A transgender candidate for an Ohio House seat has been disqualified for neglecting to reveal her previous name on petitions distributed to voters, in contravention of a state statute that is infrequently enforced.
Vanessa Joy, a Democrat seeking to represent Ohio House District 50, was notified by local election officials that she was unable to run, even though she had gathered the required number of signatures.
Joy ran for office in a largely Republican district that encompasses Stark County, which is located south of Akron.
Authorities claim that Joy disregarded a little-known Ohio statute that mandates that candidates for public office disclose any name changes they have had during the preceding five years on their signature petitions. The 1995 law contains a number of exclusions, one of which is for candidates who change their names after getting married.
Joy informed News 5 Cleveland and the Ohio Capital Journal on Wednesday that she was unaware of the law prior to being pulled from the ballot.
Joy has now legally changed her name and her birth certificate. It is not mentioned in Ohio’s 2024 candidate requirement guide.
Joy stated that, as a transgender woman, she believes it shouldn’t be a legal requirement or an expectation for her to share the name she used before transitioning, known as her deadname.
“In the trans community, our deadnames are dead,” she said.
Repeatedly using a transgender person’s old name, known as deadnaming, is seen by many in the LGBTQ community as a form of hate towards transgender individuals. Popular social media platforms like TikTok and Discord have already prohibited deadnaming in their policies.
X, formerly known as Twitter, also had a ban on deadnaming, but this policy was quietly removed in April.
Joy pointed out that making transgender candidates reveal their old names on documents like signature petitions would likely discourage other transgender individuals from running for office.
This law’s enforcement is happening at a crucial time for transgender people in Ohio. The state legislature is gearing up to override Governor Mike DeWine’s veto of House Bill 68.
This legislation aims to prevent minors from receiving gender-affirming healthcare and restrict transgender athletes from participating in school sports teams that align with their gender identity.
The Ohio House Majority Leader’s office mentioned on Wednesday that they anticipate having enough votes to override DeWine’s veto, with a vote expected later in the day.
“The only thing that we can do is try to fight back,” Joy stated to local media. “That’s why there are so many trans candidates in Ohio.”
Three more openly transgender candidates have joined the competition for the state House. It’s uncertain if they will face disqualification as well.
