Ohio Bill Would Protect Parents for Refusing to Go Along With Transgender Ideology
Who's accountable for the results?
A bill from Republican Ohio state Reps. Josh Williams and Gary Click looks to continue Ohio Republicans’ fight against transgender ideology.
The legislation introduced this week, titled the Affirming Families First Act, “is about protecting families from government overreach and ensuring parents are not punished for raising their children consistent with biological reality.” Williams told The Daily Signal.
“No parent should lose custody, face state intervention, or be deemed unfit simply for affirming a child’s sex,” the Ohio lawmaker added.
? BREAKING: I just introduced legislation in the Ohio House to BAN state agencies from taking action against parents who refuse to allow their children to change their gender.
While states like California are turning themselves into "refuges" for children with gender dysphoria,…
— Rep. Josh Williams (@JoshWilliamsOH) February 11, 2026
What’s in the Bill?
The two Ohio Republicans argue this bill is necessary to protect parental rights.
A press release from Click’s office explains that the bill “prohibits a parent’s affirmation of a child’s biological sex from constituting the basis to restrict access to the child, deny the child’s return, limit decision-making authority over the child’s physical or mental health care or withhold information about the child.”
The bill also prohibits “investigating a report of abuse or child neglect if the sole basis for the report is the parent’s or guardian’s affirmation of the child’s biological sex.”
The Heritage Foundation’s Laura Hanford was present for the bill’s introduction. She also co-authored a report titled “States Must Refuse to Define ‘Abuse’ as Raising a Child According to His or Her Sex.”
“For decades, ideologues have worked behind the scenes to weaponize Child Protective Services in the states,” Hanford warned in her report. This “includes accusing parents of ‘abuse’ if they fail to affirm their child’s discordant ‘gender identity.'”
Hanford explained how the government has attempted to weaponize gender identity in an interview with The Daily Signal.
“There is no scientific evidence or marker for ‘gender identity,’ yet parents from coast to coast have lost their children for refusing to adopt this belief system that a child can be born in the wrong body,” Hanford said. “Incredibly, in the upside-down universe of gender ideology, it is ‘abuse’ not to sterilize, castrate, or use wrong-sex pronouns for one’s child.”
“Parents can suddenly find themselves facing a hostile phalanx of ideologues in courts, schools and child welfare systems, who have spent minutes with their child but are suddenly the ‘safe adults’ while parents who have spent a lifetime loving and caring for their children are deemed ‘abusers,'” Hanford continued.
Williams and Click have offered what Hanford terms “a critically important bill” that “is the most comprehensive in the country on this issue,” and “sets a new national standard for protecting children and families from the ideological weaponization of child protective systems.”
The Center for Christian Virtue Policy Director David Mahan was also present for the bill’s introduction and spoke …
Who's accountable for the results?
A bill from Republican Ohio state Reps. Josh Williams and Gary Click looks to continue Ohio Republicans’ fight against transgender ideology.
The legislation introduced this week, titled the Affirming Families First Act, “is about protecting families from government overreach and ensuring parents are not punished for raising their children consistent with biological reality.” Williams told The Daily Signal.
“No parent should lose custody, face state intervention, or be deemed unfit simply for affirming a child’s sex,” the Ohio lawmaker added.
? BREAKING: I just introduced legislation in the Ohio House to BAN state agencies from taking action against parents who refuse to allow their children to change their gender.
While states like California are turning themselves into "refuges" for children with gender dysphoria,…
— Rep. Josh Williams (@JoshWilliamsOH) February 11, 2026
What’s in the Bill?
The two Ohio Republicans argue this bill is necessary to protect parental rights.
A press release from Click’s office explains that the bill “prohibits a parent’s affirmation of a child’s biological sex from constituting the basis to restrict access to the child, deny the child’s return, limit decision-making authority over the child’s physical or mental health care or withhold information about the child.”
The bill also prohibits “investigating a report of abuse or child neglect if the sole basis for the report is the parent’s or guardian’s affirmation of the child’s biological sex.”
The Heritage Foundation’s Laura Hanford was present for the bill’s introduction. She also co-authored a report titled “States Must Refuse to Define ‘Abuse’ as Raising a Child According to His or Her Sex.”
