Ohio Republicans introduce bill to designate month honoring heterosexual married families

Ohio Republicans introduced a bill on Tuesday to designate a month solely to honor only Ohio families helmed by a cisgender heterosexual couple in a lifelong, monogamous relationship.

House Bill (HB) 262 would designate “Natural Family Month,” for the period of time from Mother’s Day, which is the second Sunday in May, to Father’s Day, the third Sunday in June.

Though the bill designates but does not define “Natural Family Month,” an explanation for the month can be found on the website of the Natural Family Foundation (NFF), a Westerville, Ohio-based group – not an official nonprofit – that is attempting to “return the Natural Family to its rightful place as the Foundation of our American culture.”

According to the NFF website, Natural Family Month would encourage only those relationships that consist of “one biological born man, woman in a lifelong monogamous relationship with their biological and yes even adopted children.”

HB 262 is sponsored by Rep. Beth Lear (R-Galena) and Rep. Josh Williams (R-Sylvania Twp.) and has 26 Republican cosponsors. 

James Harrison, executive director of NFF, told The Buckeye Flame that he attends the same church as Rep. Lear and contacted her office to encourage the adoption of this language. Harrison did not know the legislation had been introduced until The Buckeye Flame contacted him for comment.

The Buckeye Flame reached out to Reps. Lear and Williams for comment and this piece will be updated if a response is received.

New Hampshire Republicans passed a similar resolution in 2024, also inspired by the Natural Family Foundation.

“This bill is not just offensive; it’s dangerous.”

Dwayne Steward, executive director of Equality Ohio, said that HB 262 is more than bad policy but is a “calculated act of strategic erasure.” 

“It not only invalidates the existence of single parents and countless other caregivers, but it takes direct aim at LGBTQ+ families across our state,” Steward said. “The so-called ‘Natural Family Foundation,’ the group pushing this legislation, has made their ideology clear: if you’re not a heterosexual, monogamous couple with children, you don’t count as a family at all.” 

Steward said HB 262 is part of a national effort “to police family structures and control birthing bodies, cloaked in the language of tradition but rooted in exclusion and control.”

“As an adoptive parent, myself, I feel this erasure personally,” Steward said. “This bill is not just offensive; it’s dangerous.”

Other LGBTQ+ family advocates say the legislation is not rooted in unity or inclusion, but instead stems from exclusion and harm.

Densil Porteous, executive director of Stonewall Columbus, which houses the Family Pride Network, said that HB 262 is a “coded effort to undermine and invalidate families” like his own.

“Let us be unequivocal: families come in many forms. Families built by love, by connection, by intention—not limited by outdated or discriminatory definitions,” Porteous said. “Stonewall’s work through our Family Pride Network program celebrates and supports LGBTQ+ families, blended families, adoptive families, chosen families and all families who are rooted in care, respect, and dignity.”

Porteous noted the timing of this bill – just a few weeks before Pride Month – and stressed the importance of affirming that LGBTQ+ families are deserving of celebration, not scrutiny. 

“This June, and every month, we stand proudly with LGBTQ+ families across Ohio and beyond,” Porteous said. “Our families are natural. Our families are strong. And our Pride for our families is unwavering.”

An “idea,” not an organization

The executive director of NFF said that theirs is not an organization. 

“We’re an idea,” Harrison told The Buckeye Flame. “We’re a group of people who got together, and are trying to get the word out about a best practice.”

NFF warns about the “dangers” of recognizing families other than their definition of “natural.”  

“We will become a lawless society because we have tampered with the structure, form and practice of the family unit. What happened in Rome and Greece and other former great civilizations will surely be visited upon our great nation if we do not do something, and soon, to protect this cornerstone of all society.”

They further proclaim that each family must have “a clear male leader (e.g. father, grandfather, uncle, male elder cousin) and that leader must come from the family’s lineage.”

Harrison said that “Natural Family Month” is not meant to be derogatory and is “no more or less different” than celebrations of Pride Month.

“If you’re going to celebrate gay Pride, then we’re going to celebrate the natural family,” Harrison said. 

Harrison was not able to say whether it would be preferable for children in the foster care system to be placed with a same-sex couple providing a loving home or no home at all, saying that there is not conclusive research on the subject and that it could cause confusion for children expecting a heterosexual couple.  

“It would be like telling our son that Santa Claus existed and then finding he doesn’t,” Harrison said.

HB 262 was assigned to the Community Revitalization Committee on May 14. 🔥

Editor’s note: This story was updated on May 15 to reflect that this bill has been assigned to a committee.

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