The move is a stunning blow to proponents of gender affirming care bans and shows that there may be cracks in the Republican Party's strategy on targeting trans youth.
I did just that! I thanked him for making Ohio a safe and welcoming place for transgender people and a place that would be proud to call him their governor!
I do hope that Dewine has more courage and commitment to the truth than Utah's Governor, Spencer Cox and that Ohio enjoys a better outcome.
In 2022, Cox vetoed a proposed trans sports ban saying "Never have so few been the target of so much hate."
A year later and clearly having been visited by senior Republican handlers, Cox couldn't muster a single supportive thought while signing bills to ban care for trans youth, to ban participation in sports, etc. In the run up to 2024 he's obsessed with targeting all things diverse. The whole time he perseverates about how important it is to disagree in a civil manner. You know, be civil while being indifferent to the real harm you're doing to vulnerable trans kids (while claiming to be really concerned about youth suicide).
I guess what I'm getting at is do not take Dewine's veto as evidence of what he will do in the future and that he really does care more about kids than he does about pandering to party officials and wanting nothing more than to stay in office.
Erin, I am impressed at how quickly you published this post! I had barely finished watching Gov. DeWine’s press conference when this post dropped. Thank you for all you do to cover trans rights & politics across the country!
I live in Ohio and have been fighting gender-affirming healthcare ban bills for the last 3 years. I didn’t realize how much stress & emotion I had been holding inside until I could tell from DeWine’s comments that he was leading up to an announcement of his veto. Then I just started crying in relief! I honestly did not trust that DeWine would have the courage to veto HB68. I am so glad I was wrong! As I said above: Today we celebrate the veto. In 2024, we get back to work advocating against a veto override!
I'm so relieved for those families including the ones traveling from nearby states to get the care they need. I am so proud of the people who are stepping up with their voices to fight back against this wave of hate across the country. It seems to be having an effect. Thank you Erin.
NO WAY!! I am shocked and also pleasantly surprised. Let's hope this is more than a brief reprieve, because he just destroyed any chance with his base for reelection.
Gov. DeWine is term-limited and cannot run for reelection again - which could explain why he had the courage to stand up to the extremists in his own party. He doesn’t have to worry about political backlash because his career is over when his term is up in 2026.
Totally fair. DeWine’s nickname is “Spineless DeWine” because he rarely has the courage to stand up to the extremists. I honestly didn’t think he would do it on HB68, so I was literally crying tears of relief as I watched the press conference this morning!
HUGE relief in my household. We know the fight's not over yet, but this was amazing to watch today. Thank you x 1,000,000 for all your work, and particularly your work on this. <3
This is great news, but I am not overly reassured, since the Ohio legislature can (and if past experiences in UT and KY are any guide, probably will) override the veto.
I live in Ohio and have been fighting gender-affirming care ban bills for 3 years now. To answer your question: Republicans have a Supermajority in the Ohio Statehouse, so they could easily override a veto. But there is also a lot of in-fighting among the Republicans in the Statehouse right now, so it is unclear whether all of them will vote to override. Today, we celebrate the veto! In 2024, we get back to advocating against any override of DeWine’a veto.
Thanks, Erin. DeWine strikes me as a fundamentally decent person. In my world, I foremost want to avoid government meddling in healthcare decisions. This is an area where scientists need to be regarded as opposed to politicians. For me the mentioned study is simply confirmatory of what I believe.
What do I believe as a scientist? First, most issues (which shouldn't really be issues) surrounding almost everything Erin writes about are a result of nature, as opposed to nurture. Also, like many other things, we do not have the answers on that front, but the evidence we have points in one direction.
What do I believe as a human being? That individuals are better contributors to society when they can be themselves, as that factor alone will allow them to fully express themselves. I also believe it is wrong to question anyone’s sexuality - I mean, is there really anything more private?
Finally some good news for transgender rights and from the state of Ohio. I will write to Gov. DeWine to thank him. It's sad to say that this took political courage from him, but it did.
The irony of Mr. Click's perspective, making wild claims about Satanic plots to promote LGBTQ stuff, is that it's the reverse of the *truth*, that it's really these "Christian" white nationalists who are doing Satan's work by *not* being egalitarian and inclusive. DeWine, though, did a good deed, here. He told the dude, this isn't a game, it's reality, it's life and death. Click's proposed law would have exacerbated an already difficult issue, for people, it's hate, it's willful ignorance. But we will come out on top, at the end of the day, I know it, because God *does* love trans and any people, and we're not going to relent on making an enlightened, peaceful society a reality.
Republicans need to understand that the government that can determine health care decisions for their children (banning gender affirming treatment) can also be the government to compel medical care for their children (forced sterilization).
525 opponents of this bill, and 43 supporters which include the grifters-for-hire Cole and Gaines. Almost as if there is on one side a mass of people whose lives are directly affected by this bill, and a coterie of shysters and chancers on the other.
Governor DeWine's Veto was HUGE, everyone. If you'd like to thank him for making the decision to protect trans youth in the state, go do so here:
https://governor.ohio.gov/contact
I did just that! I thanked him for making Ohio a safe and welcoming place for transgender people and a place that would be proud to call him their governor!
https://i.imgur.com/SurE8mN.png
I for one would not like to thank my governor.
