Members of the LGBTQ+ community and supporters line up for the annual Stonewall Columbus Pride March on High Street in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Graham Stokes. Republish photo only with original article.)

As anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric continues in campaign ads, the November election will be an important test of the country, according to a national group.

More than 1,000 LGBTQ+ candidates filed to run for public office in 2024, and voters from those communities are seeking important roles including in Ohio, according to a report from the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, which tracks candidates and elected officials nationwide who identify as such.

The report found that of those more than 1,000 candidates, 668 are on November ballots across the country. Though the amount represents a 1.1% increase from the 2020 election season, Orie Givens IV, VP of communications for the fund, said “we’re still heavily under-represented.”

Every state with the exception of Nebraska had LGBTQ+ candidates, according to the report.

Ohio is represented with 17 candidates. The Ohio State Board of Education was mentioned as one of 34 state school board races with LGBTQ+ candidates. If elected, candidate David Donofrio would be the first out LGBTQ+ member of the Ohio board, according to Sean Meloy, VP of political programs for the fund.

Givens said the fund found there has been more than $21 million in “anti-trans spending in the presidential race alone,” and about $100 million has been spent specifically on “anti-trans attacks” in Senate races like Ohio U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown’s against GOP candidate Bernie Moreno.

“I think it’s important to see the many trans, gender non-binary, gender non-conforming candidates running across the country as the antidote to that rhetoric,” Givens said in a press briefing announcing the fund’s research.

Meloy said anti-LGBTQ+ messages have been seen in the past, and LGBTQ+ candidates “persevere” despite the messaging. But the spending to specifically touch on trans issues will be a litmus test to see whether conservative candidates can win with those tactics this time, he said.

“Now they’re trying to dehumanize and use trans people and their experience to get votes,” Meloy said. “It’s going to be interesting to see the overall impact of these anti-trans messages.”

Ohio’s LGBTQ+ legislative support

Equality Ohio, a statewide LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, released a rating of current state legislators based on their legislative actions “impacting LGBTQ+ rights” and broader actions related to issues such as criminal justice and education.

They found a “stark increase in polarization,” leading to less “middle-ground” legislators, “reflecting a growing climate of political extremism, particularly regarding issues impacting the LGBTQ+ community,” according to their newest legislative scorecard.

“Hostility towards LGBTQ+ Ohioans has sharply increased in this legislative session, which included a sharp rise in legislation targeting transgender Ohioans and willingness for lawmakers to either unwaveringly and unilaterally support or oppose LGBTQ+ and related legislation along partisan lines,” the analysis of the scorecard stated.

In the Ohio Senate, 14 of the 33 state senators received a failing grade, categorizing them in the scorecard as a “driving force of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in Ohio.”

All those receiving a “C” or below were Republicans.

Only six senators were awarded an “A” grade, denoting “strong support for LGBTQ+ equality and justice in Ohio and intersectional issues.”

In the Ohio House, 30 of the 99 representatives received a failing grade, and 32 received an “A” grade.

Republican Jamie Callender was the only state representative of his party to receive an “A.” No other Republican received higher than a “C” grade.

Way forward

Ballot initiatives could be seen as stepping stones for LGBTQ+ policies, according to the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, including in Ohio where Issue 1’s redistricting reform could open doors to representation and policy reform, and support for initiatives like marijuana legalization could galvanize LGBTQ+ voters.

“When it comes to democracy and marijuana, that could absolutely be helpful to our candidates and the down-ticket chances in a bunch of these states,” Meloy said.

In Ohio, if the “yes” votes prevail, Issue 1 would replace the elected officials on the Ohio Redistricting Commission – including the governor, the auditor, the secretary of state and legislative leaders of both parties – with a 15-person citizens redistricting commission vetted and selected by a bipartisan judicial panel. The commission would have five Republicans, five Democrats and five independents.

Meloy said the approval of a ballot initiative like Ohio’s could create an environment where more LGBTQ+ candidates feel like elected office is accessible.

In 2021, the fund created a “toolkit” addressing redistricting and its impact on the LGBTQ+ community.

“Asserting our LGBTQ+ community of interest is incredibly important to paving the way for our community’s leaders to be represented in the policy debates that will shape our future,” the fund stated as part of the toolkit.