The GOP continues to do very important work that affects almost no Ohioans and chases away those with education and ideas. Way to go O-HI O....

Experts: Anti-LGBTQ+ Violence on the Rise in Ohio

At a remote campground in southern Ohio – miles from the couple’s two-bedroom home in the Cleveland suburb of Brooklyn – Tyler Diamond and his husband, John Fleeman, sat beside a dying campfire.

The pair had just spent a long weekend celebrating Diamond’s 35th birthday with a small group of family and friends. 

But by the early morning hours of June 2, 2024 – when Diamond’s phone pinged with a notification from the couple’s Ring Camera – nobody else was awake.

“I didn’t think anything of it at first,” Diamond said. “Then I see him, this figure. Then I see he’s wearing a mask.”

Stunned, Diamond watched as a person clad in a black ski mask ascended the stairs to his front porch and ripped a rainbow LGBTQ+ Pride flag away from the home’s exterior.

“I see another person running down the driveway and I start yelling for John to wake up. I thought they were robbing the house,” Diamond said. “Then I realize it doesn’t seem like a break-in. It seems more like a hate crime.”

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/experts-anti-lgbtq-violence-on-the-rise-in-ohio-tbf1/

Ohio Republicans Want LGBTQ+ Books Hidden in Libraries

As Ohioans pleaded for more support for the state’s public libraries, there was also outcry against a provision that library staff and supporters say would add more work and unnecessary regulations to the local institutions.

The Ohio House added a provision to their budget draft that was not in the governor’s executive proposal, one that would require public libraries to place “material related to sexual orientation or gender identity or expression in a portion of the library that is not primarily open to the view of minors.”

As budget plans move through the Ohio Senate, state residents asked the chamber to push back on the House’s proposal and eliminate the provision in their own draft.

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/ohio-republicans-want-lgbtq-books-hidden-in-libraries-ocj1/

The next generation of kids is going to be far, far more bigoted and reverse decades of progress on issues of race, gender, orientation, etc. if these things continue.

Does New “Hate Crimes” Bill Adequately Protect LGBTQ+ Ohioans?

A bipartisan group of legislators in the Ohio House introduced a bill that would for the first time establish a category of “hate crimes” in Ohio. 

HB 306 seeks to “prohibit hate crimes and to create a civil remedy for a person who is terrorized by another because of specific characteristics or beliefs.” Those found to have perpetrated a hate crime may have to pay a fine of up to $25,000. 

The primary sponsors of the bill are Reps. Dontavius Jarrells (D-Columbus) and Josh Williams (R-Sylvania Twp.). HB 306 features 26 co-sponsors: 15 Republicans and 11 Democrats. 

The specific characteristics or beliefs protected are an individual’s:

• Political affiliation

• Race, color, religion, sex, national origin or ancestry

• Age, familial status, military status or disability 

• The person’s position in a labor dispute

• A perception that the person has any of the characteristics or beliefs above.  

Notably missing from the list of specific characteristics: sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. 

One of the bill’s Democratic co-sponsors says that the bill would protect LGBTQ+ Ohioans. LGBTQ+ advocates vehemently disagree.

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/does-new-hate-crimes-bill-adequately-protect-lgbtq-ohioans-tbf1/

New State Laws Proposed to Protect Marriage Equality and LGBTQ+ Youth

Ohio Democrats have introduced a slate of new bills to move towards LGBTQ+ equality in the Buckeye State.

New bills include legislation to:

• Codify marriage equality in the Ohio Constitution

• Guarantee the rights of parents of LGBTQ+ youth

• Declare that “love makes a family”

These proposals join previously introduced bills to ban conversion therapy and the Fairness Act, which would guarantee nondiscrimination protections to LGBTQ+ Ohioans.

“We’re introducing legislation that protects LGBTQ+ people, affirms their dignity, defends their rights and defends who they are,” said Rep.Tristan Rader (D-Lakewood) at a press conference hosted by the Ohio House Democratic Caucus on Tuesday. 

The bills also represent a rejection to the rash of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation both previously passed and currently proposed by their Republican colleagues. 

“Today in Ohio as across the country, extremist legislators are introducing bill after bill trying to erase LGBTQ+ people from public life, to tell trans kids they don’t belong and to roll back rights and dignity [that were] hard fought and won,” Rader said. “So we’re not just here to remember history, we’re here to make it.” 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/new-state-laws-proposed-to-protect-marriage-equality-and-lgbtq-youth-tbf1/

1 hour ago, ColDayMan said:

New State Laws Proposed to Protect Marriage Equality and LGBTQ+ Youth

Ohio Democrats have introduced a slate of new bills to move towards LGBTQ+ equality in the Buckeye State.

New bills include legislation to:

• Codify marriage equality in the Ohio Constitution

• Guarantee the rights of parents of LGBTQ+ youth

• Declare that “love makes a family”

These proposals join previously introduced bills to ban conversion therapy and the Fairness Act, which would guarantee nondiscrimination protections to LGBTQ+ Ohioans.

“We’re introducing legislation that protects LGBTQ+ people, affirms their dignity, defends their rights and defends who they are,” said Rep.Tristan Rader (D-Lakewood) at a press conference hosted by the Ohio House Democratic Caucus on Tuesday. 

The bills also represent a rejection to the rash of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation both previously passed and currently proposed by their Republican colleagues. 

“Today in Ohio as across the country, extremist legislators are introducing bill after bill trying to erase LGBTQ+ people from public life, to tell trans kids they don’t belong and to roll back rights and dignity [that were] hard fought and won,” Rader said. “So we’re not just here to remember history, we’re here to make it.” 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/new-state-laws-proposed-to-protect-marriage-equality-and-lgbtq-youth-tbf1/

While a nice gesture, they're almost certainly DOA with this legislature.