A grassroots political campaign led by Ohio University Young Democratic Socialists of America has begun to make Athens a sanctuary city for transgender, nonbinary and genderqueer people. If the campaign passes through City Council, the title would be largely symbolic, promising to defend transgender people and to not enforce discriminatory laws in Athens.
Adeline Collins, former co-chair of the OU chapter of YDSA and member of the LGBTQIA+ community, said the group hopes to use this as a starting line to create more community outreach programs for transgender individuals, including mental and physical health resources.
The effort comes after several laws limiting transgender people have been introduced, discussed and passed in Ohio and the federal legislature.
Currently, members of the campaign are in the process of speaking to student organizations, such as the Medical Student Pride Alliance and OU American Civil Liberties Union, and are making revisions to a resolution for a City Council meeting expected in the last week of January.
Over the last several years, a large political focus has been put on transgender individuals and children. As a result, Gov. Mike DeWine recently signed Senate Bill 104, or the Protect All Students Act into Ohio law.
The PASA states: “No school shall permit a member of the female biological sex to use a student restroom, locker room, changing room, or shower room that has been designated by the school for the exclusive use of the male biological sex. No school shall permit a member of the male biological sex to use a student restroom, locker room, changing room, or shower room that has been designated by the school for the exclusive use of the female biological sex.”
The law also prevents schools from establishing multi-occupancy, gender-neutral restrooms.
According to Trans Legislation Tracker, 14 anti-transgender bills in categories including education, bathroom, performance, sports, healthcare and military were introduced into the Ohio legislature in 2024.
Liam Syrvalin, the current co-chair of OU-YDSA, said laws such as the PASA should encourage people to push harder for human and transgender rights.
“I am not in the LGBTQ community; I am a (cisgender, heterosexual) white man,” Syrvalin said. “It’s our job when other people are in the throes of legalized bigotry and legalized targeted hatred, it is the job of those that are not in the community to take up for them and take the fight.”
Syrvalin also emphasized how Athens is the perfect place to take up this fight.
“What we have is a progressive, rural town that recognizes the position of the working class,” Syrvalin said. “(The people of Athens) also understand that it doesn’t advance the goal of the working class to … marginalize trans people out of the fight and to separate them out of the community.”
Syrvalin highlighted that Athens is also open to grassroots change and listening to the people who want change.
Collins advised people to make an effort to hear the stories of transgender individuals, even if they are already a member of the LGBTQIA+ community.
“I feel that everybody within the queer community, but also outside of it too, should be doing more just listening to each other and hearing from each other's experiences and taking those into account,” Collins said. “It can be really easy to just get trapped up in your own bubble of what you’ve experienced.”
Collins also hopes this marker will facilitate more protections for transgender adults and children in surrounding rural communities.
“I think, largely, people are just very ‘I don’t really know, I don’t really care, it doesn’t really affect me,’ and, honestly, I respect that attitude,” Collins said. “We want to kind of meet people where they are, provide education so that people can cut out all of the intentionally antagonistic misinformation that’s out there.”
Collins advocates for giving credit to rural communities that have more emotional intelligence and open-mindedness than they are recognized for.
