Why one transgender Ohioan is glad she was disqualified from running for public office

By Vanessa Joy

Hey ya’ll, I’m Vanessa. You may remember me as the trans girl who tried to run for the Ohio House of Representatives, but was booted off the ballot for the “crime” of changing my name. It made quite the kerfuffle for about a month in early 2024. Ya girl was even live on MSNBC. Yay?

Here we are, a year and a half later, and you know what? I’m glad I wasn’t able to run. I’m glad I didn’t get elected. I took the opportunity of not being beholden to the state and got the f*ck out.

I was born and raised in Northeast Ohio, where I lived for 43 years. I was an active employer for 13 years and ran my own business for five. I was actively involved in updating the forms that disqualified me from running for office.

However, Ohio, run by a supermajority of Republican legislators without a backbone amongst them, continues to focus on making life harder for people like me rather than working for the people they are supposed to represent. 

This includes my stepfather, Bill Roemer, who, despite having a transgender stepdaughter, continually votes for anti-trans policies.

If you follow Erin Reed, a trans reporter who has her finger on the pulse of trans news, you’ll know that Ohio is neither a friendly nor safe place for us to live. Just leaving the house was getting progressively scarier for me beginning in 2023, as I was living in Massillon, surrounded by Trump flags and MAGA hats.

For a while, I knew that at the federal level, I still had some security. But when the presidential election results were announced, I knew that time was up.

That night, I realized that Ohio was no longer my home and started planning my move. I had to leave everything and everyone behind, but I knew the best chance of my child growing up with two living parents was for me to move to a safer state. 

There is a quiet, but persistent, genocide being committed against the transgender community in this country. 

Genocide doesn’t start with extermination. It’s a progressive campaign against a group of people, focused initially on making them appear as “others” or subhuman. It had ten stages.

We’ve been in stage 8, and with the “Big Beautiful Bill” going through the US Congress, adding language to strip federal funding for programs providing gender affirming care for all ages, that is officially stage 9 on a federal level. Eradication.

When collecting signatures to run for office, I hoped to make a change. After my disqualification and getting to know a few Ohio Democratic legislators personally, it became clear that the system is simply too heavily stacked against us.

Gerrymandering has given Republicans over 60% control over the Ohio House and Senate. This gives them free rein to do whatever they want, without fear of interruption by democrats.

I think it’s time for a new strategy: Get. The. F*ck. Out.

I’m not the first nor the last Ohioan to leave the state in my rearview to find a better life. I consider myself a refugee of sorts, as I have moved to what is arguably the safest area for trans people in the country. For a few years now, families with trans kids have been leaving Ohio. Educated people. Workers. People who contributed to the economy and culture of the state… gone.

Frankly, I think that’s the best way we can fix Ohio. Those of us who are educated enough to see the fascism taking control in Ohio should let the Republicans have what they want. A state full of people who hate anyone who doesn’t look like them, rapidly being drained of money.

If employees of companies like Intel or Goodyear decide to leave, those companies will leave as well. With the Boomers hoarding so much wealth starting to die out, eventually, there won’t be much left. The way to fix Ohio is to scorch-earth it financially.

I realize moving isn’t easy. Moving to Washington State required me to absolutely destroy my credit rating by maxing out all of my cards, selling almost everything I owned and building up a couple grand of donations from incredibly generous people.

But it is possible. If I can do it, a girl barely making $20k a year, with no family or safety net, you can, too.

We can do it via the community. Crowdfunding. Mutual aid. Ohio is a beautiful state populated with many, many wonderful people. Ohio tried to stop the gerrymandered supermajority with a citizen-led 2024 ballot initiative to stop gerrymandering, but outright lies killed that chance.

For any member of a marginalized community who reads this, I implore you to be cautious, be ready and do anything you can to get out.

Washington State welcomed me with open arms. I go to the grocery store here without a second thought. People don’t glare at me or follow me to my car. I can legally use bathrooms everywhere here. There’s no bill going through the Washington House that makes being trans in public illegal, like there is in Ohio (HB 249).

Is it expensive here? Yes. I’m barely scraping by living alone. If you come, I suggest finding shared housing. However, I blend in with the crowd even in the “red” areas. Blue states want us. They want our skills.They want our knowledge. They know that our arrival also means more prosperity for the state.

We often hear Republicans say, “If you don’t like it, I’ll help you pack.” The only one who gave me any assistance was my mother, who sent me $100. But I didn’t want her to help me pack anyway.

Ohio is now a place I will only visit to see my child. My home is now the Pacific Northwest. Join me. We can’t fight back if we’re dead… and staying in Ohio may soon be a death sentence. 🔥

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ignite action

• To find contact information for your Ohio state representative, click here.
• To find contact information for your Ohio senator, click here.
• If you are a young LGBTQ+ person in crisis, please contact the Trevor Project: 866-4-U-Trevor.
• If you are an transgender adult in need of immediate help, contact the National Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860