Category Archives: Blog
By md Spicer-Sitzes on October 12, 2021 in Blog
We believe BIPOC staff when they share experiences of racism and anti-Blackness. Knowing you will be believed is empowering. We call on ourselves as an organization as well as our partners to always create space for people who have been harmed by racial injustice and offer the opportunity for staff to honestly name their experiences. It’s not easy to speak up without knowing whether your colleagues will believe you and stand alongside you. We unequivocally stand in solidarity with current and former BIPOC Equitas employees and commit to continuing the work of modifying our own organizational structure to model the working world we want to see.
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Category Archives: Blog
By md Spicer-Sitzes on October 11, 2021 in Blog
A Commitment to Mission Means Not Just Condemning But Combating Racism In All Forms
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Category Archives: Blog
By md Spicer-Sitzes on September 24, 2021 in Blog
On September 22nd, Equality Ohio’s Public Policy Director, Maria Bruno, testified against HB322 and HB327, Ohio’s anti-honesty in education bills (or anti-critical race theory bills). You can read our testimony […]
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Category Archives: Blog
By md Spicer-Sitzes on September 22, 2021 in Blog
LGBTQ+ Ohioans are experiencing an uptick in legislative attacks in 2021. This general assembly, state lawmakers are attempting to pass bills that seek to exclude transgender and non-binary athletes from […]
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Category Archives: Blog
By md Spicer-Sitzes on August 26, 2021 in Blog
New Public Policy Director set to continue state and local advocacy and increase capacity to improve laws for LGBTQ+ Ohioans FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 26, 2021 CONTACT: MD Spicer-Sitzes, [email protected] […]
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Category Archives: Blog
By Dominic Detwiler on July 29, 2021 in Blog
As our community started to come out of 18 months of quarantine and COVID-19 restrictions and celebrated Pride Month, Equality Ohio’s advocacy team was working hard at the Statehouse to defend against some of the most aggressive attacks on LGBTQ+ Ohioans we’ve seen. All in all, with your help, we were able to stop one of the two attacks. The second—a provision allowing medical providers to refuse services they deem to be in violation of their beliefs—was snuck into the state’s budget bill and ultimately signed into law. Now, we are focusing on mitigating the harm that our community experiences as a result of the provision’s passage while pursuing all options possible to overturn it.
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Category Archives: Blog
By md Spicer-Sitzes on June 16, 2021 in Blog
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 16, 2021 CONTACT: Yunny Seo, [email protected] Ohio Faith Leaders Urge Senators Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown to Support the Equality and Protect LGBTQ People from Discrimination […]
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Category Archives: Blog
By Dominic Detwiler on June 15, 2021 in Blog
Today, we submitted testimony on SB182, which will reform Ohio’s unjust system of cash bail. The current system has left countless individuals stuck in jail for years, even before their trial, not because of anything they did, but because they couldn’t afford to pay the bail set by the courts. Because these long pre-trial detentions are based on the inability to pay, people of color and LGBTQ+ people disproportionately experience the dangerous knock-on effects of Ohio’s cash bail system. SB182 and companion legislation in the House, HB315, are important steps as we seek to create a more equitable and just legal system in Ohio.
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Category Archives: Blog
By md Spicer-Sitzes on May 26, 2021 in Blog
Equality Ohio, in partnership with Equitas Health, Living With Change, OCTOPUS LLC, and TransOhio, will be working to assist those who want help changing their birth certificate to reflect their gender.
