LGBTQ+
Vouchers awards public Ohio tax dollars to discriminatory private religious schools
Public financing of parochial school prejudice is the law in Ohio. Take a minute to process, I’ll wait. The state has opened its coffers to Catholic schools that discriminate. The overwhelming amount of Ohio’s voucher money — free taxpayer money to offset private and religious school tuition — goes to Catholic schools. The Catholic Diocese […]
“God loves everyone.” Episcopal Church celebrates same-sex weddings in Ohio
Like many LGBTQ people, Olivia Hamilton never thought she would get married — let alone have her wedding in a Christian church. And to take it one step further, she now officiates weddings (same-sex and straight) as an ordained Episcopal priest in a Southwest Ohio parish. “The Episcopal Church understands marriage as a sacrament,” Hamilton […]
Ohio House passes bill blocking gender-affirming care and trans athletes
The Ohio House of Representatives passed a controversial bill that would prevent doctors from providing gender-affirming care to trans youth and prevents trans athletes from participating in Ohio women’s sports. Wednesday’s 64-28 vote comes a week after House Bill 6, dubbed the “Save Women’s Sports Act”, was added to House Bill 68, also known as […]
Ohio House Bill 8 would force schools to notify parents before teaching “sexuality content”
A controversial bill in the Ohio Statehouse would force educators to out students to their parents and require public schools to give parental notification before teaching “sexuality content.” House Bill 8 was introduced by State Reps. D.J. Swearingen, R-Huron, and Sara Carruthers, R-Hamilton, in February and opponents are saying it’s another anti-LGBTQ bill. Amendments recently […]
More than 200 people submit opponent testimony against bill to limit health care for LGBTQ youth
A handful of parents of transgender children spoke out against a controversial bill that would limit health care for LGBTQ+ youth. They were among the more than 200 people who submitted opponent testimony against House Bill 68 — also known as the Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act (SAFE Act) — Wednesday morning to the House […]
DeSantis, in Iowa, says GOP stance in culture wars will help win elections
IOWA – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told Iowa Republicans Friday that standing strong in the culture wars around issues like education, criminal justice, and health care in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic will help their party win elections. DeSantis, along with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, spoke to more than 600 Iowans at the Iowa […]
National ban on transgender athletes in girls’ sports passed by U.S. House panel
WASHINGTON – The U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee early Thursday passed a bill on a party-line vote that would block transgender girls from competing in school sports consistent with their gender identity, a reflection of a broader push in multiple states to curb the rights of transgender student athletes. The bill, H.R. 734, introduced by Rep. […]
Ohio GOP to reintroduce bill to prohibit transgender girls from school sports
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 bill to prohibit transgender girls in Ohio from playing school sports will be […]
LGBTQ kids need protection from bullies and violence, not adults targeting and bullying them too
I grew up in a struggling, post-industrial Ohio town in the 1990s where ignorance and intolerance often reigned. I stood up to bullies my whole life, and when put under physical threat, I fought them. No bully can intimidate me, and so even though I was definitely a weird kid, I was also funnier, smarter, […]
Anti-LGBTQ discrimination bill enters Ohio Senate again
An effort to include sexual orientation into anti-discrimination language in Ohio entered the Senate yet again, making the second such effort in currently in the General Assembly. State Sen. Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, presented the Ohio Fairness Act as Senate Bill 119 Wednesday in the Senate Government Oversight and Reform Committee. The bill is modeled after […]
Week of criticism for state board of education ends with offer of LGBTQ training
After Ohio’s State Board of Education heard days of criticism, along with legislation to potentially strip them of powers, the body is now preparing for yet another discussion on a resolution being seen as anti-trans. With that in mind, several groups representing LGBTQ youth and adults have offered a little education of their own. In […]
Anti-LGBTQ discrimination bill with bipartisan support introduced again in Ohio House committee
State Rep. Michael Skindell, D-Lakewood, set off Tuesday on his 20th year leading the charge to provide anti-discrimination protections to LGBTQ Ohioans. With the introduction of HB 208 in the Ohio House Commerce & Labor Committee, Skindell and his Republican co-sponsor, state Rep. Brett Hillyer, said they have more bipartisan support than they’ve ever had […]