Rather than address real issues, Ohio Republicans just go low
That Ohio House Bill 616 is a homophobic, bigoted piece of proposed legislation being pushed to fix a “problem” that doesn’t exist might not be the most-despicable thing about it.
The real affront of House Bill 616 is this: issues of real importance continue to go ignored by state politicians, particularly those from a party that still claims to oppose bigger government but salivates at the prospect of enacting garbage legislation like this.
HB 616 rips off an equally meanspirited Florida law that, in part, restricts how teachers talk about sexual orientation and gender identity. It would ban all discussion on those fronts until fourth grade in all public and most private schools. Older students could discuss these issues just so long as the teaching materials are “age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”
Given legislation of this type is typically birthed by adults who can’t say “gay” or “transgender” out loud without reaching for mouthwash, it’s unsettling to think what they consider “age appropriate or developmentally appropriate” teaching materials in this regard.
Reruns of “Leave it to Beaver,” perhaps. See, students? The woman does the housework, as is proper.
But HB 616 doesn’t stop there. It also would ban other concepts deemed “divisive,” including intersectional theory, inherited racial guilt, diversity, equity, inclusion and that grand boogeyman of purported educational brainwashing, critical race theory. You know, the theory that every child and almost every adult had not heard about, let alone received instruction in, until the wailing and gnashing of teeth that began a few years ago.
So what is House Bill 616 really about, aside from protecting Ohio’s children from the permanently scarring realization that some of their classmates might be raised by two moms or two dads? Nobody summed it up more succinctly than Scott Dimauro, president of the Ohio Education Association. That’s a union for educators, a detail to keep in mind.
“Fundamentally these bills are cynical attempts to use race and now sexual orientation and gender identity as wedge issues to cause division and sow conflict and ultimately to score cheap political points,” Dimauro said. “Legislators that are promoting these kinds of agendas ought to be ashamed of themselves.”
They ought to, but the shameless by definition do not experience shame.
The shameless in this particular instance are the bill’s co-sponsors, Reps.
Jean Schmidt, R-loveland, and Mike Loychik, R-bazetta, a place that calls itself “The Small Township with the Huge Heart.” Given that nickname, it's a bit of a surprise that Loychik hasn't moved out of town.
Today, in the interest of time, we'll focus on Loychik. If this is how Schmidt plans to use her return to politics, after an ethics scandal knocked her out of Congress in 2012, there should be plenty to talk about down the road.
Loychik is, according to the Ohio House website, the primary sponsor of 12 bills. Some are the usual legislative softball stuff, establishing grants and whatnot. Some, like House Bill 413 that would create better data collection on substance abuse services in Ohio, are legit.
A full third, though, are meaningless virtue-signaling: the wholly symbolic branding of Ohio as a Second Amendment Sanctuary state; a prohibition on school districts requiring students to wear masks; a proposed renaming of Mosquito Lake State Park to Donald J. Trump State Park; and HB 616.
Loychik, first elected to the Statehouse in 2020, says on his website that he has three issues: he is pro-gun, proagriculture, and pro-labor.
Googling “Loychik” and “guns” brings up plenty. “Loychik” and “agriculture,” considerably less.
And labor? Well, Loychik notes that he is from a union family and is “100 percent behind union workers.”
Recall that in terms of HB 616, Loychik most definitely does not have the Ohio Education Association's back. Then search “Loychik,” “Ohio,” and “unions” to see what else he's done on an issue that means so much to him, and to so many working Ohioans.
It won't take you long to go through his record. tdecker@dispatch.com @Theodore_decker