Why Ohio’s Ballot Proposition 1 is an LGBTQ+ rights issue.
This story is published in partnership with the Queer News Network, a collaboration among 11 LGBTQ+ newsrooms to cover down ballot elections across 10 states. Read more about us here.
This story is also done in partnership with The Buckeye Flame, an LGBTQ+ non-profit news outlet based in Ohio.
Gerrymandering — a mapping and redistricting practice done oftentimes for the benefit of certain political parties — is on the ballot this year in Ohio, which happens to also be one of the most gerrymandered states in the nation, according to a report by the League of Women Voters of Ohio.
Championed by the group Citizens Not Politicians, Ballot Proposition Issue 1 would change the Ohio constitution to replace the state’s Redistricting Commission with an independent, nonpartisan panel composed of an equal number of Democrats, Republicans and Independents. It would also ban current politicians and lobbyists from the panel.
A recent poll found that 60% of Ohioans plan to vote for Issue 1, but how does the proposition affect the LGBTQ+ community, and what’s at stake if it were to pass or fail a majority vote?
For queer voters in urban areas, redistricting has in the past helped in electing politicians that have historically championed LGBTQ+ rights. The hope for many in the community is if Ohio passes Proposition 1, it might open up possibilities for more LGBTQ+-friendly lawmakers in the future.
Why does gerrymandering matter in Ohio?
The majority party that controls state government has an outsized influence on how districts are created: Currently, the commission has five Republicans: the governor, auditor, secretary of state and two local politicians. The other two lawmakers, as required by law, are Democrats.
In 2022, the Ohio Supreme Court struck down Commission-drawn maps seven times, deeming them unconstitutional. They were later upheld by a federal court.
Maureen O'Connor, former Republican Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, joined the three Democrat judges in the decision and is now leading the Citizens Not Politicians initiative.
But more than party, gerrymandering has the ability to split what voting rights advocates and experts call “communities of interest,” groups that share ethnic, cultural, geographic, economic or other identities between different districts.
For example, in the 1st District, Cincinnati, which was redistricted in 2018, it is combined with the much wealthier Warren County. The median household income in Cincinnati is less than $50,000, while Warren County’s residents make over $100,000.
Warren County has only once voted for a Democrat presidential candidate since the 1850s, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
“Mapmakers created a district of profound economic disparity where almost any economic policy would benefit one half of the district at the expense of the other half,” according to the League of Women Voters’ report.
Before 2018, Cincinnati was divided in two and included parts of the more conservative suburb of Hamilton County in addition to Warren County.
Redistricting reforms enacted that same year required cities to be unified instead of divided.
How does this affect the queer community?
Ohio has the sixth largest population of LGBTQ+ adults in the nation, which is clustered around the state’s major cities. Lumping those votes in with the suburbs, voting rights experts say, deprives the community of proper representation.
Advocates point to recent laws passed by conservatives against LGBTQ+ communities that might not have gone forward if redistricting was more fair.
In 2021, the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund launched the “We Belong Together” campaign aimed to name queer communities as “communities of interest” in the redistricting processes. The fund focused on states with independent redistricting commissions, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Michigan and Montana.
On its campaign web site, LGTBTQ+ Victory Fund points out that the late trail-blazing gay activist Harvey Milk won his Board of Supervisors election after redistricting united the majority gay Castro neighborhood in San Francisco.
It’s unclear if Ohio would be included if the Proposition 1 passed.
Who opposes the measure and why?
The Ohio Republican Party, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, U.S. Speaker Mike Johnson, Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman and Secretary of State Frank LaRose — chair of the current commission — argue that Issue 1 legitimizes gerrymandering.
Republicans attempted to change the language on the ballot — but not on the constitutional amendment itself — to state that Issue 1 redistricting breaks constitutional protections against gerrymandering and requires districts to favor the two largest political parties.