Ohio transgender candidate is disqualified over obscure name change law

A transgender candidate’s journey to the Ohio statehouse faced an unexpected roadblock after she was told she couldn’t appear on the ballot.

Vanessa Joy, set to run to represent the Democratic Party for House District 50 in Stark County, encountered a legal challenge because of an obscure law regarding name changes on candidacy petitions. Joy, among at least four transgender individuals running for state representative positions in Ohio, was disqualified because she only used her legal name on the petitions, omitting her deadname, Cleveland ABC affiliate WEWS reports.

"I would have had to have my deadname on my petitions," Joy exxplained. "But in the trans community, our deadnames are dead; there's a reason it's dead — that is a dead person who is gone and buried."

The law, dating back to the 1990s, mandates that candidates list any name changes within the past five years on their signature petitions.

Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ+ news and politics. Sign up for The Advocate's email newsletter.

Case Western Reserve University elections law professor Atiba Ellis noted the importance of such disclosures for public vetting, but the lack of awareness and guidance about this requirement has raised concerns, according to the station.

"It would be fair for the candidate to disclose their identity including prior names so that the people and their representatives in the state government would be able to vet that person and know exactly who they are," Ellis told WEWS. "If it is selectively enforced, that raises the question of whether the use of such provisions would be discriminatory."

Joy, who legally changed her name and provided the necessary documentation to the county board, expressed frustration over the need for clear instructions regarding this rule in the candidate guide.

"Something that is that important should have been on the instructions," she told the station. "It should have been on the petition."

Deadnaming transgender people is harmful and invalidates their identities, advocacy groups point out.

Human Rights Campaign national press secretary Brandon Wolf was highly critical of the developments in Ohio in a statement to The Advocate.

“It is a travesty that this policy is stripping Vanessa Joy of the opportunity to run and serve her community,” Wolf said. “The legislature has already recognized that there are legitimate reasons for changing names, including marriage, that do not require disclosure. Revealing a transgender person’s deadname is harmful and can put them in danger. This disqualification should be reversed, and Vanessa Joy should have the chance to campaign for her community’s support as her authentic self.”

According to WEWS, the petition lacks a designated section for this information and is also absent from the 2024 candidate guide issued by the secretary of state. This omission isn’t new, as it has been missing from candidate guides for several years. WEWS attempted to contact the office for further clarification, particularly regarding the absence of the name change requirement in the 33-page guide but received no response.

The situation not only affects Joy but also places other transgender candidates in a state of uncertainty. While two other trans candidates who didn’t include their former names were certified, Joy had until Friday to appeal the decision, which she did, according to the New York Times.

Cleveland ABC affiliate WEWS reports that she subsequently lost that appeal.

Joy told the Times that she would challenge the decision in court.