“With its disgraceful vote today, the Ohio Board of Education made it clear that its commitment to the excellence and empowerment of all students is purely conditional. They’ve done this by falsely asserting that youth who are LGBTQ+, especially transgender students, do not have the same rights to thrive and succeed as do their peers. Queer youth are already at a heightened risk for experiencing stigma, shame, and isolation, especially as political extremists are turning the dial up on anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and violence. The Board’s decision will only further intensify the stigma many live through everyday. These adults have a duty to protect Ohio children, yet turning their backs on them to extend a radical, nakedly political agenda into the classroom fails to confront the real issues that schools in the state are facing.”