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Category Archives: Blog
By Siobhan Boyd-Nelson on April 20, 2021 in News
Today, we have witnessed a single act toward justice, and our hearts are still heavy. We celebrate the valuing of George Floyd’s life, and we are still in deep mourning […]
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Category Archives: Blog
By md Spicer-Sitzes on April 15, 2021 in Community
We pause once again, this time to honor the lives of Daunte Wright and Miles Jackson, two young Black men whose lives faced too many unnecessary risks. We grieve the […]
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Category Archives: Blog
By md Spicer-Sitzes on March 26, 2021 in Blog
The Board of Directors of the OHSAA, Executive Director’s Office and member schools do hereby reaffirm the following policy considerations respecting participation in interscholastic sports in Ohio: 1. Participation in […]
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Category Archives: Blog
By Siobhan Boyd-Nelson on March 19, 2021 in Blog
As Ohioans, we must continue the ongoing work to be truly anti-racist. Across party lines, leaders and communities alike are calling for an end to White Supremacy. Its destructive path has no place in public office or civic duty…
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Category Archives: Blog
By Dominic Detwiler on March 4, 2021 in Blog
This morning, a bipartisan, bicameral group of Ohio legislators announced that they are reintroducing the Ohio Fairness Act at the Ohio Statehouse, joined by faith leaders, community advocates, and over 1,000 businesses across the state demanding we protect LGBTQ+ Ohioans from discrimination.
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Category Archives: Blog
By Dominic Detwiler on February 5, 2021 in Blog
The 134th General Assembly is only a month old, and extreme anti-LGBTQ+ lawmakers have already begun their attacks on transgender youth. This morning, Representatives Jena Powell and Reggie Stoltzfus reintroduced their blanket ban on transgender athletes in high school and college sports. In the face of an ongoing pandemic and calls for meaningful criminal justice reform, Reps. Powell (R-Arcanum) and Stoltzfus (R-Paris Township) wasted no time in bringing back this incredibly dangerous and discriminatory bill.
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Category Archives: Blog
By Dominic Detwiler on February 4, 2021 in Blog
Today, members of the Ohio Senate, led by Senators Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) and Tina Maharath (D-Canal Winchester), introduced SB 50, which would prohibit the fraudulent and dangerous practice of attempting to change a young person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, sometimes called “conversion therapy” or “reparative therapy”.
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Category Archives: Blog
By Dominic Detwiler on January 25, 2021 in Blog
Today, President Biden issued an Executive Order reversing the Trump administration’s policy banning transgender Americans from openly serving in the U.S. military. We celebrate this renewed reflection of equality as […]
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Category Archives: Blog
By Dominic Detwiler on January 7, 2021 in Blog
We, like so many, are in shock at the terrorist attacks of the past twenty-four hours that sought to undermine our democracy.
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Category Archives: Blog
By Dominic Detwiler on December 28, 2020 in Blog
Last week, the Queer Partnership for Black Liberation, a group of Black LGBTQ+ leaders in Columbus sent a letter to Columbus Mayor, Andrew Ginther in response to the murder of Andre Hill by Columbus Division of Police officer, Adam Coy.
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Category Archives: Blog
By Dominic Detwiler on December 23, 2020 in Blog
For years, LGBTQ+ people have been involuntary victims of various political conflicts, and unfortunately, the Ohio Fairness Act suffered that same fate this General Assembly. Despite knowing that they had the support they needed to pass the Ohio Fairness Act, these leaders let politics prevent the Legislature from doing what is right for Ohio in Lame Duck.
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Category Archives: Blog
By Dominic Detwiler on December 3, 2020 in Blog
Today, the Ohio House Primary & Secondary Education Committee held a sponsor testimony hearing on HB527, which seeks to ban transgender athletes from high school and college athletics. The bill, sponsored by Representatives Jane Powell and Reggie Stoltzfus, is one of the most extreme legislative attacks on transgender Ohioans that we have seen. Today, those Representatives were given an opportunity to share their anti-transgender rhetoric with the committee and the state.
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Category Archives: Blog
By Dominic Detwiler on November 12, 2020 in Blog
One week after one of the most important presidential elections of our lifetimes, we have a clear winner. Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris are now President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris.
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Category Archives: Blog
By Dominic Detwiler on November 5, 2020 in Blog
We made it. Voting in the 2020 Election has finally concluded, and Ohioans’ voices have been heard. There’s a lot to talk about and a lot we still don’t know yet, but Equality Ohio’s policy team has been up with you through the past 48 hours to help figure out just what happened and how it will impact LGBTQ+ Ohioans.
