LGBTQ+ rights
The heart expands again during Pride month
Over the last few years, I’ve turned into a bit of a Pride Grinch. Being a Black queer and trans historian and observing the celebration of a radical anti-police protest turn into an excuse to hawk rainbow-tinted goods or watch twinks dance on the floats of banks that fund war and oil pipelines leaves a […]
Biden directs federal agencies to protect LGBTQI+ rights under attack in GOP-led states
President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday aiming to curtail conversion therapy, expand health care access and promote safe learning for LGBTQI+ people. The order is meant to counter laws in Republican-led states that restrict the rights of LGBTQI+ kids and their families. A senior administration official referenced Texas and Florida as two states […]
Schoolchildren do need protected: from fearful, intolerant, bigoted bills pushed by lawmakers
“We’ve got to protect the children!” You hear the refrain repeatedly from the gems trying to legislate banning and bullying in Ohio schools with bad to worse bills. “Save the innocents,” bray the right wingers angling for a break-out MAGA moment and the religious right on a mission from God. “From what?” you ask, as […]
Ohio Republicans celebrate Pride by creepily bullying female athletes and trans people
Transgender people — especially transgender people of color — have been leading the activist charge toward LGBTQ+ equality since the beginning, literally throwing the first bottles at the Stonewall riots. And since the beginning, they’ve been the most victimized. They remain so, and Ohio Republicans have devised a savagely creepy, abhorrent way to target and […]
After ‘anti-gay’ speech at Ohio high school graduation, LGBT students demand apology
The following article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland. MARION COUNTY, Ohio — LGBTQ+ students are demanding an apology from […]
Fact checking claims about gender-affirming care
The following article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland. A controversial bill in the Ohio House would prohibit LGBTQ+ youth […]
Freedom of speech is under attack in public schools, U.S. House panel told
Students and teachers told U.S. House members during a Thursday hearing that their right to talk about race and LGBTQ+ issues in public schools is being silenced due to an onslaught of new state laws as well as pressure on school boards from right-wing advocates. “To be crystal clear, this is about disrupting and destroying […]
Returning power over basic rights to illegally gerrymandered states like Ohio is a disaster
Gerrymandering destroys legitimate representation, so the U.S. Supreme Court returning power over basic civil rights to illegally gerrymandered states like Ohio is an absolute disaster in waiting. Many people will suffer horribly in ways big and small. Do you want your privacy rights, your health care rights, your marriage rights, your discrimination protections, and your […]
Fighting anti-trans legislation is suicide prevention
I’m trans. This year I turn 30, and my teenage self would be beyond surprised — not just at the joys that fill my life, but the fact that I’m alive at all. I’m part of the last generation that didn’t quite have the language for the feelings that flooded us as kids. I didn’t […]
Proposed anti-trans bill would prohibit care for LGBTQ youth
The following article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland. Only about 0.3-0.6% of people in the United States identify as […]
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 […]