The Ohio Legislature is currently considering a ban on DEI Programs in public K-12 schools (HB 155/SB 113) and legislation that would ban school staff from using students’ preferred names/pronouns (HB 190).
We can act on our values of justice and human dignity today by respecting Ohio kids of all races, genders, religions, and backgrounds: tell your state legislator to oppose HB 115, SB 113, and HB 190 today.
Background
HB 155 (and its companion bill in the Senate, SB 113), would require every local school district in Ohio to create and enforce a policy that bans Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). This policy would ban DEI trainings, departments, the use of DEI in job descriptions, and other efforts to ensure that schools are equitable places to work and learn. Districts would also be required to take and investigate every complaint about DEI efforts that might be taking place in the district.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is about creating a culture that is welcoming to and reflective of people of all ages, races, religions or no religion, genders, sexual orientations, dis/abilities, socio-economic backgrounds, and any systemically marginalized group. By joining together across difference in the past, we have made progress towards a welcoming and inclusive culture: ending enslavement and Jim Crow, expanding voting rights, winning the Americans with Disabilities Act, advancing LGBTQ+ equality, and more. DEI programs are essential to protecting and continuing that progress.
HB 190 would prohibit teachers and staff in Ohio public schools from using their students’ preferred names or pronouns without parental permission. The bill also requires teachers and staff to report students who ask to be called by their preferred names or pronouns. School districts that do not follow this law would have 10% of their state funding withheld.
We must continue to speak out for the freedom of every child to be their true self, regardless of gender. According to the Centers for Disease Control’s 2024 survey, an estimated forty percent of transgender and questioning students were bullied at school, and sixty-nine percent of questioning students and seventy-two percent of transgender students experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, symptoms that are markers for depression (CDC). Policies like HB 190 would cut off a critical avenue for them to for kids who find the freedom and respect they deserve at school.
Jewish Values
The Jewish call to pursue צדק (tzedek, justice) and uphold the כבוד (kavod, dignity) of every human being is rooted in the foundational belief that all people are created בצלם אלהים (b’tzelem Elohim, in the divine image). Our Movement’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and LGBTQ+ equality also comes from a concern for our own community, which itself is beautifully diverse, made up of Jews of Color, LGBTQ+ Jews, interfaith families, and people of different abilities and backgrounds.
When Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are suppressed, Jews are made less safe. Recent anti-DEI efforts have banned Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorations and emboldened opponents of Jewish vibrancy. While we are mindful of the concern that DEI initiatives have not always addressed antisemitism, and some proponents have shared visions of the future that differ from our own, we are clear that it is necessary to advance DEI efforts that are inclusive of Jewish safety, identities and history.
Jewish tradition is also clear on the need to respect gender diversity and support transgender inclusion. Many Jewish texts affirm the existence of transgender, non-binary, intersex, and gender-expansive individuals. There are hundreds of references to at least six different sex and gender identities across Jewish legal codes and Rabbinic commentary.
For more information
Visit the RAC-OH website, or contact RAC-OH Organizer Jacob Kraus-Preminger.
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