As a reminder, Equality Ohio is a non-partisan organization that does not endorse candidates or parties. We do have an Elected Official Scorecard that graded candidates for President and Vice President, as well as incumbent members of the Ohio Legislature. We’ll use those grades a lot in this analysis.
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Category Archives: Blog
By Dominic Detwiler on October 22, 2020 in Blog
Equality Ohio stands firmly in solidarity with those demanding police accountability in Columbus and urges a Yes vote on Issue 2 as part of the ongoing dialogue and process to increase police accountability.
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Category Archives: Blog
By Dominic Detwiler on September 30, 2020 in Blog
Right now, as people are facing job loss and evictions due to COVID-19, it is more important than ever to ensure that those experiencing homelessness have access to shelters and other services. The last thing we should be doing is taking those resources away.
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Category Archives: Blog
By Dominic Detwiler on September 10, 2020 in Blog
Our 2020 Elected Official Scorecard is ready to help you prepare to vote this November! It grades current members of the Ohio General Assembly, as well as candidates for President […]
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Category Archives: Blog
By Dominic Detwiler on July 16, 2020 in Blog
Today, Representative Tavia Galonski (D-Akron) and 29 of her colleagues introduced HB729, which will permanently designate June as Pride Month in Ohio. Designating Pride Month would be an important first […]
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Category Archives: Blog
By Alana Jochum on July 15, 2020 in Blog
These are some tangible steps, among others, that we are actively engaging in to live out our values of anti-racism. But I think the important thing to convey to you is this: We understand that being anti-racist is not a “check-list.” It is an everyday practice; a state of mind. We have and are continuing to embed these values into the very fabric of our organization. They include actively using equitable hiring practices; supporting our staff of color in a variety of ways, including taking labor off our Black and POC staff at this emotionally difficult time to support their full selves; ensuring our internal culture recognizes and actively works to not perpetuate the habits of white supremacy; and onboarding staff and Board members to understand, agree to, and exemplify this culture.
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Category Archives: Blog
By Dominic Detwiler on June 24, 2020 in Blog
Today, the Ohio Senate Committee on Health, Human Services, and Medicaid is holding a second hearing on SCR 14, which will designate racism as a public health crisis. We submitted […]
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Category Archives: Blog
By md Spicer-Sitzes on June 9, 2020 in Blog
Columbus is one of many cities across Ohio and across the country trying to resolve its ambitions of character with the behavior of its police––on Friday, June 6 2020, Black […]
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Category Archives: Blog
By md Spicer-Sitzes on May 31, 2020 in Blog
Columbus Urban League is calling for an economic protest for Monday, June 1. Equality Ohio staff are urged to participate as we affirm our solidarity with Columbus Urban League and […]
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Category Archives: Blog
By Alana Jochum on May 29, 2020 in Blog
This spring has been a stark and stinging reminder that racism, and its strategic objective, white supremacy, is as defining a characteristic of the American experience as those ideals upon which we claim to hold our democracy — justice, equality, liberty.
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Category Archives: Blog
By Kate Mozynski on May 19, 2020 in Blog
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many of us have been paying more attention than usual to our physical health over these past few weeks which is incredibly important. However, while […]
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Category Archives: Blog
By Emily Meyer on May 12, 2020 in Blog
In our latest legal clinic vlog, our Southwest attorney, Emily Meyer discusses various aspects to the Victim of Crime compensation program in the state of Ohio. What is the Victims […]
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Category Archives: Blog
By Andy Dugan on May 5, 2020 in Blog
As a result of the pandemic, hundreds of thousands of our fellow Ohioans are unemployed. For queer people who have been involved with the criminal justice system, it may be […]
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Category Archives: Blog
By Dominic Detwiler on April 30, 2020 in Blog
The 2020 Ohio Primary Election is officially over. Due to complications from the coronavirus, the election originally scheduled for March 17th was moved to an (almost) entirely vote-by-mail system with […]
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Category Archives: Blog
By md Spicer-Sitzes on April 29, 2020 in Blog
Despite the news and social media rumors, there is no statewide moratorium on rent in Ohio. There are some protections, but they vary widely by area and court––if you would […]
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Category Archives: Blog
By Dominic Detwiler on April 28, 2020 in Blog
I don’t have to tell you that the last several weeks have been difficult. Every day we are posed with new challenges to our routine way of life, and the […]
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Category Archives: Blog
By Emily Meyer on April 24, 2020 in Blog
We are keeping our eye on two pending federal lawsuits—one filed in Ohio, the other in Kentucky—involving college professors behaving poorly on matters of gender identity. In each case, the action was filed by a professor facing negative consequences from his employer as a result of his behavior.
