Ahead of Columbus' Pride festival and march, queer lawmakers came together Friday to discuss advocacy strategies at the fifth annual Out Elected Officials luncheon at Stonewall Columbus.
"Tomorrow we will be celebrating. We'll be having a lot of fun. We'll also be protesting," said Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin. "Before we do the protest, before we do the party, we want to talk policy."
Hardin said the queer community is "under attack" from state policies and that queer leaders need to make sure they're aligned and strategic in their response.
"We know that we do not serve in silos, that there is a queer out community that is here to work together to make sure that all of Ohioans have feel welcome in our state and feel like this is their home," Hardin said.
Talking policy
State Rep. Christina Cockley (D-Columbus) who is a member of the queer community, brought attention to Republican-backed bills that seem to target the LGBTQ community.
A "drag ban" bill, which would create penalties for drag performances if a minor is present or the performance takes place outside an "adult cabaret." Another bill would require teachers to request parental permission before using a student's preferred name and pronouns at school, Cockley said.
"The common theme from House Republicans is that of hate," Cockley said.
WOSU reached out to the House Majority Caucus press secretary for comment and did not immediately receive a response.
Cockley also elevated efforts by House Democrats to ban conversion therapy, create penalties for hate crimes and add sexual orientation, gender and gender identity to Ohio's protected classes.
Fight for freedom
Dwayne Steward, executive director of Equality Ohio, said it was fitting that the gathering of queer leaders took place on Juneteenth.
He said the holiday is not just a celebration of freedom, but a challenge as to whether America has fulfilled its promise of freedom.
"The freedom celebrated on Juneteenth was not given freely. It was won through courage, sacrifice, organizing and persistence. The same is true for every major victory in the LGBTQ movement," Steward said.
Steward said as a gay Black man, he doesn't experience racism on Monday and homophobia on Tuesday.
"My identity is not divided into categories. It is whole, and so must be our struggle for justice," Steward said. "Black history is queer history. LGBTQ history is Black history, and all of it is American history."
Steward said that many try to spread the narrative that progress for one community comes at the expense of another, Ohio works best when every person can thrive.
A safe place
Throughout the weekend, 700,000 people will take part in Pride events around the city.
Hardin noted that many of them come from other parts of the state because they see Columbus as a safe space. In the same vein, queer lawmakers came from rural Ohio for Friday's lunch meeting.
"I want make sure we are in standing in our solidarity with our outlet officials who might have a little tougher time than even we do in the city as they advocate and move forward of their policies," Hardin said. "We can share in this fight because the fight certainly is not over."
The Stonewall Columbus Pride is Friday from 4-10 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. The Pride march steps off at 10:30 a.m. Saturday from High and Broad streets downtown and travels toward Goodale Park in the Short North.
