Jan 04, 2024 - 22:54
By nbcnews.com

Transgender woman is disqualified from Ohio House race for not using her former name

A transgender woman said she was disqualified from running for a seat in the Ohio House of Representatives because she did not disclose her former name.

Vanessa Joy, 42, a former real estate photographer, had hoped to run as a Democrat and represent Ohio House District 50. That hope came to a premature end when she failed to include her former name, or what’s sometimes referred to as a “deadname,” the name a trans person was given at birth and no longer uses after their gender transition.

Ohio law requires people running for political office who have changed their name within the last five years to include their former names on candidacy petitions. The law exempts people who have changed their name because of marriage, but it does not mention exemptions for trans people who have changed their names. Joy said she was unaware of the law until her disqualification.

“It’s a barrier to entry for many trans and gender-nonconforming people,” Joy told NBC News on Thursday. “Where I personally would have just bit the bullet and allowed my deadname to be on the petitions and likely on the ballot, for a lot of trans people, they don’t want their deadnames printed. It’s a safety concern for many.”

Officials from the Stark County Board of Elections Office, where Joy submitted her petition to run for office, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Her disqualification comes days after the state made national headlines over transgender issues.