COLUMBUS, Ohio—A transgender Ohioan who was disqualified from running for the state legislature for not listing her prior name on campaign paperwork has contested the ruling, arguing the requirement is a “discriminatory barrier” to LGBT residents looking to run for public office.
Vanessa Joy, a Democrat who filed to run for an Ohio House seat in Stark County, filed a letter Thursday with the Stark County Board of Elections, which earlier this week unanimously voted to disqualify her from running because she failed to put her “dead name” on her candidate petitions.
Under a rarely-invoked 1995 state law, anyone who files to run for public office in Ohio must list both their current name and any other names they went by in the past five years. The law exempts people who changed their name after getting married and/or any state or local elected officials who previously complied with the law.
In her appeal, Joy stated that she “recognize(s) and agree(s) with the spirit” of the law. However, she wrote, she didn’t know about the law until she was disqualified, adding that the requirement isn’t mentioned in the 33-page candidate guide issued by the Ohio secretary of state’s office, and that many Stark County Board of Elections staffers seemed to be unaware of the rule themselves.
“This has far-reaching implications and is a barrier to entry for transgender candidates in Ohio, as well as other states with similar laws,” Joy wrote in her appeal. “While I understand that the spirit of the law was not intended to be discriminatory, it is, in fact, a discriminatory barrier for the LGBTQIA2S+ community at large. … Therefore, I feel my disqualification, despite being done by the letter of the law, was unjust.”
Joy also asserted that the law “has been applied unevenly to different candidates” for Ohio House. Joy declined to comment Thursday when a reporter asked for specific examples of how the law was applied differently.
Cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer has reached out to the Stark County Board of Elections for comment and information on
Joy, a real-estate photographer from Massillon, is one of at least four Ohioans who have filed paperwork to become the first openly transgender lawmaker in the state. All four – Joy, Bobbie Arnold of Preble County, Arienne Childrey of Auglaize County, and Ari Faber of Athens – are political newcomers who live in solidly Republican, mostly rural districts.
Arnold initially told Cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer on Wednesday that she, too, had been disqualified for not putting her prior name next to her current name on her petitions.
However, the Montgomery County Board of Elections website states that Arnold’s petitions were certified on Tuesday. Asked about that, Arnold texted that it “might not be the case” after all that she was disqualified and declined further comment.
Childrey and Faber, meanwhile, have each had their candidate petitions certified, according to officials with the Mercer County Board of Elections and the Belmont County Board of Elections, respectively.
Faber, who filed to run for Republican state Sen. Brian Chavez’s seat in Southeast Ohio, stated in an email that she is “being forced to run” under her prior name, which she has not yet legally changed.
Childrey, an Auglaize County resident, has filed to run against Republican state Rep. Angela King of Mercer County, who last year sponsored legislation seeking to ban drag queens from library story hours and other children’s events.
Joy, Childrey, and Faber each said they were motivated to run for state legislature after Republican lawmakers introduced that bill and a number of other anti-transgender measures – most notably House Bill 68, which would prohibit transgender athletes from playing women’s sports and ban minors from receiving gender-affirming medical treatment.
Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed HB68 late last month, though GOP lawmakers are working to override his veto.
Jeremy Pelzer covers state politics and policy for Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.
