Two Ohio House Republicans have introduced the “Affirming Families First Act,” which would state that referring to and raising a child in line with the child’s biological sex—such as using a child’s given name and sex-based pronouns—cannot, by itself, be treated as abuse, neglect, or contrary to a child’s best interests in certain custody-related decisions.
The Affirming Families First Act, introduced in the Ohio House and promoted by Republicans Reps. Josh Williams and Gary Click, would restrict state agencies and courts from treating a parent’s decision to refer to and raise a child consistent with the child’s biological sex as grounds, by itself, for allegations of abuse or neglect or as a factor weighing against the parent in some family-court determinations.
In comments to The Daily Wire, Williams said, “No parent should lose custody, face state intervention, or be deemed unfit simply for affirming a child’s sex,” adding that the proposal would clarify that “affirming biological sex is not abuse, neglect, or contrary to a child’s best interest — it is a protected parental right.”
According to The Daily Wire, the bill would also prohibit Ohio agencies from using state funds for training or programming that characterizes affirming a child’s sex as abuse or neglect. Click told The Daily Wire that he viewed the measure as a response to what he described as government overreach, saying it was “unconscionable” for officials to treat parents as dangerous for declining to support gender-nonconforming clothing or for using sex-based pronouns.
The proposal is being debated amid wider scrutiny of how child-welfare systems handle sexual orientation and gender identity issues. In Cuyahoga County, the Division of Children and Family Services has published written guidance titled “Safe Identification of LGBTQ2S+ Youth.” The policy—revised effective April 1, 2022—states that workers should conduct “a conversation about SOGIE” (sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression) with youth ages 13 to 21 who have an open case, in part to assess whether a child is “unsafe” because of rejection and to offer what the policy describes as “SOGIE affirming” resources. The policy also says “Youth in their own homes or in substitute care deserve to reside with affirming caregivers and other household members.”
Separately, the Texas attorney general’s office has said that it challenged a Biden-era federal rule tied to foster-care program requirements for LGBTQI+ children, and that the rule was later vacated in its entirety through a final judgment.
Other states have enacted measures framed as limiting child-welfare investigations based solely on parents’ refusal to socially affirm a child’s gender identity. Indiana enacted HB 1412, which states that child abuse or neglect does not include raising or referring to a child in a manner consistent with the child’s biological sex; accounts from Indiana’s judicial-branch legislative update and advocacy organizations place the bill’s enactment in May 2025. In North Carolina, a new law titled the Parents Protection Act (SB 442) was signed by Gov. Josh Stein on July 3, 2025, and includes language stating that raising or referring to a juvenile consistent with the juvenile’s biological sex may not, by itself, support an abuse or neglect petition.
Claims that similar protections have already been enacted in Texas, or that pending bills in other states mirror Ohio’s proposal, could not be independently confirmed from primary legislative sources reviewed for this article.
The broader national debate has also included individual disputes cited by advocacy groups. The Daily Wire reported that Erin Lee, a Colorado parent, said she faced a child-protective-services response after refusing to “affirm” her child’s asserted transgender identity; those details are based on her account and were not independently verified here. The article also quoted Laura Hanford, identified as a senior policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation’s Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Human Flourishing, who argued that child removals based on gender-identity conflicts can expose children to harm in state care—an assertion that was presented as opinion and was not substantiated with case-specific documentation in the materials reviewed.
The Ohio bill has not yet become law, and its prospects will depend on committee action and votes in the Republican-controlled legislature.
