Transgender Ohio House Candidate Disqualified for Not Disclosing Birth Name (VIDEO)
A transgender biological male who identifies as a woman has been disqualified from the Ohio House race for not disclosing the name given to him at birth.
Vanessa Joy, 50, a Democrat, was hoping to run for Ohio House District 50 and had collected the required signatures.
Under Ohio law, candidates for public office are required to disclose any name changes that they have made in the last five years. There are multiple exceptions, including for candidates who changed their name because of marriage, but being transgender is not one of them.
The law, passed in 1995, states:
If any person desiring to become a candidate for public office has had a change of name within five years immediately preceding the filing of his statement of candidacy,
