Transgender students in Ohio will soon be required to use bathrooms and locker rooms in schools that match their biological sex under a new law. The governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine, signed the bill Wednesday.

The law, which will take effect in 90 days, impacts students in grades K-12 and college students in public and private colleges. It requires students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond to their biological sex and bans multi-occupancy gender-neutral bathrooms. It also bans transgender students from sharing rooms for overnight school events with students who are not of the same biological sex. 

It does not apply to school employees or people with disabilities. It also does not apply to children who are less than 10 years old and need assistance from a parent or guardian. 

The Ohio Senate passed the bill, which was part of legislation about the state’s college credit program, on November 13. Mr. DeWine indicated at the time that he was likely to sign it. However, his office told the Associated Press it would conduct a legal review of the bill before making a decision.

The state representative who proposed the bill, Adam Bird, thanked Mr. DeWine for signing the legislation, writing on X that he is “thankful that individuals will not have to worry about the opposite sex coming into the restrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms.”

The attorney general of Ohio, Dave Yost, also thanked Mr. DeWine for “siding with biology, history, safety, and common sense.”

While Republicans celebrated the passage of the law, the ACLU of Ohio criticized it in a press release, saying it is a “cruel invasion of students’ rights to privacy, which could result in unwarranted governmental disclosures of private, personal information.” It also says the law will “create unsafe environments for trans and gender non-conforming individuals of all ages.”

Ohio will join 11 other states in America that require students to use bathrooms that correspond to their biological sex at school. 

In January, lawmakers in Ohio voted to override Mr. Dewine’s veto of legislation that bans transgender procedures for minors and prevents transgender athletes from competing in female sports.

Mr. DeWine’s decision to sign the bill comes a week after a controversy broke out at Washington, D.C., over whether a newly elected Democrat, Sarah McBride, who is the first openly transgender member of Congress, would be able to use the women’s restrooms and changing rooms in the Capitol.

House Speaker Johnson said individuals will have to use the facilities in the Capitol and House office buildings that correspond to their biological sex.