A transgender candidate in a state election has reportedly been disqualified from running for office after refusing to reveal her birth name.
Vanessa Joy, a Democrat running for the 50th District in the Ohio House of Representatives, was disqualified under state law because she did not disclose her changed name to reflect her transgender status on a petition distributed to voters. It was deemed that there was no such thing. ohio capital journal report.
“They should have put my dead name on the petition,” Joy said. “But in the transgender community, our dead names are dead. We're dead for a reason – we're dead and buried.”
Transgender candidate in Ohio disqualified from state ballot for omitting previous name https://t.co/Gs6cLiIJy0 pic.twitter.com/9IK82JMPFY
— New York Post (@nypost) January 5, 2024
The disqualified Stark County candidate has collected all the signatures needed to run, the paper said.However, the state law Joy reportedly did not comply with a law from the 1990s that requires all candidates to disclose any name changes within the past five years.
Atiba Ellis, a professor of election law at Case Western Reserve University, said, “Candidates should be front-lined so that residents and their representatives in state government can vet them and know exactly who they are.'' It would be fair to reveal his identity, including his first name.” she explained to the Ohio Capital Journal.
Joy is reportedly the stepchild of Republican state Rep. Bill Romer, but the two do not know each other. The newspaper said Joy intended to object to Romer's support for legislation that would ban minors from consenting to gender reassignment procedures and ban men from participating in women's sports. (Related: Trans actor faints at Delta Airlines gate after being 'misgendered')
“The only thing we can do is fight back, which is why we have so many transgender candidates in Ohio,” Joy said, according to the newspaper.
Joy said she was not informed of the name change disclosure law and was given no instructions or space to include the information in her petition, the Ohio Capital Journal reported. Two other transgender state House candidates reportedly claim they were unaware of the law, claiming it was not listed in the 33-page guide. However, the media said both had been certified by the Election Commission.
The paper said Joy is concerned that the name change disclosure law would “certainly” prevent transgender candidates from running, and has until Friday to file an appeal.
