[Update: the Ohio Ballot Board decided to split this effort into 2 petition initiatives, one to establish same sex "marriage" and one for the "equal rights" component. So there may be 2 types of petitions circulated. It does make the effort more unlikely to succeed, but we are still urging people to be aware and educate others.]
My prayer this morning was this: “Lord, please do not let Ohio make the mistakes of California, New York, Illinois, Oregon, Colorado and many other states, and give a huge boost in power and a tool of weaponry to the homosexual and transgender movement. Don't let people in this state foolishly sign a petition to put a state constitutional amendment on the ballot in November of 2026. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.”
What “LGBTQ” amendment petition, you ask? It’s called the “Ohio Equal Rights Amendment.” Official petitions are now circulating to gather signatures to put a measure before voters in November 2026. It would allegedly ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
But, there is no need for state of Ohio protections based on sexual behavior or discomfort with one’s anatomy. These are personal preferences and attitudes, not “rights.” And no one is born this way. Homosexual behavior and gender confusion are highly controversial, with demonstrated health and social risks, and millions of Ohioans have deep concerns about validating these identities and behaviors, especially when impressionable children might be taught to accept them inaccurately as normal and uncomplicated.
Also included in the list on this petition are other civil rights already legal in Ohio. Do we need the duplication? All citizens in Ohio are already protected against discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, disability, age, religion, national origin, ancestry, familial status in housing, military status and retaliation. This petition repeats most of these with additions: “sexual orientation, gender identity or expression regardless of sex assigned at birth, pregnancy status, genetic information, disease status, age, disability, recovery status, familial status, ancestry, national origin, or military and veteran status.”
Quite a list, quite a playing field for lawsuits and lots of potential billable hours for attorneys.
But people who identify as “LGBTQ” are treated terribly, aren’t they? Isn’t there widespread bullying? That’s what we are told, with accompanying horrible- sounding anecdotes. Maybe some of them are even true. So, isn’t such a measure just an expression of compassion? After all, the petitioners say they want to build a state that is “welcoming to all”....
Pardon me until I stop laughing.
If you look at the track record of this vicious movement and existing state laws of this type, there’s not much “welcoming” going on. It’s particularly egregious when you look at the impact on families, children and schools.
If we want even more “LGBTQ” tyranny in our courts, at work and in the classroom, you will love this proposal.
But if you are grieved as many of us are about the damage this depraved movement has already done to our state and country, then like me, you will pray like crazy, then forward this article and educate people about all the reasons to say NO to the petitioners when you see them at grocery stores, concerts, sports events.
And—remember these behaviors are an abomination to the Lord. See HERE for relevant Scripture. Do NOT doubt the teaching of the Lord on this. He is always right.
It’s NOT really about “same sex marriage,” as the supporters claim. They just want people to avoid thinking about the real results of such a measure, should it pass.
Just a few of the problems that come to mind with expanded homosexual and “trans” rights in Ohio:
· People with of the “LGBTQ” proclivities become a “protected class” for civil rights purposes. But this is nothing like race. Have you ever tried to reason with these people? They don’t care about your faith, your child’s innocence, your livelihood, your neighborhood, your library, your free speech rights. If they have another hammer to club Christians and conservatives with, they will use it. And no one is born this way. You and I both know many ex-homosexuals and ex-transgenders.
· It is NOT about “dignity, fairness, and equality” as they claim. It is about THEIR version of “fairness” which is a totally different animal. Your rights are nothing to them. Lose your job because they took offense? They don’t care. They will cheer.
· Freedom of religion is gone. The nasty and intolerant slogan of equal rights efforts for many years by the Human Rights Campaign, targeted at people of faith, is that our First Amendment rights and opposition to fake marriage is a “license to discriminate.” That’s what they think of your dignity and your equality. It goes in the dumpster.
