Challenges for Transgender Democrats in Ohio Due to Name Law

Transgender Democrats in Ohio who are campaigning for seats in the Republican-controlled legislature are finding themselves facing barriers to being elected because of a renewed enforcement of a 1995 election law requiring any name changes over the past five years be listed on campaign paperwork.

This means that in some cases, the candidates would be forced to reveal their “deadname,” or the name they had used before their transition, reports The Hill.

One candidate, Vanessa Joy, was removed from the ballot in Ohio District 50, located near Akron, after she would not disclose her prior name on her petitions.

She contested the Stark County Board of Election’s decision, but her appeal was denied. The law has several exceptions, including name changes for candidates for married people, but there are no exceptions for transgender or nonbinary people running for office.

Joy said that she doesn’t think the law is anti-transgender, but still commented that “For many of us, a deadname represents the past, and oftentimes that past is hard, violent and abusive. It’s just not who we are.”

Members of the LGBTQ community also consider the intentional or repeated use of a deadname as hate speech, and many social media platforms ban the practice under their terms of service policies.

Ohio GOP Gov. Mike DeWine told The Plain Dealer in Cleveland this week that changes to the law are needed so transgender candidates can remain on ballots.

“We shouldn’t be denying ballot access for that reason,” he said. “It certainly should be fixed.”

The law has also hindered others from running for office. Last year, the state Supreme Court upheld a decision from the Washington County Board of Elections preventing a Marietta man from running for mayor because he did not disclose the name he was using before becoming a U.S. citizen.

Joy told The Hill that she is working to amend the law in hopes of adding protections for transgender candidates. Currently, a school board member in Franklin County is the only openly transgender elected official in the state.

Three other openly transgender Democrats, Arienne Childrey, Bobbie Brooke Arnold, and Ari Faber, are also attempting to unseat GOP incumbents, and Republicans have challenged the campaign petitions submitted by Childrey and Arnold because they did not list their deadnames.

The three candidates said they did not know about the requirement. A hearing is planned for Thursday on Childrey’s candidacy. She commented that she expects a ruling in her favor, but added that she expects there will be other challenges before the March primary.

The Montgomery County Board of Elections agreed unanimously this week that Arnold’s candidacy could proceed.

However, Childrey and Arnold said they are concerned that the law will be used to keep others from running for office.

They also said that under Ohio law, transgender people must publicize name changes through a local newspaper, unless doing so threatens a person’s safety.