LGBTQ people live, work and raise families in every U.S. state, including Ohio.
The voter registration deadline in Ohio is Monday, October 7, 2024. In-person absentee voting will be available from Tuesday, October 8, 2024, to Sunday, November 3, 2024, leading up to the general election on Tuesday, November 5, 2024.
Campaign coverage should inform voters about the candidates and the LGBTQ issues they are campaigning on, and include LGBTQ Ohioans in those conversations.
The safety of LGBTQ people and families, their ability to live free from discrimination and contribute to the success of their communities and state, are at stake.
LGBTQ People in Ohio: Context to Know and Report
- 4.3% of adult Ohioans are LGBTQ, with 30% raising children. UCLA’s Williams Institute shows Ohio in the top 20 of all states with high concentrations of LGBTQ people.
- In August 2023 and again in November 2023, Ohio voters across party lines rejected efforts by extremists in state government, voting to codify abortion access into the state constitution. Those lawmakers continue to seek ways to suppress the will of voters.
- In November 2023, Ohio voters rejected school board candidates affiliated with extremist book-banning organization Moms for Liberty, who target books by and about LGBTQ people and books about race and racism. GLAAD is documenting the anti-LGBTQ extremism of Moms for Liberty, including its use of harmful rhetoric, connections to extremist groups including Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, ties to longtime national anti-LGBTQ groups, and rank hypocrisy of co-founder Bridget Ziegler and allegations of sexual crimes against her husband, the ousted former chairman of Florida’s Republican Party, Christian Ziegler.
- According to the LGBTQ Victory Institute, a record 283 out LGBTQ people won elected office in 2023 for a total of 1,185 out elected officials nationwide. Ohio has 41 out elected officials. State Senate Assistant Minority Leader Nikki Antonio of Lakewood and Cleveland City Council Member Rebecca Maurer are among the higher profile out elected officials in Ohio.
- At least four out transgender candidates are running for office in Ohio in 2024 and have had to appeal to county election boards to appear on the ballot. A little-known state law requires candidates to include their former legal name if the name has changed in the last five years.
- In January 2024, Ohio’s legislature overrode Republican Governor Mike DeWine’s veto of HB68, which bans essential health care for transgender youth and access to school sports for grades K-12. Equality Ohio reported that 585 people submitted testimony to lawmakers to reject HB68, compared to 40 supporters, many of whom were not from Ohio. Gov. DeWine, in announcing his veto, said that he spoke with patients, providers and family members about the lifesaving necessity of their care, and that decisions like this belonged to them, not the state of Ohio. Every children’s hospital in Ohio spoke out against the bill and noted its potential harms to providing safe care and the reputational damage to Ohio’s commitment regionally and nationally for quality care.
- Disinformation from anti-LGBTQ extremists on social media about mainstream essential health care for transgender youth and people preceded bomb threats against Akron’s Children’s Hospital and other children’s hospitals in 2022.
- A man from Alliance, Ohio, was sentenced to 18 years in prison in February for firebombing a church that had planned a drag event. Federal prosecutors noted the suspect was a member of a “White Lives Matter” group and held “racist, pro-Nazi, homophobic views.” GLAAD has documented more than 160 incidents of violence and harassment against drag performers and events in 2023, including in Ohio, from groups increasingly connected to extremist, white supremacist organizations that show up armed to intimidate events, people and children.
- The LGBTQ records of Nikki Haley and Donald Trump are documented on the GLAAD Accountability Project, which includes policies and proposals targeting LGBTQ Americans, and false and harmful rhetoric about them. Trump has amassed more than 200 attacks in policy and rhetoric against LGBTQ Americans throughout his one-term presidency and 2024 campaign.
- The Biden-Harris administration’s LGBTQ record includes more than 320 appointments, nominations, statements and policies of support, as documented via GLAAD’s Biden Accountability Tracker.
Best Practices
- Stories about or that mention LGBTQ people should include LGBTQ voices.
- In stories specifically about transgender people, seek and include a transgender person. GLAAD can connect you.
- Prioritize facts, expertise and LGBTQ lived experience over candidate and campaign opinion in your reporting. If a candidate remarks about LGBTQ people, always include facts and context. For example, any discussion of transgender health care must note this care is supported by every major medical association (30+ statements here). Additional resources below.
- Review and report a candidate’s LGBTQ record and support from anti-LGBTQ groups. Ongoing documentation is available on candidates, other public figures, and groups via the GLAAD Accountability Project.
- Avoid shorthand descriptions of political conversations about LGBTQ people as a “culture war debate.” This dehumanizes marginalized people as a “side” and allows oppressive policies and politicians to escape accountability for creating and fueling the “war.” This language adds to voter apathy by alienating viewers and readers who find vaguely defined “culture wars” irrelevant to their lives. Focus your reporting on the policies, consequences to all taxpayers and the people directly harmed, and the candidates proposing them and their LGBTQ history.
- Be factual and clear in your language: “(candidate name) has proposed policies restricting health care for transgender people, despite the fact this care is supported by every major medical association.”
- Do not repeat, or clearly state as false, “groomer” rhetoric. Experts in child abuse prevention have raised alarms that this rhetoric undermines understanding of actual child abuse and endangers innocent people and children.
- Include greater context: 500+ anti-LGBTQ bills were proposed in state legislatures through 2023. This is a broad scale, coordinated attack against LGBTQ Americans’ growing visibility and acceptance, via targeting health care, book bans, curriculum and conversation bans, sports bans, and bathroom bans.
- Inform your readers and viewers about this larger pattern of LGBTQ animus as you report on individual topics and bills and candidates supporting them. Note also how health care and drag ban bills have been blocked in court as unconstitutional and discriminatory.
- Report connections between anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and policies to violent and extremist incidents: the ADL Center on Extremism has documented at least 700 attacks against LGBTQ people through 2023, including murders, assault, harassment, and vandalism. The report notes increasing connections of anti-LGBTQ violence by people from extremist groups like Oath Keepers and Proud Boys.
- Anti-LGBTQ posts on extremist media, further amplified on extremist cable programs, have been followed by bomb threats against children’s hospitals, libraries and schools, endangering and inconveniencing all students, families and residents in these communities.
Additional resources:
GALLUP: 7.2% of U.S. adults are out as LGBTQ, including 20% of Gen Z, the most out generation in history; a projected 14% of voters will be out as LGBTQ by 2030.
GALLUP: record high 71% support for marriage equality. In December, Wisconsin State Democrats announced their intention to introduce state-level legislation to protect same-sex marriage.
GLAAD: 84% support equal rights for LGBTQ people
GLAAD Media Reference Guide: terminology and 20+ topic areas to learn about and accurately report on LGBTQ people
Medical Association Statements Transgender Health Care: 30+ statements from every major medical association and world health authority, across specialities and patient lifespan, supporting health care for transgender people. Health care for transgender people is mainstream care with widely held consensus of both the medical and scientific communities.
Factsheet for Reporters Covering Transgender Health Care: what to know about transgender health care and how to responsibly include trans voices in your coverage.