A decades-old law that mandates individuals share their past legal names on election documents was used to challenge the next transgender woman’s attempt to run for public office in Ohio.
Democratic candidate Arienne Childrey learned late last week that Robert Hibner, the leader of her state’s Democratic party, had asked the local board of elections to reject her strategy petition.
Just days after Vanessa Joy, another trans woman, was barred from running for the Ohio state legislature, Hibner wrote a letter to vote leaders. A 1995 Ohio law requiring political candidates to disclose any legal name changes within five years of the poll is accused of being broken by Joy and Childrey.
When a local writer called Childrey on Friday to inquire about the criticism of her campaign, she learned about Hibner’s text.
“The phone call didn’t surprise me at all. I realized there was a target on us as soon as articles about Vanessa’s history began to circulate,” Childrey said.
Among the four transgender individuals running for state office this year are Joy and Childrey. With a record 510 anti-LGBTQ+ charges introduced by state legislators in 2023, both women’s entry into state politics coincides with an uprising against transgender people across the nation.
Childrey wants to oust Republican incumbent Angela King. After King introduced a bill that would forbid drag shows in Ohio public places, the political newcomer made the decision to run.
Childrey said of her opposition, “I decided that she could never run unopposed after realizing that no one was going to run against her in the upcoming vote.” “If there is only one name on the ballot, that is a coronation, not a vote.”
Childrey is still optimistic that she can defeat King in November despite the constitutional obstacles put in her way.
This year, the Republicans’ obstacle to Childrey’s nomination was deemed ineffective because, according to Ohio election laws, a letter of protest may be submitted by an opponent. The Mercer County board of elections could nevertheless hold Childrey’s hearing, which is now set for January 18, despite that decision, according to state assistant counsel Amy Ikerd.
Joy’s attempt to run for a seat in the state legislature this week was abruptly halted when the board of elections rejected her challenge.
Joy and Childrey both claimed they were aware of the 1995 law requiring them to reveal their “deadname,” a name trans people use to describe the name given at birth rather than the gender identity they chose.
Joy stated in a press release this month that she would have signed her appeals with her last name if she had known about the rules.
According to Childrey, the state’s handbook for candidates running for public office does not require potential candidates to reveal their previous legal names.
She remarked, “I hardly even match my current name, much less my deadname, on the space provided in that form.” They claim that although this law is crucial, it is not mentioned in any of the paperwork.
The guideline, according to Melanie Amato, a spokesperson for the Ohio secretary of state, “does not encompass every act pertaining to candidates; in truth, the first paragraph offers that disclaimer and urges candidates to discuss their legal counsel.”
Everyone is subject to the law, Amato said.
Importantly, the law provides an exception for those whose names have changed as a result of marriage.
Advocates for LGBTQ+ people claimed that Ohio’s inconsistent application of the 1995 law is a surreptitious means of undermining the political and legal rights of trans Americans.
According to Sean Meloy, vice president of political programs at the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, a national non-profit that works to elect LGBTQ+ political candidates, “typically, LGBTQ individuals are attacked with lies about their identities or from voice actions.”
“It’s a new low that I don’t believe we’ve yet reached to not even give voters the opportunity to vote for an LGBTQ candidate,” he said.
According to Meloy, Republicans have influenced Ohio’s social environment to become more hostile toward trans people.
The Ohio house voted to override Governor Mike DeWine’s veto of a bill that limits trans minors’ access to gender-affirming care one day after Joy spoke with local election officials.
Ohio “is becoming one of the most dangerous places in the country for trans people to live,” according to Joy in a press release this year.
Childrey continues to concentrate on the state legislature, though.
“I have every intention to refile, regardless of what happens in this hearing, if they kick me off the ballot,” she said. “And in the upcoming election, I’ll fill out the necessary information on that form, including my current name, my deadname, and the age at which I was potty trained.”
