Nondiscrimination

09.26.18

Cuyahoga County Council Passed Legislation that Protects the LGBT Community

By Celina Coming

On September 25, 2018 the Cuyahoga County Council passed an LGBT Non-Discrimination Ordinance by a vote of 8-3. 

The words represented in this blog reflect the sentiments that the ACLU of Ohio’s General Counsel Susan Becker presented at the Cuyahoga County Council meeting on September 25, 2018.

03.30.18

Transgender Day of Visibility 2018

By Dan Rogan

In 2009, the Transgender Day of Visibility was created by transgender activist Rachel Crandall-Crocker, who saw a gap in the celebration of transgender individuals among the holidays celebrating LGBTQ+ people. The only day representing transgender individuals back then was the Transgender Day of Remembrance, which is celebrated on November 20.

11.09.17

Ohio Marijuana Reform: Progress at Local Level

By Celina Coming

On Tuesday, Athens voters overwhelmingly approved ending all penalties for marijuana possession of up to seven ounces. This ballot measure is a hidden gem in this week’s election results and deserves statewide recognition for expanding civil liberties and moving Ohio a step closer to marijuana legalization, which the ACLU has long supported.

09.25.17

Going Beyond the Historic Right to Vote

By Katrice Williams

National Voter Registration Day, celebrated on Tuesday, September 26, is a national holiday that focuses on the importance of voter registration. Organizations and community groups across the country will come together to hold public events, educational workshops, and registration drives. The task before them, however, might be larger than expected due to the rising amounts of voter apathy and voter fatigue in the U.S.

09.14.17

Ohio’s New Online Voter Registration: Expanding Access to the Ballot Box

By Katrice Williams

After years of lobbying and activism from voting rights organizations, Ohioans can finally register to vote online. This opportunity was not available prior to January 1, 2017, but now that it’s here, it’s sure to increase the number of people who can register.

08.25.17

LGBT Advocacy In Real Time

By Dan Rogan

Remember the empowering and beautiful slogan that went viral in June 2015, “Love Wins?” Can you believe it’s been more than two years since the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, confirming the constitutional right to marriage equality?

07.18.17

A “How-To” Guide for Activists Registering Jailed Voters

By Katrice Williams

Many Ohioans are misinformed about Ohio’s voting laws including who is eligible to vote with a criminal record. These myths are most common among jail officials, local election authorities and in communities with a high population of persons returning from prison.

07.17.17

National Disability Voter Registration Week, July 17-21

By Katrice Williams

Every year thousands of Ohioans with disabilities are turned away from polling precincts or dismissed at voter registration drives. Often, this is a result of stereotypes regarding their competence or intelligence.

Anyone who meets the eligibility requirements for voting can cast a ballot.

03.31.17

Today is the International Transgender Day of Visibility

By James Kosmatka

The International Transgender Day of Visibility gives us all an opportunity to show our support for transgender/gender non-conforming (GNC) people while celebrating the incredible tenacity, brilliance and beauty of the transgender/GNC community.

The ACLU of Ohio is deeply committed to supporting transgender visibility and advocacy every day.

03.01.17

Religious Liberty Does Not Require Discrimination

By James Kosmatka

After being halted last session, the so-called Pastor Protection Act appears primed to receive a full vote in the Ohio House of Representatives. The stated purpose is to protect religious officials from being forced to perform marriages that are against their beliefs.

02.13.17

“Transgender Spotlight”: You Have Questions, We Have Answers

By James Kosmatka

“In my opinion, the most pressing issue for the trans community is that it is 100% misunderstood,” says Christian, a transgender Ohioan and star of the ACLU of Ohio’s video short film series, Transgender Spotlight.

The ACLU of Ohio agrees.

10.12.16

Voting While Trans: Tips for a Successful Election Day

By James Kosmatka

People who identify as transgender or gender nonconforming (GNC) are expected to clarify, justify and apologize for their identity every day. For many, inappropriate personal questions are a daily reality.  It’s no surprise then, to hear that these same dehumanizing hurdles have worked their way into our polling places.

10.07.16

“No Section 8” Means No Opportunities

By James Kosmatka

Where you live matters. The zip code you live in matters even more. According to a recent study by Virginia Commonwealth University, life expectancy for those that live in the 44103 zip code near St Clair and Superior is 12 years less than for those living 10 miles down the road in the 44124 zip code of Lyndhurst.

06.10.16

Transgender People Have Always Existed

By James Kosmatka

The transgender community has been getting a lot of attention lately. Recently, the majority of this attention has centered on public accommodations and the rights of transgender people to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity. All of this media attention leads many to believe that this new phenomenon of “being transgender” is a passing fad, that we’re giving too much attention to a new group of people that have just popped up.

04.22.16

Meeting a Transgender Person Changes Minds

By James Kosmatka

The invisibility which used to cloak the transgender community is starting to fade as transgender people gain more presence in the public eye. Too often they are seen through the prism of violence, but we have also witnessed an increasing amount of public figures come out as transgender in recent years.

