Despite receiving enough signatures to appear on the ballot, a transgender woman has been disqualified from an Ohio House race because she left her previous name, raising concerns that other transgender candidates across the country may face similar obstacles.
Vanessa Joy of is one of four transgender candidates running for state office in Ohio, largely in response to proposed restrictions on the rights of LGBTQ+ people.
He is running as a Democrat in House District 50 – a Republican district in Stark County, Ohio – against GOP candidate Matthew Kishman.
Joy legally changed her name and birth certificate in 2022, which she said she gave to the Stark County Board of Elections for the March 19 primary race.
But as Joy learned Tuesday, a little-known 1990s state law says that candidates must provide any name changes within the past five years to qualify for the ballot.
Since the law is not currently listed on the candidate requirements guidelines on the Ohio Secretary of State’s website, Joy did not know it existed.
Vanessa Joy was disqualified because she only circulated petitions under her legal name, not her old name. Facebook / Vanessa Joy
To give her former name, Joy says, is to use her dead name – a term used by the transgender community to refer to the name they are given at birth, not the name they choose that aligns with their gender identity.
And while Joy says the spirit of the law is to weed out bad actors, it creates obstacles for transgender people who want to run for office and may not want to share their names for important reasons, including concerns about their personal safety.
“If I knew that I had to put my dead name on my petition, I personally would have done it because being elected is important to me,” Joy said. “But for many people it will be a barrier to entry because they don’t want their name on the petition.”
Vanessa Joy is running as a Democrat in House District 50 against GOP candidate Matthew Kishman. Facebook / Vanessa Joy
He continued, “It’s dangerous and the name is dead.”
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office and the Stark County Board of Elections did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Thursday. It is unclear whether this law has applied to any current or previous state legislators.
Rick Hasen, a professor at the UCLA School of Law and an election expert, said that requiring candidates to disclose any name changes creates problems in Ohio, but generally serves a purpose.
Despite getting enough signatures on the ballot, Vanessa Joy was still disqualified from the Ohio House race for leaving her previous name. Facebook / Vanessa Joy
“If a candidate has something to hide in their past such as criminal activity, revealing the former name the candidate used makes sense,” Hasen said in an email.
Sean Meloy, vice president of political programs for the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, which supports LGBTQ+ candidates, said he is not aware of efforts to track how many states require name changes on petition papers.
“The biggest issue is selective enforcement,” Meloy said in an interview Thursday.
Vanessa Joy is one of four transgender candidates running for state office in Ohio. Facebook / Vanessa Joy
In recent years, many states have increased restrictions on transgender people – including blocking minors from accessing gender-affirming care such as puberty blockers and hormones.
In some states, this has expanded to restrictions on which school and student bathrooms trans children can use and which sports teams they can join.
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Last year, Meloy said, a record number of transgender candidates sought and won office, and he expects that trend to continue in 2024.
Ohio lawmakers passed a ban late last year that was vetoed by the state’s Republican governor, though many Republican state representatives say they plan to override the veto as soon as next week.
Meloy said that some conservatives are trying to silence transgender voices.
He pointed to Zooey Zephyr, a transgender lawmaker who was barred last year from speaking on the Montana House floor after she refused to apologize for telling colleagues who supported a ban on gender-affirming care that they would be covered in blood.
“Now that the anti-trans laws are being moved again,” Meloy said, “this seems like an action that’s being selectively enforced to try to prevent other trans people from doing that.”
Joy appealed her disqualification on Thursday, and is currently seeking legal representation. He plans to try to change the Ohio law.
“We’re going to see this happen all over the place,” he said. “This could snowball if I’m just the beginning. This is terrible news for the trans community.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
