Exposing the Harms of “Parental Rights” Bills in Ohio
March 25, 2026
The Honorable Jim Thomas
Chair House Judiciary Committee, State of Ohio
Ohio State Capitol
Columbus, Ohio 43215
The Honorable D.J. Swearingen
Vice Chair House Judiciary Committee, State of Ohio
Ohio State Capitol
Columbus, Ohio 43215
The Honorable Eric Synenberg
Ranking Member House Judiciary Committee, State of Ohio
Ohio State Capitol
Columbus, Ohio 43215
March 25, 2026
Re: Woodhull Freedom Foundation Opposition to HB693 ”Enact the Affirming Families First Act”
Dear Chair Thomas, Vice Chair Swearingen, Ranking Member Synenberg, and Members of the Ohio House Judiciary Committee,
My name is Ricci Levy, and I am the President and CEO of the Woodhull Freedom Foundation, a national organization whose mission is to affirm sexual freedom as a fundamental human right. Woodhull protects individuals’ rights across the United States to enjoy sexual dignity, privacy, and consensual sexual expression without societal or governmental interference, coercion or stigmatization. As a representative of Woodhull and in my capacity as an expert on the human right to sexual freedom, I am here today to express our strong opposition to Ohio HB693.
HB693 hurts transgender and nonbinary youth under the guise of “parental rights”. If passed, this bill would expose transgender and nonbinary children to grave harm as it requires schools to out these students to parents who may not affirm their child’s gender-identity by prohibiting schools from using these students gender-affirming names and pronouns without parental permission. This bill would also weaken local laws banning conversion therapy, a discredited form of therapy that aims to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
At Woodhull, we are tracking bills and legislation like this, which target the LGBTQ+ community and are part of broader societal and political attacks on LGBTQ+ people. This assault includes myriad attacks by the White House as enshrined in several Executive Orders which erase transgender, nonbinary, and gender expansive people from public life and falsely treats sex as a fixed male and female binary, direct federal agencies to impede young people’s access to lifesaving gender-affirming healthcare, and ban trans women and girls from competing on sports teams that align with their gender. The targeting of trans people is so dire that the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security has warned that policies targeting transgender people in the United States are indicative of the early stages of genocide.
Our opposition to HB693 is informed by this wide sweeping assault on LGBTQ+ people and sexual freedom more broadly and by irrefutable facts about sexual orientation and gender identity, which we have exhaustively researched as part of our Fact Checked by Woodhull series. In this series, we address the reality that LGBTQ+ people are not a public danger but instead are in danger of harassment, discrimination, and violence, with current laws not sufficiently protecting LGBTQ+ people’s rights. We also address the truth about gender and sex which is not reflected in the bill you are considering today. This includes the fact that restrictive binary categories of gender and sex cause serious harm by excluding and shaming anyone who exists outside of these lines, especially transgender and intersex people.
We strongly urge you and your colleagues to be on the side of human rights and protect the dignity, health, and safety of LGBTQ+ people, and oppose HB693.
Your consideration of these urgent matters is very much appreciated.