’s House Bill 68 has been among the most widely discussed bills this past year. Called the Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act by its Republican sponsors, it aims to ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors and prohibit transgender girls from participating on girls’ sports teams.
Though it might seem like a grassroots bill unique to Ohio, HB 68 is actually part of a concerted effort by anti-LGBTQ+ hate groups to pass similar legislation in state legislatures around the country. Let’s take a closer look at the bill’s provenance:
Arkansas and Ohio bills are very similar
HB 68 is based on legislation drafted out-of-state by the Family Research Council (FRC), an evangelical Christian lobbying organization based in Washington that the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group.