As the executive
director of Equality Ohio, I am so proud of my community
and our pro-equality activists. When people are committed
and working together, a lot can happen in four years.
Ohio is proof of that.
On November 2,
2004, LGBT people in Ohio were sent a message by our
fellow Buckeyes. Contrary to what many may assume, the
message wasn't that our neighbors didn't
support our right to marry the person we love --
although that was certainly clear from the vote. No, the
message was that if we wanted to see change in our
state, we needed to get organized and start actively
working for what we know is right.
One month after
the 2004 election a group of activists and LGBT
leaders from across Ohio got together and made a
commitment to turn our defeat at the polls into a
win for the statewide community. Six months later, the
vision of Equality Ohio was created by over 60 people
from across Ohio and the nation: a true grassroots
commitment to secure statewide change.
Today, the staff
and board of Equality Ohio are proud to serve as the
caretakers of the statewide community's organization.
For the first time, pro-equality Ohioans have a daily
voice for our issues. That's a wonderful and
necessary thing, but that's not the reason I'm
proud of my community and our activists.
Across Ohio we
have experienced a surge in local activism. Take Toledo,
the city in Ohio with the most laws protecting and
recognizing LGBT people and our families. That's right
-- not Cleveland or Columbus -- Toledo. There the
city council just passed the first council-initiated
domestic-partner registry in the state. This is all due
to the work of Equality Toledo, a local organization formed
in early 2005.
Or look at
Cincinnati. In 2004 activists there pulled off a repeal of
the long-standing ordinance that was keeping the city
from enacting a nondiscrimination law. They did this
even as voters statewide were
passing Ohio's antigay constitutional amendment.
Those activists have continued their local work, and
now Cincinnati ranks second in the state for
protecting and recognizing LGBT people and families.
The list of local
groups and their successes could go on and on. Suffice
it to say that incredible things are happening, and it is
because of organized local activists making their
communities a place where everyone can feel at
home.
One of the
shining moments for the statewide pro-equality community
came in 2006. Together we worked in targeted areas
across the state and moved turnout in those districts
from 9% below the statewide average in 2004 to 6%
above statewide average by 2006. Our work helped secure an
executive branch in Ohio that supports equality for
everyone. And on May 17, 2007, our new governor signed
an executive order banning discrimination based on
sexual orientation and gender identity for state workers --
the first pro-equality action at the state level in
Ohio in 16 years.
We've also
learned we have the power to stand up for ourselves when
politicians and political parties use us to try to win an
election. Recently, flyers using "gay
adoption" as a scare tactic were distributed in
a contested Ohio house race. Our community responded with
nearly 1,000 e-mails to the chairman of the Ohio
Republican Party, the organization that paid for
the piece. The number of e-mails exceeded the
number of donors who contributed to the campaign to
fight the anti-gay marriage amendment in 2004.
That's progress.
And as I write
this piece, I'm sitting in the middle of
Ohio's largest single-weekend LGBT canvass ever
-- over 7,000 doors knocked on over a two-day period
across the state for our endorsed presidential
candidate. We will continue to work until the polls close on
Election Day. If we lose Ohio this year, LGBT people
and allies across the state will be able to hold our
heads up knowing we did everything we could to try to
keep that from happening.
Yes, we heard the
message from 2004 loud and clear. We're organized
locally and statewide. We are effecting change that benefits
ourselves and our families. We will not be used again
politically without holding the people who do it
accountable for their actions. We know that by
harnessing all of our energy across the state, we are closer
to our shared vision of an Ohio where everyone can
feel at home. And that is why I'm proud of my
community and our pro-equality activists.
