Ohio: A Case for Action
In 2016, Fairness for All legislation was developed specifically for the state of Ohio to address its lack of protections for both faith and LGBT communities. In Ohio, the availability of these protections vary from county to county and city to city. For example, twenty-one municipalities ban sexual orientation or gender identity discrimination, but those ordinances cover only thirty-seven percent of Ohio’s population. The religious freedom protections in those ordinances vary, too. And overall, Ohio has very little statutory protection for religious freedom.
Ohio
The Fairness for All legislation proposed for Ohio would have standardized needed protections to the LGBT community, while enhancing religious freedom protections. But extreme forces on the political poles opposed to such a balanced measure derailed the legislation. Some of those extreme forces would rather achieve their ends through expensive, protracted, and hostile litigation than reach amicable solutions. Thus, none of Ohio’s 342,084 LGBT citizens saw any improvement in their lives and none of Ohio’s 7,812,000 citizens who believe in God received any assurance that their religious beliefs would not come under fire. The Fairness for All Initiative continues to work with legislators to make sure over 8,000,000 people in Ohio receive the protections they deserve.
