A “transgender woman” in Ohio claimed that “she” was disqualified from running for the state House of Representatives because “she” did not disclose “her” dead name, which is the name he had before transitioning.
According to NBC News, the transgender person, Vanessa Joy, 42, was planning on running as a Democrat for the state House. Reportedly, Ohio law requires people running for office who have changed their name in the past five years to include their former names on candidacy petitions. This does not apply towards those who changed their name because they got married.
“It’s a barrier to entry for many trans and gender-nonconforming people,” Joy told NBC News in an interview 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.”
In a separate interview with WEWS, Joy stated: “In the trans community, our dead names are dead. There's a reason it's dead—that is a dead person who is gone and buried."
Tragic: Trans-identified state rep. candidate Vanessa Joy won't be allowed on the ballot in Ohio for failing to disclose a name change.
— Expose Them (@ExposeDarkDeeds) January 4, 2024
This is a shameful injustice. He should've been rejected for pretending to be a woman, not for some obscure name law. Do better Ohio. pic.twitter.com/pZc3tJLiNq
On Thursday, Andy Ngo reported that Joy was previously known as “Jeremy Michael Adams” who filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which was not disclosed to potential voters. And, Ngo wrote that Joy is a "sex worker" who posts explicit content on the platform OnlyFans.
Newsweek noted that Joy is the “stepdaughter” of GOP state Rep. Bill Roemer, but that the two “do not have a relationship and have never met.”
Late last month, Ohio made national headlines over legislation surrounding the LGBTQ+ agenda. Townhall reported how Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine announced that he vetoed legislation that would have prohibited men who believe they are “trans women” from competing in women’s sports and prohibited minors from undergoing experimental gender care.
In remarks, DeWine said that if the bill were to become law, “Ohio would be saying that the state, that the government, knows better what is medically best for a child than the two people who love that child the most, the parents.”