Ohio Democrats put forth bills to protect marriage equality and LGBTQ+ youth, celebrate all loving families

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.” 

A vote on Marriage Equality
Reps. Eric Synenberg (D-Beachwood) and Anita Somani (D-Dublin) today introduced the Marriage Equality Act to codify same-sex marriage and interracial marriage into Ohio’s constitution.

As passed by a Constitutional amendment in 2004, the Ohio Constitution currently defines marriage as “only a union between one man and one woman.” 

Although the Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision of 2015 ensured marriage equality across the country, a new case under the current conservative court could send this matter back to the states, which would outlaw same-sex marriage in Ohio under the current constitutional language. 

“We saw this with reproductive rights,” Somani said. “Past history again has shown us that these decisions are not immune to being overturned in the future.

As opposed to previous bills that attempted to legislatively change the heterosexual definition of marriage in the Ohio Revised Code, this new bill would place a constitutional amendment on the ballot for the November 2026 General Election to enshrine both marriage equality and interracial marriage in the Ohio constitution.. 

“Our constitution should reflect who we are today, not just who we were in the past. This is about recognizing the lived realities of thousands of Ohioans who deserve to see their rights respected not just in principle, but in practice,” said Synenberg. “It has been nearly 20 years since Ohio voters last had the chance to weigh in on this issue and it’s time we let them speak again.”

The Marriage Equality Act does not yet have a bill number.

Codifying PRIDE

In response to anti-LGBTQ+ bills that have been passed and proposed under the guise of “parents’ rights,” Reps. Karen Brownlee (D-Symmes Twp.) and Darnell Brewer (D-Cleveland) have introduced the Parents’ Rights to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity (PRIDE) Act. 

HB 327 would guarantee a parent’s right to:

Equitable access to a full range of evidence-based medical care for the parent’s child
Equitable access to a full range of behavioral health care for the parent’s child
Equitable access to hygiene care for the parent’s child, including public bathrooms, school bathrooms and menstrual care products
Equitable access to educational opportunities that are reflective of and inclusive of all students
Be inclusive, respectful and accepting of the parent’s child’s rights to the freedom of speech and expression
Accept and respect the parent’s child’s right to behavioral health confidentiality in support of the health and safety of the child.
Brownlee – who shared during the press conference that she is the parent of two LGBTQ+ children – highlighted that around 30% of American youth identify as LGBTQ+, “which means the continued bullying of our youth is a losing fight.”

“Let’s stop fighting with our kids,” Brownlee said. “Let’s stop creating manufactured culture wars that hurt them. Instead, let’s listen to them. Let’s listen to their dreams. Let’s listen to what they want out of life and let’s listen to what makes them feel whole and healthy.”

The language of the PRIDE Act is a direct rebuke of the recent bill passed banning gender-affirming care for Ohio youth and limiting mentions of LGBTQ+ identity in school curricula, as well as proposed bills to ban menstrual products from men’s rooms in public libraries, force teachers to misgender students and remove the ability for youth to access crisis mental health support without parental approval. 

HB 327 has not yet been assigned to a committee.

Legislating love
On the symbolic side, Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) introduced a bill to declare that “love makes a family.”

SB 211 would designate the first full week of June as “Love Makes a Family Week.”

“If Ohio is indeed the ‘heart of it all,’ as we keep hearing, especially our colleagues across the aisle, then it’s important that Ohio actually has a heart for her people,” Antonio said. “[SB 211] affirms the simple truth that what makes a family is not how it was formed, but the love and the support that strengthens it.”

Antonio explained that SB 211 would recognize and celebrate all types of families, including: 

Families formed through love, commitment and care
Families built through adoption, fosterhood, surrogacy or IVF
Single-parent families, blended families and multigenerational households
Families of every race, sexual orientation, faith, structure and origin.
The bill stands in opposition to HB 262, which would designate a month solely to honor only Ohio families helmed by a cisgender heterosexual couple in a lifelong, monogamous relationship.

SB 211 was assigned to the Government Oversight and Reform Committee but has not yet been scheduled for a hearing. 

Speaking out
Tuesday’s press conference also featured Ohioans speaking out about some of the current anti-LGBTQ+ legislation being considered by the Ohio legislature. 

Dwayne Steward, executive director of Equality Ohio, spoke out against the anti-LGBTQ+ provisions in the proposed state budget, which include defunding homeless shelters that support trans youth, banning access to LGBTQ+ library books to minors and establishing the policy of the state of Ohio to “recognize two sexes, male and female” and that “these sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.”

“These amendments will legislate harm against the most vulnerable members of our society,” Steward said. “On behalf of LGBTQ+ Ohioans, I urge legislators to reconsider and take into account that the lives of thousands of LGBTQ+ Ohioans will be devastated by these budget amendments.”

Veranda L’Ni, Cleveland’s tallest drag queen, spoke out against HB 249, a bill that would effectively ban drag in public and charge performers with up to a fourth degree felony if minors are present. 

L’Ni explained that drag is an artistic performance that encompasses theater, dance, storytelling, history and cultural commentary, and that it is an art form that allows individuals to “express what cannot be confined by rigid definitions of gender or performance.”

“Drag performance is not a threat,” L’Ni said. “It is protected speech.” ¿