“For decades, ideologues have worked behind the scenes to weaponize Child Protective Services in the states,” Hanford warned in her report. This “includes accusing parents of ‘abuse’ if they fail to affirm their child’s discordant ‘gender identity.'”
Hanford explained how the government has attempted to weaponize gender identity in an interview with The Daily Signal.
“There is no scientific evidence or marker for ‘gender identity,’ yet parents from coast to coast have lost their children for refusing to adopt this belief system that a child can be born in the wrong body,” Hanford said. “Incredibly, in the upside-down universe of gender ideology, it is ‘abuse’ not to sterilize, castrate, or use wrong-sex pronouns for one’s child.”
“Parents can suddenly find themselves facing a hostile phalanx of ideologues in courts, schools and child welfare systems, who have spent minutes with their child but are suddenly the ‘safe adults’ while parents who have spent a lifetime loving and caring for their children are deemed ‘abusers,'” Hanford continued.
Williams and Click have offered what Hanford terms “a critically important bill” that “is the most comprehensive in the country on this issue,” and “sets a new national standard for protecting children and families from the ideological weaponization of child protective systems.”
The Center for Christian Virtue Policy Director David Mahan was also present for the bill’s introduction and spoke …
Ohio Bill Would Protect Parents for Refusing to Go Along With Transgender Ideology
Who's accountable for the results?
A bill from Republican Ohio state Reps. Josh Williams and Gary Click looks to continue Ohio Republicans’ fight against transgender ideology.
The legislation introduced this week, titled the Affirming Families First Act, “is about protecting families from government overreach and ensuring parents are not punished for raising their children consistent with biological reality.” Williams told The Daily Signal.
“No parent should lose custody, face state intervention, or be deemed unfit simply for affirming a child’s sex,” the Ohio lawmaker added.
? BREAKING: I just introduced legislation in the Ohio House to BAN state agencies from taking action against parents who refuse to allow their children to change their gender.
While states like California are turning themselves into "refuges" for children with gender dysphoria,…
— Rep. Josh Williams (@JoshWilliamsOH) February 11, 2026
What’s in the Bill?
The two Ohio Republicans argue this bill is necessary to protect parental rights.
A press release from Click’s office explains that the bill “prohibits a parent’s affirmation of a child’s biological sex from constituting the basis to restrict access to the child, deny the child’s return, limit decision-making authority over the child’s physical or mental health care or withhold information about the child.”
The bill also prohibits “investigating a report of abuse or child neglect if the sole basis for the report is the parent’s or guardian’s affirmation of the child’s biological sex.”
The Heritage Foundation’s Laura Hanford was present for the bill’s introduction. She also co-authored a report titled “States Must Refuse to Define ‘Abuse’ as Raising a Child According to His or Her Sex.”
“For decades, ideologues have worked behind the scenes to weaponize Child Protective Services in the states,” Hanford warned in her report. This “includes accusing parents of ‘abuse’ if they fail to affirm their child’s discordant ‘gender identity.'”
Hanford explained how the government has attempted to weaponize gender identity in an interview with The Daily Signal.
“There is no scientific evidence or marker for ‘gender identity,’ yet parents from coast to coast have lost their children for refusing to adopt this belief system that a child can be born in the wrong body,” Hanford said. “Incredibly, in the upside-down universe of gender ideology, it is ‘abuse’ not to sterilize, castrate, or use wrong-sex pronouns for one’s child.”
“Parents can suddenly find themselves facing a hostile phalanx of ideologues in courts, schools and child welfare systems, who have spent minutes with their child but are suddenly the ‘safe adults’ while parents who have spent a lifetime loving and caring for their children are deemed ‘abusers,'” Hanford continued.
Williams and Click have offered what Hanford terms “a critically important bill” that “is the most comprehensive in the country on this issue,” and “sets a new national standard for protecting children and families from the ideological weaponization of child protective systems.”
The Center for Christian Virtue Policy Director David Mahan was also present for the bill’s introduction and spoke …
0 Comments
0 Shares
46 Views
0 Reviews