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Category Archives: Blog
By md Spicer-Sitzes on April 24, 2020 in Blog
The LGBTQ+ community is no stranger to adversity. From hateful and deadly homophobic laws, to the Stonewall riots, and throughout the fight for equal rights that continues to this day, […]
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Category Archives: Blog
By md Spicer-Sitzes on April 10, 2020 in Blog
Non-violent individuals at risk of harm from COVID-19 should be released. Incarcerated populations should be lowered by releasing pre-trial detainees, administrative detainees, cease arrests for breaking old, outdated laws that criminalize people living with HIV.
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Category Archives: Blog
By md Spicer-Sitzes on April 8, 2020 in Blog
Some transgender Ohioans are experiencing trouble with obtaining unemployment benefits.
Anybody with a legal name change history may experience this challenge. We’ll work with them to fix this, but it will take time and if this problem affects you, you can’t wait. Here’s what you can do right now.
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Category Archives: Blog
By Cherima Chungag on April 3, 2020 in Blog
Ohio Governor Mike Dewine and Dr. Amy Acton recently extended his stay-at-home order for the state of Ohio due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This order has resulted in the temporary […]
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Category Archives: Blog
By Dominic Detwiler on April 2, 2020 in Blog
COVID-19 has brought dramatic changes to our lives and our government. One of the major impacts the pandemic has had here in Ohio is on our primary election. Scheduled for […]
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Category Archives: Blog
By Cherima Chungag on March 31, 2020 in Blog
????Yesterday––March 30––Idaho’s Governor signed into law two bills that target trans people and take away essential civil liberties like playing sports and accessing a correct birth certificate. Some Ohio legislators […]
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Category Archives: Blog
By md Spicer-Sitzes on March 26, 2020 in Blog
The Ohio Legislature acted the Ohio’s primary election amid coronavirus disruption. Here’s what you need to know about completing your Ohio primary vote. ♿️If you need to vote in-person because […]
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Category Archives: Blog
By Cherima Chungag on March 24, 2020 in Blog
Due to the recent coronavirus pandemic, many businesses in Ohio have been forced to temporarily shut their doors, leading to lost jobs and wages across the state. Our Southwest Ohio […]
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Category Archives: Blog
By Cherima Chungag on March 18, 2020 in Blog
This is not a replacement for 411 or existing community resource guides in your community. It is highly suggested you look at and support existing local resources. This guide is […]
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Category Archives: Blog
By md Spicer-Sitzes on March 17, 2020 in Blog
Ohio has “no-excuse” absentee voting. This means anybody can vote by mail without special circumstances. First, you need to request a ballot with this form (or in Spanish). We encourage you to do this as soon as possible in light of the changing and dynamic circumstances. Once you receive your official ballot, complete it and get it back in the mail as soon as possible. The situation has already changed more than once, and the sooner you get it in, the sooner your vote counts.
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Category Archives: Blog
By md Spicer-Sitzes on March 13, 2020 in Blog
The Secretary of State and Ohio’s counties are collaborating to ensure that voting happens on Tuesday even with changes required by the response to the COVID-19 virus. FOLLOW THE LATEST […]
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