Advocacy

Stonewall Union (now known as Stonewall Columbus) was incorporated by local Columbus, Ohio gay activists in 1981, in response to Jerry Falwell’s attempt to establish a Columbus based Moral Majority headquarters. The founding members established three primary goals for Stonewall Union: political lobbying and legislative reform, community building, and education.

Stonewall has been integral to the success of many pro-LGBTQ+ rights initiatives, including Governor Richard Celeste’s 1982 executive order protecting the hiring and promotion of gays and lesbians in state jobs; the 1988 Hobson AIDS Bill; and Columbus’ 1992 city ordinance prohibiting hiring discrimination based on sexual orientation.

In the early days Stonewall also published voters’ guides focusing on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) issues, in terms of candidate endorsements as well as support for pro-gay rights ballot issues.

Flow Advocacy Items on our Blog: The CornerStone

Equality Act (United States)

The Equality Act is a bill in the United States Congress, that, if passed, would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (including titles II, III, IV, VI, VII, and IX) to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, education, federally funded programs, credit, and jury service. The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2020 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia protects gay/LGB and transgender people in matters of employment, but not in other respects.

Ohio LGBTQ+ Legislation

2024 LEGISLATIVE SESSION

The Buckeye Flame’s “2024 guide to Ohio’s LGBTQ+ legislation”

Ohio House Bills

• HB 6 – The Save Women’s Sports Act
  • Bans transgender female athletes from participating in female sports teams.
    Status: Signed into law.
• HB 8 – The Parents’ Bill of Rights
  • Mandates teachers and school staff to disclose a student’s LGBTQ+ identity to parents and restricts discussions of LGBTQ+ topics in schools.
• HB 68 – Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act
  • Prohibits gender-affirming care for minors, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy.
    Status: Signed into law.
• HB 113 – Designates Detrans Awareness Day.
• HB 183 – The Protect All Students Act
  • Prohibits transgender students from using restrooms and locker rooms aligning with their gender identity.
• HB 220 – Prohibits certain conversion therapy practices for minors.
• HB 225 – Designates June as Pride Month.
• HB 240 – Allows public schools to employ chaplains.
• HB 245 – Bans drag performances in public spaces where minors are present.
• HB 332 – The Marriage Equality Act.
• HB 467 – Creates an exemption to candidate disclosure of name changes.
• HB 471 – Permits challenges to the candidacy of political candidates.
• HB 498 – Repeals criminal offenses related to donating blood while HIV-positive.
• HB 513 – Revises criminal and disciplinary provisions relating to HIV and AIDS.
• HB 636 – The Marriage Equality Act.
• HB 686 – Prohibits public colleges from requiring the use of preferred pronouns.

Ohio Senate Bills

• SB 132 – The Ohio Fairness Act
  • Seeks to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in housing, employment, and public accommodations.

Voting Matters!

Elections are important in helping to build safer and more affirming spaces in our communities.

LGBTQ+ adults in the United States voted at record rates in the 2020 election. However, this masks the reality that a substantial portion of LGBTQ+ adults have experienced barriers to voting in the past, including explicit forms of discrimination and voter suppression at the ballot box.