An Ohio law impacted trans election candidates – now it could disqualify a Republican

An obscure law in Ohio, which has been used in recent months to target transgender political candidates, could lead to a Republican being unable to stand in elections.

The little-known law – which does not appear anywhere in a 33-page guide – requires candidates to list their former name if they have changed it in the past five years.

While it does not apply to those who have changed their name through marriage, it does apply to trans candidates who have legally changed their name as part of their transition.

In effect, they must publicly list their deadname.

In recent months, the law has caught out trans candidates Bobbie Arnold, of Preble County, and Arienne Childrey, of Auglaize County – who were subsequently granted permission to run for seats in the state house of representatives – and Vanessa Joy, who was disqualified.

Following news of her disqualification, Joy told NBC News: “It’s a barrier to entry for many trans and gender-non-conforming people.

“Where I personally would have just bit the bullet and allowed my deadname to be on the petitions and likely on the ballot, for a lot of trans people, they don’t want their deadnames printed. It’s a safety concern for many.”

Now, it seems Republican state representative Tex Fischer, who legally changed his name from Austin James Fischer to Austin James Texford Fischer in 2020, might be affected by the legislation, which dates from 1995.

Chris Anderson, the chairman of the Mahoning County Democratic Party, filed a complaint with local election officials about Anderson’s change of name, saying he did not appropriately disclose it.

“If they’re going to use the law to penalise trans candidates, then it needs to be applied equally,” Anderson demanded, according to cleveland.com.

“At the end of the day, I don’t care what he calls himself. My question is: does the law apply? Because if the law applies, then it needs to be applied equally.”

Fischer responded by saying it is “fundamentally undemocratic to try [to] deprive the voters of a choice on a technicality”.

He went on to claim: “That has unfortunately become [the] Democrat Party playbook: if you don’t like someone, just try to kick them off the ballot. It’s a silly complaint and I have faith the process will play out and we’ll be good to go for November.”

Increased attention on the law has resulted in Ohio House Democrats introducing a bill, HB 467, to scrap the requirement altogether.

Beryl Brown Piccolantonio, who co-sponsored the bill, said there was “absolutely no reason [a candidate] should be required to disclose prior names” if they have legally gone through a name-change process.

The state’s Republican governor, Mike DeWine, has previously defended the law, with his press secretary telling the Huff Post that while it should not be changed, it also should not disqualify candidates from running.

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