03.04.16

Love is Not Protected in Fair Housing

By Lisa Wurm

“Love is love” was the refrain we heard last year as gay marriage became legal in the United States. Unfortunately, love is not protected in fair housing.

LGBTQ Renters in Cuyahoga County Face Persistent Discrimination

In the majority of states in the U.S., sexual orientation and gender identity are not protected classes, meaning housing providers can discriminate against individuals who are anything other than cisgender and heterosexual.

01.22.16

Terms of Equality: Housing and Employment

By Lisa Wurm

Did you know that gay and transgender people in Ohio can be fired or denied housing simply for who they are or who they love?

After the marriage equality ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, LGBT rights activists have continued to raise awareness about the vulnerability of gay and transgender people in the workplace.

01.11.16

Terms of Equality: What is a Public Accommodation?

By Lisa Wurm

While marriage equality became the law of the land last year, the fight for full equality for people who are gay or transgender continues on. This is especially true in Ohio, where you can be fired from your job, kicked out of your home, or denied basic services at any business simply because of who your partner is, or how you express your gender.

01.08.16

Black Children are Children: Tamir Rice and the Adultification of Black Bodies

By Shakyra Diaz

Many would like to quickly move forward now that a grand jury has decided not to indict the Cleveland police officers involved in the tragic death of Tamir Rice, the 12 year old child who was shot in less than one second while playing in a park.

11.23.15

Discrimination Against LGBT People is Still Legal in Ohio

By Chris Geggie

The Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) was voted down in a referendum at the beginning of this month. HERO extended nondiscrimination protections to include numerous classes of people on the basis of race, age, military status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and pregnancy.

08.28.15

Gay Scout Leaders Mostly Welcome in BSA

By Steve David

Brian Peffly

On July 27, a century-old organization made a momentous change in its membership—the Boy Scouts of America lifted the ban on gay adults as Scout leaders and employees. The decision means that more people will be able to remain true to who they are without fear of dismissal.

08.07.15

Fired for Being Pregnant

By Steve David

It’s hard to believe that in this day and age women can be fired for becoming pregnant. A quick Google search for “pregnant and fired” brings up multiple headlines in the news documenting stories of women fired once their bosses learned of their pregnancy.

06.30.15

Summer Break at the Statehouse: A Review of the First Six Months

By Lisa Wurm

The Ohio General Assembly has now passed the state budget, and the first quarter of the two-year legislative session is over. As always, the ACLU of Ohio has been very active at the Statehouse in what was a very busy first six months.

06.03.15

It’s Time for LGBT Scout Leaders

By Shakyra Diaz

Brian Peffly

As a former Boy Scout, I can say with all honesty the organization’s founding tenets provide a respectable framework to build a young person’s life upon. And I say this as a bisexual former scout.

Looking through the lens of someone who knows what the Boy Scouts of America is about, I see great hypocrisy in one of its policies—the exclusion of LGBT adults serving as volunteers or professionals in the organization.

04.06.15

Gay IS NOT the New Black

By Steve David

Discrimination hurts people. It’s wrong for someone to look at you, your significant other or you family and say, “We won’t serve you here.”

With the recent passage of Indiana’s RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Act), people are right to be outraged.

03.30.15

In Vogue: Religious “Freedom” as Discrimination

By Lisa Wurm

The ACLU knows a few things about true religious freedom. We’ve been fighting for it since our founding in 1920.

Religion and our freedom to exercise (or not to exercise) it is an important part of what makes us Americans and we’ll continue to ensure all people have these rights.

02.27.15

The Reality for Ohio Women Today

By Ellen Kubit

Last week, the ACLU of Ohio reached a settlement in a lawsuit filed on behalf of a single mother, Jennifer Maudlin.

According to Maudlin, Inside Out, Inc., a Christian-based childcare facility, fired her under an unwritten company policy against non-marital sex after she informed them she was pregnant.

01.30.15

The Importance of Saying “Transgender”

By Lisa Wurm

Acknowledgement: acceptance of the truth or existence of something.

In this year’s State of the Union speech, President Obama acknowledged the inequality many groups face. While announcing protections for the LGBT community, he became the first president to ever say “lesbian,” “bisexual,” and “transgender” in the annual address to the nation.

01.14.15

LGBT in O-H-I-O

By Steve David

Ohio is a great place to be gay—well, almost.

Despite sleepy rust-belt stereotypes,Ohio has become a center for LGBT life and culture.  People may assume big cities on the coasts are the places to go for inclusive policies and vibrant social scenes, but LGBT and allied communities have claimed space and recognition in the heart of the Midwest.

11.14.14

Respecting the “T” in LGBT

By Mike Brickner

“Repent! He needs to repent!”

These words echoed around the halls of Cleveland City Council as a man began yelling dramatically at a woman who got up to go to the bathroom.

Why was he yelling at this woman? Because she was a transgender woman.