I do hope that Dewine has more courage and commitment to the truth than Utah's Governor, Spencer Cox and that Ohio enjoys a better outcome.
In 2022, Cox vetoed a proposed trans sports ban saying "Never have so few been the target of so much hate."
A year later and clearly having been visited by senior Republican handlers, Cox couldn't muster a single supportive thought while signing bills to ban care for trans youth, to ban participation in sports, etc. In the run up to 2024 he's obsessed with targeting all things diverse. The whole time he perseverates about how important it is to disagree in a civil manner. You know, be civil while being indifferent to the real harm you're doing to vulnerable trans kids (while claiming to be really concerned about youth suicide).
I guess what I'm getting at is do not take Dewine's veto as evidence of what he will do in the future and that he really does care more about kids than he does about pandering to party officials and wanting nothing more than to stay in office.
Erin, I am impressed at how quickly you published this post! I had barely finished watching Gov. DeWine’s press conference when this post dropped. Thank you for all you do to cover trans rights & politics across the country!
I live in Ohio and have been fighting gender-affirming healthcare ban bills for the last 3 years. I didn’t realize how much stress & emotion I had been holding inside until I could tell from DeWine’s comments that he was leading up to an announcement of his veto. Then I just started crying in relief! I honestly did not trust that DeWine would have the courage to veto HB68. I am so glad I was wrong! As I said above: Today we celebrate the veto. In 2024, we get back to work advocating against a veto override!
I knew he would :) Prewrote.
I'm so relieved for those families including the ones traveling from nearby states to get the care they need. I am so proud of the people who are stepping up with their voices to fight back against this wave of hate across the country. It seems to be having an effect. Thank you Erin.
NO WAY!! I am shocked and also pleasantly surprised. Let's hope this is more than a brief reprieve, because he just destroyed any chance with his base for reelection.
Gov. DeWine is term-limited and cannot run for reelection again - which could explain why he had the courage to stand up to the extremists in his own party. He doesn’t have to worry about political backlash because his career is over when his term is up in 2026.
Ok, that actually makes a ton of sense in this context. But at the same time also makes me have even less respect for him as a person 😅
Totally fair. DeWine’s nickname is “Spineless DeWine” because he rarely has the courage to stand up to the extremists. I honestly didn’t think he would do it on HB68, so I was literally crying tears of relief as I watched the press conference this morning!
Though I will add, he's still not moving in the right direction, considering his caveats.
HUGE relief in my household. We know the fight's not over yet, but this was amazing to watch today. Thank you x 1,000,000 for all your work, and particularly your work on this. <3
This is great news, but I am not overly reassured, since the Ohio legislature can (and if past experiences in UT and KY are any guide, probably will) override the veto.
Yay! Kudos to Gov. Mike Dewine!
How likely does a three-fifths veto override seem at this point?
I live in Ohio and have been fighting gender-affirming care ban bills for 3 years now. To answer your question: Republicans have a Supermajority in the Ohio Statehouse, so they could easily override a veto. But there is also a lot of in-fighting among the Republicans in the Statehouse right now, so it is unclear whether all of them will vote to override. Today, we celebrate the veto! In 2024, we get back to advocating against any override of DeWine’a veto.
Yes....I like that you said for today we celebrate the veto!
That is a good question.
Thanks, Erin. DeWine strikes me as a fundamentally decent person. In my world, I foremost want to avoid government meddling in healthcare decisions. This is an area where scientists need to be regarded as opposed to politicians. For me the mentioned study is simply confirmatory of what I believe.
What do I believe as a scientist? First, most issues (which shouldn't really be issues) surrounding almost everything Erin writes about are a result of nature, as opposed to nurture. Also, like many other things, we do not have the answers on that front, but the evidence we have points in one direction.
What do I believe as a human being? That individuals are better contributors to society when they can be themselves, as that factor alone will allow them to fully express themselves. I also believe it is wrong to question anyone’s sexuality - I mean, is there really anything more private?
Finally some good news for transgender rights and from the state of Ohio. I will write to Gov. DeWine to thank him. It's sad to say that this took political courage from him, but it did.
https://governor.ohio.gov/contact
Amazing news!
The irony of Mr. Click's perspective, making wild claims about Satanic plots to promote LGBTQ stuff, is that it's the reverse of the *truth*, that it's really these "Christian" white nationalists who are doing Satan's work by *not* being egalitarian and inclusive. DeWine, though, did a good deed, here. He told the dude, this isn't a game, it's reality, it's life and death. Click's proposed law would have exacerbated an already difficult issue, for people, it's hate, it's willful ignorance. But we will come out on top, at the end of the day, I know it, because God *does* love trans and any people, and we're not going to relent on making an enlightened, peaceful society a reality.
Republicans need to understand that the government that can determine health care decisions for their children (banning gender affirming treatment) can also be the government to compel medical care for their children (forced sterilization).
525 opponents of this bill, and 43 supporters which include the grifters-for-hire Cole and Gaines. Almost as if there is on one side a mass of people whose lives are directly affected by this bill, and a coterie of shysters and chancers on the other.
Fantastic write up, Erin. Thanks for all the work you do.