Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on May 19, 2022 in Blog
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 19th, 2022 Contact: [email protected] Legislation Seeking to Ban Affirming Care Targets Already Vulnerable Ohio Youth with Medical Misinformation for Political Gain: Columbus– (May 19th) This morning, […]
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on May 3, 2022 in Blog
May 2nd, 2022 Updated May 6th, 2022 Community, We are angry, heartbroken, and more determined than ever after seeing the leaked draft version of Dobbs that seeks to overturn Roe […]
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on April 20, 2022 in Blog
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: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on February 17, 2022 in Blog
COLUMBUS, Ohio (February 16, 2021) – Tomorrow at 11am, the Ohio House Families, Aging and Human Services Committee will hear testimony on HB454, a bill that would give politicians the power to […]
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on December 23, 2021 in Blog
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DECEMBER 23rd 2021 Media Contact: [email protected] Equality Ohio Celebrates Holidays by Announcing New Deputy Director, Siobhan Boyd-Nelson New Deputy Director Boyd-Nelson poised to increase organizational capacity and […]
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on November 12, 2021 in Blog
Recently our team at Equality Ohio has experienced an alarming increase in calls from parents, educators, and school counselors observing harassment and mistreatment of transgender students in our schools. We invited a guest attorney and expert in Ohio education law, Emily Spivack, Esq., to weigh in on the dos and don’ts that help schools protect their transgender school community members and stay in compliance with Title IX.
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on November 10, 2021 in Blog
In 2014, our society failed Leelah Alcorn. Again. And Ohio lost one more young person full of potential to the heartbreaking LGBTQ+ youth suicide epidemic. After years of feeling mistreated—particularly […]
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
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: LGBTQ
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: LGBTQ
By Kathryn Poe 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: LGBTQ
By Kathryn Poe 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: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes 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: LGBTQ
By Kathryn Poe 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: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes 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: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes 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: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on March 2, 2020 in Blog
I vividly remember exactly where I was when the Obergefell v. Hodges decision was announced in the Summer of 2015. I was sitting in a living room, and the news […]
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on January 31, 2020 in Blog
We all rejoiced when the Obergefell v. Hodges decision was announced in 2015. Same-sex marriage became legal throughout the United States! A tremendous victory. But as these things go, a […]
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on October 24, 2019 in Blog
For the past several weeks, the Equality Ohio Legal Clinic has covered the trio of cases in front of the Supreme Court concerning Title VII employment protections for LGBTQ people […]
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on October 17, 2019 in Blog
If you’re a regular reader of our blog, or if you’ve been paying attention to the news in recent weeks, you may have read about the momentous trio of cases […]
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on October 17, 2019 in Blog
Last Tuesday, I felt like I was waiting with bated breath as I kept hitting “refresh” on the Supreme Court website. Finally, that afternoon, transcripts of two oral arguments were […]
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on September 12, 2019 in Blog
After seeing Ohioans wearing shirts or waving flags with rainbow marijuana leaves across the state throughout Pride season, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think that Ohio may have joined the […]
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on August 22, 2019 in Blog
Though there are many pathways to become a legal permanent resident in the United States, one common pathway to becoming a green card holder is through the filing of an […]
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on August 15, 2019 in Blog
As my retired-school-teacher mother always says, once you start hearing those cicadas in Ohio in mid-August, you know a new school year is upon us. And here (and hear) we […]
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on August 1, 2019 in Blog
“Is that a service dog?” It’s one of the first questions business owners and employees ask when an animal walks into a public setting, like a store or restaurant. Unfortunately, […]
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on July 25, 2019 in Blog
Public interest law may not be the sexy, high paying, high-intensity law that you see on TV. However, it is a necessary occupation that provides attorneys a rewarding and educational […]
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on July 19, 2019 in Blog
It is the goal of many same-sex couples to start a family, married or otherwise. However, the process of bringing a child into the world, or adopting one, can be […]
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on July 11, 2019 in Blog
Summer camp is a right of passage for many—whether it be day camp, sleep-away camp, a specific interest program, or just pitching a pup tent in the backyard or living […]
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on June 27, 2019 in Blog
Unfortunately, many LGBTQ Ohioans face the risk of experiencing violence or other harassment by a loved one, family member, or other people in the community. The growing number of murders […]
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on June 20, 2019 in Blog
Crimes like assault, human trafficking, domestic violence, and homicide can be extremely traumatic for survivors and family members and often lead to expensive medical bills and lost wages. Fortunately, there […]
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on June 13, 2019 in Blog
In 1971, Ohioans were traveling to New York City by carpool to join the Christopher Street Liberation Day march, which had begun the year before to commemorate the infamous Stonewall […]
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on May 10, 2019 in Blog
Since its creation in 1996, the Ohio Drug Court program has expanded from 3 specialty dockets to 112, spanning 54 counties. Last month, Governor Mike DeWine proposed the creation of […]
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on April 29, 2019 in Blog
Have you heard of House Bill 180? Ohio legislation proposed after Perrysburg boy’s drag show, Toledo Blade Boy’s drag routine prompts Republican to seek new rules on child exploitation, The […]
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on April 25, 2019 in Blog
Despite the lack of explicit federal statutory protections against discrimination based upon sexual orientation and gender identity, there currently are some protections afforded by federal administrative agencies. One of these […]
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on April 23, 2019 in Blog
Equality Ohio regularly offers volunteer opportunities, all of which are geared towards helping the LGBTQ population in Ohio. Despite, my passion for the cause, I had often dismissed these opportunities […]
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on April 19, 2019 in Blog
There are approximately 1.4 million transgender people currently living in the United States. We may never have an accurate account of how many gender variant people live here in Ohio, […]
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on April 11, 2019 in Blog
On March 22, 2019, Ohio Revised Code § 2323.311 became effective. Before this new statutory section was passed, Ohio law did not provide a uniform process for determining indigency (or […]
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on March 28, 2019 in Blog
There are many people in Ohio who have criminal convictions and are in need of a second chance. Unfortunately, second chances don’t come easily when one’s criminal conviction shows up […]
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Category Archives: LGBTQ
By md spicer-sitzes on March 22, 2019 in Blog
America is currently undergoing an eviction epidemic. In Cuyahoga County alone, over 27,000 eviction cases are filed every year, in large part due to lack of affordable housing options for […]
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