Over a year ago, House Bill 160 — more commonly known as the Ohio Fairness Act — was introduced by State Rep. Nickie J. Antonio, D-Lakewood. The bill, if passed, would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexuality, gender identity or gender expression.
Yes, you read that correctly: If passed, it would prohibit discrimination. No, it is not illegal now. In 2018, you can be fired from your job or denied housing just for being LGBT — scratch that, even if someone assumes you're LGBT.
To put that in perspective, the LGBT Center has roughly 15 employees — some of them LGBT and some not. A potential employer could look at their resume, see that they worked for the LGBT Center and automatically take them out of the running for a position because they thought they were LGBT.
Here in Athens and at Ohio University, it's a different story. LGBT people are protected. While there are a few other cities in the state that have protections, the majority do not.
The fact that there are no LGBT housing or workplace protections in the state of Ohio is something that is not talked about enough. The LGBT Center is trying to make this startling fact more well-known.
To do that, the LGBT Center decided to have that as one of our topics for conversation at our 2nd Pizza and Politics dialogue (not debate). The LGBT Center, as well as OU's College Democrats and College Republicans, are inviting everyone to come and talk about this and a number of other topics Thursday from 6-8 p.m. in Schoonover 450.
While this will be a great time to discuss the bill with other students and community members, the real people it needs to be talked about with are state representatives. Give them a call and talk about it. If you are not sure who your representatives are, you can look them up here by entering your zip code.
Have questions? We have answers! Send your questions via email (lgbt@ohio.edu or oulgbtcenter@gmail.com); via Tumblr (oulgbtcenter); via Twitter (@oulgbtcenter) with the hashtag #qaqueer; or post/message to Facebook (oulgbtcenter). So bring it on, do it to it and query a queer.
Mikaela Ashburn is the communication coordinator for the LGBT Center and a previous Post reporter.
