Equality Ohio’s Executive Director Reflects on Year One

By Dwayne Steward

On that fateful night in November last year, as the world changed around us, I sat on my couch with my husband and my then 10-year-old son who we worked so hard to adopt—and I was immediately gripped by fear. I had taken on the role of executive director of Equality Ohio, the largest statewide organization dedicated to LGBTQ+ advocacy, just two months before. And as the first black gay male to take on this position in Ohio, I knew my gripping fear was a premonition of what was to come.

I had already expected the path to be difficult, as it is always a hard road for anyone who is “the first.” But now, I needed to equip myself, and my community, for a world where oppression of marginalized communities would be celebrated.

This quickly came to fruition as I immediately entered a hostile lame duck season at the Ohio Statehouse following the election. Our Republican legislators were primed to do their worst after being emboldened by the election results. And they did. After nearly 20 years of hardly any anti-LGBTQ legislation being passed, the 135^th General Assembly followed up the devastating passage of a youth gender-affirming care ban and transgender sports ban (House Bill 68) by passing four more anti-LGBTQ+ bills.

The “don’t say gay/forced outing bill,” disguised as a Parent Bill of Rights (Senate Bill 8) to protect youth, has increased the danger for LGBTQ+ students in our public schools. Senate Bill 104: the “transgender bathroom ban” encourages policing transgender students on college campuses. The “DEI ban” in higher education has now led to the closure of safe spaces in academia for any marginalized community. And the “hateful budget bill” (House Bill 96) now limits the definition of sex in Ohio to two genders.

It is no wonder that shortly after this slate of hate became law, the Trevor Project released a groundbreaking report highlighting a 72% increase in the suicide rate amongt Ohio’s transgender and gender, non-conforming youth.

You will remember that conservatives spent $215 million nationwide on anti-transgender campaign ads during the 2024 election cycle, with $50 million of those ads pipelined into Ohio markets to divide communities in the heated U.S. Senate race. This only exacerbated the damage that had already been done.

After the shock of November wore off, I released a video trying to hold space for the devastation we were all feeling, while trying to provide some sort of hope for the road ahead. But during my first six months in this role, hope was hard to come by.

While fighting the negative political rhetoric, I spent the end of 2024 completing a needs assessment of Equality Ohio staff, Board of Directors and community partners. A new strategy was forming, so I started 2025 by getting on the road to ensure our next steps were in line with community needs. I traveled across the state, meeting with LGBTQ+ leaders, policy experts and lawmakers. As the new administration pummeled us with executive orders meant to wreak chaos and stoke the flames of division, I was learning firsthand how this new era was devastating our community. People felt defeated and hopeless about their road ahead.

During the fight for HB 68 (youth gender-affirming care ban) in 2023, we packed the Statehouse regularly with angelic troublemakers who spoke truth to power about the hypocrisy of denying transgender Ohioans healthcare. Sadly, we lost that fight. And it had a devastating effect on advocacy in our community, which quickly became evident in the data. In 2024, during the fight against SB 8 (don’t say gay/forced outing bill), we saw a 50% decrease in the number of volunteers advocating at the Statehouse. The Trevor Project report also found 34% of families of LGBTQ+ transgender and non-binary youth were contemplating leaving Ohio.

We still face great uncertainty. Corporate divestment from DEI has left Prides struggling across the state. Government funding has begun to fade, with crucial youth housing, gender-affirming care and HIV prevention services hanging in the balance. Equality Ohio, too, has faced a significant decrease in corporate sponsorships and grant revenue this year due to political pressure.

But, I still hold firm to the words of Bayard Rustin. “Let us be enraged about injustice, but let us not be destroyed by it.”

Early on, it became very clear to me that people need to see that winning is still possible in Ohio, and as I said coming into this role, I believe Ohio is worth fighting for. Right now, though it may be slow, we are seeing wins in the courts, and we are definitely seeing wins in our hometowns.

In the coming months, Equality Ohio will be releasing a new strategic plan with a bold ambition. We will focus our efforts around three aims: increasing legal safety at the local level, scaling up our historic Legal Clinic to meet the growing need in this troubled legal landscape and shifting our strategy at the Statehouse towards harm reduction because we know that decreasing legislative harm has a direct correlation to decreasing suicide among LGBTQ+ youth.

A majority of Ohioan’s still believe in non-discrimination for LGBTQ+ people. When you know and love someone that is LGBTQ+, you are less likely to vote against them. Our current battle against the erasure of our transgender siblings is fueled by the fact that only 4 out of 10 Americans personally know a transgender person. Creating unique opportunities to safely uplift transgender narratives—much like our Transgender Tapestry Portrait Project—will be crucial in years ahead.

This idea that we are losing this fight is a fallacy. We are more organized than ever in Ohio, and there are so many folks who are fighting on the front lines for justice. Conversion-therapy bans and safe-haven ordinances are sweeping the state. Coalitions are solidifying in key hubs and they are sharing resources. Metropolitan areas are institutionalizing representation and pro-equality policy through LGBTQ+ specific commissions.

We must continue to strengthen our collective power. I truly believe we no longer have the luxury of division. Our opponents are using our traditional silos against us. A strong intersectional movement can create a pathway back to equality. I believe this because we’ve seen it before. Anytime we have stood up against tyranny throughout our history our collective power has been undeniable.

Twenty years ago, Equality Ohio started in the basement of a church with 60 people who stood up and declared, “Ohio is my home, too!” And then laid the groundwork to take their state back from extremism. (Join us at our 20th Anniversary Celebration on October 17!)

We must find the resolve to do it again. We have been here before. We have won before. We can, and we will win again. But only if we do so together.