· They are aggressive and when offended ( which is easy to do), they will be vindictive, with the media on their side. Two lesbians in Oregon were outraged by a bakery ( Sweet Cakes by Melissa) and the owner’s polite refusal to prepare a cake for their commitment ceremony. After relentless harassment by the “gay” community, cheered on by the sympathetic media, not only did that bakery close, but the owners with five children had to sell their home. And the courts forced them to pay the two lesbians $135,000 for their (the women’s) “suffering.”
· Parental rights are in jeopardy. Because of a similar state law in California, parents with gender confused children can see their children taken away from them by the state, unless the parents approve of gender mutilation and go along with the child’s new identity—sold to youth, by the way, through schools that can teach whatever they want, since it’s becomes a child’s “right” to hear all this poison.
· Schools will bend to the high-pressure tactics of their LGBTQ-allied teachers and staff. And the results for your child/grandchild can be horrific. A few years ago I heard from a mom in New Jersey, where these homosexual “rights” have been in place for years. Her middle school son had been privately groomed by one of his teachers as part of a group of 16 students into joining a private ”gay” Instagram group. No parents were notified. This mom found out in time to put a stop to it, thank God. Educators in states with these laws feel empowered to bypass parents and indoctrinate students without restraint.
· In Ohio schools, specific threats to our state laws if such an amendment is adopted include challenges to the abstinence-until-marriage sex education requirement (they’ll say it isn’t “inclusive”); libraries retaining any storybooks/novels with “LGBTQ” themes, even if they are pornographic, because to remove them will be “discrimination.” And our new law requiring religious release time instruction to be offered in schools (like the LifeWise program) may be under attack.
· Lawyers get rich because lawsuits will pile up. And we already have far too many far-left judges in Ohio, so the chances of losing rise exponentially.
· Drag queens would have a “right” to perform in libraries and children would have a “right” to be placed in the audience front of them.
· Camps and public accommodations must conform. A Christian camp for kids in the state of Colorado was threatened with losing its license to operate because of a state regulation requiring so-called “non-discrimination” on the basis of gender identity, which means that in public accommodations, like a camp, boys who are convinced they are girls must be allowed entry to restrooms, sleeping quarters and showers. There was no allowance for religious belief. Only after a lawsuit from the Christian legal firm Alliance Defending Freedom did the state amend its regulation, allowing churches, synagogues, mosques, and so on to be exempt from this foolish state rule. This could become a constant battle.
· Small businesses must serve the “LGBTQ” cause or be punished. Baker Jack Phillips in Colorado had to endure a decade of lawsuits, first from a male couple who wanted a same sex cake and then from a gender confused man. Phillips finally won at the Supreme Court and the second case was narrowly thrown out in Colorado on a procedural grounds. Homosexual/trans “rights” present a constant struggle just to live out one’s faith.
· Ohio has already seen court cases along these lines, because of local, school or workplace “non-discrimination” policies. Nicholas Meriwether, a professor at Shawnee State University, finally prevailed at the 6th Circuit after fighting for his right to not use untruthful pronouns to address a student. Many cases have been resolved fairly with the person of faith winning, because truth still means something in Ohio. With the hostile muscle of a new SOGI state law, that outcome becomes much less likely.
· But isn’t this about “marriage equality”? The marriage issue serves as a useful boogey man. Fun fact--marriage “equality” existed prior to homosexual demands. A man has the right to marry a woman as long as they are old enough and she is not his sister. And interracial marriages are under no threat and haven’t been since Loving v. Virginia in 1967. This movement feeds on twisted claims and misdirected outrage, playing the “race” card when it doesn’t apply. Despite the fervent wishes and prayers of many, there is no imminent threat of overturning the Supreme Court Obergefell same sex “marriage” decision anytime soon, where Ohio’s dormant affirmation of one man, one woman marriage (passed in 2004) would be suddenly enforced. Youngster activists who don’t know much and hate conservatives are easy to manipulate with such outlandish fears. And then they collect signatures through foolish petitions.
Pray for them – pray for all these lost people-- but stand strong and DON’T SIGN.
