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Category Archives: News

Trans Realities in Ohio, Defending Our Joy

Over the course of June, The Defenders of Equality are bringing you stories from Trans folks across the state of Ohio about the joys and very real struggles they are experiencing, often at once.

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Category Archives: News

Shawnee State Response from Equality Ohio

Equality Ohio is disappointed in the outcome of the recent Shawnee State lawsuit, and we affirm that all transgender and non-binary students, staff and faculty deserve a safe, respectful environment […]

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Category Archives: News

Equality Ohio’s Statement of Solidarity

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: News

Statehouse Analysis: Work Ahead Of Us This Fall

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: News

Equality Ohio Supports Legislative Effort to Reform Cash Bail in Ohio

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: News

Caring for Ourselves

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: News

We Stand in Solidarity with AAPI Communities

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: News

Ohio Fairness Act reintroduced with strongest ever bipartisan coalition

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: News

Ohio Representatives Introduce Extreme Attack on Transgender Young People

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: News

Ohio Senators Introduce Bill to Protect Minors from Harmful Practice of so-called “Conversion Therapy”

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: News

Ohio Fairness Act falls victim to effects of Statehouse scandal and COVID-19

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: News

Bill to ban transgender athletes from high school and college sports receives statutorily required first hearing

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: News

2020 General Election Analysis: Wins, losses, and opportunities for the future

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: News

Endorsement: Vote Yes on Columbus Issue 2

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: News

Bill Designating Pride Month Introduced in Ohio House

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: News

A look at concrete institutional change toward racial justice at Equality Ohio

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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