Hi folks,
It’s been brought to my attention that the Ohio Fairness Act will be holding hearings at the Ohio Statehouse the first week of February. Medina’s Representative to the Ohio House of Representatives is Steve Hambley, and he is currently the Chair for the Civil Justice Committee. He is allowing testimony hearings, and as there is Bi-partisan support in the House, movement on the Ohio Fairness Act is as close as it ever has been in Ohio.
We are asking a bit of your time in the next week to contact Chair Hambley to show support for the OFA, which would provide legal protections for all LGBTQ folks in Ohio. Please set aside a few minutes (maybe to honor Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. on his birthday!) to contact Chair Hambley and let him know that you support the OFA. Please include your name and address in your correspondence, that you support the Ohio Fairness Act, and the reason why you support it. Maybe you are LGBTQ, or your child or other relative is, or a friend or neighbor is LGBTQ. Or that you just want fairness for all Ohioans, and that this Act would provide that. Pretty simple, right?
Time is of the essence here, so you can write a letter to him at the following address:
Representative Stephan Hambley
77 S. High St.
11th Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Or, you could call him this week and speak to an aide, and advise them of the same.
614-466-8140
Alternatively, if you live in Medina, or nearby, I (Sandy) am going to be at Cool Beans on the Square in Medina at the following times:
Monday, Jan. 20 from 2-5pm
Thursday, Jan. 23 from 6-8pm
I will have paper and envelopes for you to write out your letter, and our friends from the Human Rights Campaign will address your letter and pay for postage. You can drop off your pre-written letter for me during those times, too, and we will take care of the rest!
HRC will be picking up all letters collected at our January meeting on January 27. If you’d like to come early to the meeting to write your letter, that would be great, too!
HRC is trying to capture how many contacts are going to Chair Hambley. If you send your letter on your own, or call to leave a message, please let me know, and I will let HRC know what our efforts are.
Alternatively, if you want to speak directly to Representative Hambley and State Senate President Larry Obhof, they will be holding a district open meeting at the Medina Library. They are requesting to hear from constituents on any issue that you may want to talk to them about.
You are welcome to join the conversation if you live in the Medina area. They likely want to hear only from those in their districts, which is mainly Medina County. Just show up and be prepared to speak to this issue, and why it is important to you. No advance registration is necessary.The date/times are:
Friday, February 7 from 11:00am-12:30pm
It would be great to have a number of people from the area let them know in person that we want equality for all in Ohio.
Here is the flyer for our Educational Program on January 27…we’d love to have lots of teens and young adults at this LGBTQ+ Inclusive Sex Ed program.
Also, here is information about HIV testing prior to the meeting. Hope to see you there!!
Kindest regards,
Sandy