Rep. Jodi Whitted has no time to waste.
With a total of only eight months of service in the Ohio House of Representatives, she is determined to make a difference for Ohioans, most definitely including the LGBTQ+ community.
“I have no grand illusions about making significant changes in eight months, but I am going to do what I can to be loud about protecting all Ohioans, especially the most vulnerable,” Whitted said.
Whitted, an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati who holds a doctorate in social work from the University of St. Thomas, was appointed in May to fill the remainder of Rep. Jessica Miranda’s term in Ohio’s 28th House District, which covers parts of Hamilton County. Miranda resigned from the House to become the Hamilton County auditor, a position that was left vacant by the untimely passing of former Democratic state Rep. Brigid Kelly due to cancer.
Whitted’s residence in Madeira will be redrawn for this November’s election into the district currently represented by a Democrat colleague, Rachel Baker, against whom Whitted will not run.
Thus, when 2024 is done, so too is Whitted’s time in office.
Codifying marriage equality
That short window of representation has not decreased Whitted’s determination.
For her first bill as a primary sponsor, she is picking up one of Miranda’s efforts: protecting marriage equality. Whitted is frankly surprised such a bill has not yet been passed.
“Why have we not done this?” she asked. “It’s past time.”
In November 2023, Miranda introduced HB 332, the Marriage Equality Act. The bill would eliminate the language in Ohio’s Revised Code (ORC) that prohibits marriage between individuals of the same sex (“A marriage may only be entered into by one man and one woman.”), putting Ohio in line with federal law. The bill would also prevent the state from establishing any prohibitions of marriage between individuals of different races.
“Historically, marriage bans have been utilized to deny interracial and same-sex couples from protecting their partners and acting in their partner’s best interests,” Miranda said at a press conference in October. “Today, we recognize that history, and work to fortify the right to marriage for all Ohioans.”
Although HB 332 was assigned to the House’s State and Local Government Committee on November 28, it has not yet been scheduled for a hearing, even though the bill was filed before the deadline that guarantees bills will receive one hearing. In the interim, HB 332 co-sponsor Rep. Tavia Galonski has also resigned from the House—to fill an open role as Summit County’s clerk of courts.
Whitted had hoped that these extenuating circumstances would allow her name to replace Miranda’s on the original bill. That plan didn’t get any traction with Committee Chair Scott Wiggam (R-Wayne County).
“He never responded,” Whitted said.
Rep. Wiggam said that HB 332 is considered an “orphaned” piece of legislation given that the original bill sponsors are no longer representatives.
“Chairmen do not have the ability to substitute bill sponsors,” Wiggam responded to The Buckeye Flame via email. “Since this legislation was in the beginning stages with only a referral to the State and Local Government Committee, it is proper for the legislation to be reintroduced with new bill sponsors and number.”
Whitted was indeed forced to refile HB 332, now coded as HB 636. The language of the new bill is identical to HB 332, but HB 636 has not yet been assigned to a committee, the first step in scheduling a hearing. And a new filing deadline means the bill cannot be guaranteed a hearing.
HB 636 now sits in a legislative limbo.
“If the bill is sent to the State and Local Government Committee, we will discuss having a hearing then,” Wiggam said.
‘Far from symbolic’
In an interview with Cleveland.com, Whitted was quoted as saying that guaranteeing marriage equality was “symbolic.” Although she stands by the importance of LGBTQ+ Ohioans seeing their state legislators standing with them, she wants to be very clear on one point.
“This is a bill with very real effects for Ohioans,” Whitted said. “It is far from [solely] symbolic.”
In the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas explicitly mentioned overturning Obergefell v. Hodges — the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case which federally legalized same-sex marriage.
“In future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including…Obergefell,” Thomas wrote.
Should Obergefell be overturned and marriage equality returned to state control, Ohio would revert to language in the Ohio Revised Code (ORC),which limits marriage to a union between a man and a woman.
The Democratic-controlled Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed a bill on July 2 repealing their state’s language banning marriage equality. That bill now heads to the Republican-controlled Senate.
In the Cleveland.com piece, Rep. Gary Click (R-Vickery) said that he opposed gay marriage but that there would be no practical reason to change the law.
“I don’t think there’s going to be a firestorm of motivation to jump in and change it,” Click said.
Whitted was unsurprised by Click’s response.
“Of course, Representative Click is going to say there is no need for it because he will minimize it and downplay it as much as he can,” she said.
The Buckeye Flame reached out to Rep. Click for comment, but no response was received.
This is personal
The work of protecting marriage equality is something Whitted is doing on behalf of an LGBTQ+ community for whom she is advocating, but also for a community in which she is a member.
“I identify as bisexual,” Whitted said.
She highlights that she has the privilege of being straight-presenting (“I’m married to a man and have two kids.”) which can lead others to assume she is not a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
“Most people would never know that about me unless they asked or happened to be around when I’m talking about it,” Whitted said.
Her affiliation with the LGBTQ+ community plus her extensive background in social work drives her to use her position to speak out on bills that would do harm to LGBTQ+ Ohioans.
Whitted is particularly outraged by bills like HB 8, the “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” which would force school staff—including social workers—to out LGBTQ+ youth to their parents.
Representatives from the Ohio chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) have repeatedly testified that such a bill would violate social workers’ code of ethics and do great harm to LGBTQ+ youth.
Whitted said state Republicans’ advancing of bills like “Parents’ Bill of Rights” and HB 183 (now SB 104), which would ban trans youth from the bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity, will unquestionably put LGBTQ+ youth in danger.
“Day-in and day-out, Republicans claim to care about the youth in our state, but here we are,” Whitted said. “They are bullying and singling out one group of kids. It makes absolutely no sense and it speaks to how radicalized our legislature has become in Ohio.”
Looking ahead
With only a few months remaining, Whitted harbors no fantasies that HB 636 will be able to make it through the entire legislative process before the current session ends in December. For now, she just wants it to get a first hearing and notes that LGBTQ+ Ohioans can help make that happen by reaching out to their local representatives.
“People need to be really loud about this and demand action,” Whitted said. “I want to bring attention to the fact that this was introduced again and it wasn’t given a hearing again. And I want people to know that and to very clearly see that.”
Even if no hearing takes place, Whitted feels confident the bill will return in another legislative session. For that reason, she was intentional in choosing Rep. Anita Somani (D-Dublin) as a co-sponsor for HB 636.
“After I’m no longer in office, my joint sponsor, Rep. Somani will keep trying,” she said.
When her eight months in office are up, Whitted hopes that Ohioans are inspired to see someone like her put her life on hold, step in and do this work.
“I really am just a normal person in my day-to-day life, just a lady with kids in suburban Ohio,” Whitted said. “I hope other people will see that If you’re someone in this LGBTQ+ community or an ally and want to do something to make a difference, you really can do that.” 🔥
IGNITE ACTION
- To see a full list of Ohio’s LGBTQ+-related bills, click here.
- To register to vote or to check your voter eligibility status in the state of Ohio, click here.
- To find contact information for your Ohio state representative, click here.
- To find contact information for your Ohio senator, click here.
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