LGBTQ+ rights
Queer Halloween saved lives
For many queer and trans folks, Halloween was the one safe place we could express ourselves. It’s been that way for centuries. In 1848, Columbus, Ohio, became one the first cities to officially outlaw people wearing clothing that didn’t align with one’s assigned sex at birth, known at different points of history as cross-dressing, drag […]
Ohio representatives file new anti-trans bill, targeting health care providers
Ohio House lawmakers are running back a fight over trans youth in the state. But this time, instead of focusing on school sports, the proposal would prohibit offering minors any kind of gender affirming treatment — from hormones to surgery. The measure, H.B. 454, puts the onus on health care providers by defining that treatment […]
DeWine signs budget, blocks erasure of COVID-19 health violations
Gov. Mike DeWine signed the $74 billion, two-year state budget into law, keeping in place nearly all of its signature policy positions and spending priorities while once again nixing an effort by Republican lawmakers to counter his administration’s methods of handling the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. The governor also vetoed an attempt by Republican lawmakers to […]
Supreme Court affirms transgender rights in declining to hear Virginia school bathroom case
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday that it will not hear a case of a transgender student in Virginia who was barred from using the boys’ bathroom, a decision that affirms lower-court rulings that said treating transgender students differently violates federal law. Justices on the top court offered no comment in declining to take […]
Trans kids in the U.S. were seeking treatment decades before today’s political battles
By Jules Gill-Peterson, University of Pittsburgh In 1942, a 17-year-old transgender girl named Lane visited a doctor in her Missouri hometown with her parents. Lane had known that she was a girl from a very young age, but fights with her parents over her transness had made it difficult for her to live comfortably and […]
I’m a pediatrician who cares for transgender kids – here’s what you need to know
By Dr. Mandy Coles, Boston University When Charlie, a 10-year-old boy, came in for his first visit, he didn’t look at me or my colleague. Angry and crying, he insisted to us that he was cisgender – that he was a boy and had been born male. A few months before Charlie came into our […]
Trans Day of Visibility offers chance for community to stand in solidarity and support
By Jay A. Irwin, University of Nebraska Omaha Visibility within the transgender community is often a Catch-22, especially for trans people of color, or those living in rural, conservative areas. Hiding one’s identity can be a damaging experience and increase feelings of isolation, stigma and shame. But standing out as a trans person can make […]
Shawnee professor can sue university over gender identity policy, appellate court says
A Shawnee State philosophy professor is allowed to continue his lawsuit against the university over disciplinary action the university took after he refused to use the preferred pronouns of a student. Nicholas Meriwether appealed to the Ohio 6th District Court of Appeals after a lower court agreed to a magistrate judge’s decision to dismiss Meriwether’s […]
Anti-discrimination ‘Fairness Act’ back in legislature with more GOP support
A bill to add LGBTQ people to the list of those protected from discrimination in the state of Ohio is once again coming to the legislature, this time with more bipartisan support. As she has done in every General Assembly since she became a senator in 2011, State Sen. Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, is sponsoring the […]
Congressional Dems bent the universe toward justice last week. We need to keep pushing
Hopes of getting an increase to the piteously low federal minimum wage tucked into the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill were dealt a serious blow last week when the U.S. Senate’s Parliamentarian ruled that it couldn’t be included in the massive legislative package now moving through Congress. The announcement that came Thursday night was widely […]
Transgender Ohioans win birth certificate lawsuit against the state
Four transgender Ohioans who sued the state after it refused to change their birth certificates to reflect their identities have won their lawsuit. A judge in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Ohio Eastern Division ruled in favor of Stacie Ray, Basil Argento, Jane Doe, and Ashley Breda, saying an Ohio Department […]
Pastors, religious groups speak to Ohio Fairness Act
Religious leaders across the state had their turn to speak on the Ohio Fairness Act, though many spoke on issues that were taken out of the bill as soon as the committee hearing began. The sponsors of House Bill 369, a bill that originally expanded state civil rights law to prohibit discrimination based on sexual […]