Equality Ohio is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that advocates for full equality for the LGBTQ community. It is the statewide authority advocating for LGBT families with over 30,000 members. It is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. It was founded in 2005 following the passage of Ohio Issue 1, which banned state recognition of same-sex relationships. Equality Ohio's first Executive Director, Lynne Bowman is one of the founders of Equality Ohio and served as its executive director for over 5 years. Sue Doerfer, became Executive Director in December 2009 and announced her resignation in November 2010. She was replaced by Ed Mullen, a former candidate for Illinois State Representative and civil rights lawyer from Chicago., Equality Ohio accepted the resignation of Ed Mullen, effective June 29, 2012. During his tenure Ed brought tremendous vitality and keen legal insights to Equality Ohio, stabilized operations and financial support, and led the development of a nationally recognized strategic plan. Kim Welter then served as the Interim Executive Director, has served as the Director of Programs and Outreach at Equality Ohio and with five years of experience, she is the most seasoned staff member. She joined the organization in 2008 after serving as the Executive Director of Equality Toledo for over 2 years. In November 2012 the organization hired its fourth Executive Director, Elyzabeth Joy Holford.
In addition to other efforts, Equality Ohio has worked for several years toward passing state legislation to prohibit employment or housing discrimination based on sexual orientation.
In early 2011, Equality Ohio embarked on a strategic planning process to guide its work from 2011 to 2014. Equality Ohio solicited input on its strategic plan from its founders and early leaders, LGBT community leaders and members, and allies around the state. On May 17, 2011, the Boards of Equality Ohio and Equality Ohio Education Fund each adopted the strategic plan.
Part of that plan was to develop legislative and public policy strategies on the state and local level to enact the Equal Housing and Employment Act and Safe Schools bills during the 2011-12 or 2013-14 legislative sessions; enact additional local non-discrimination and relationship recognition ordinances throughout Ohio; increase Equality Ohio Campaign Fund's influence in the 2012 and 2014 elections; and, seize favorable opportunities as they emerge and protect against anti-equality legislative or public policy efforts.
The two current legislative priorities are the passage of the Equal Housing and Employment Act (HB335 / SB231) and enumeration of the safe schools legislation which was passed January 2012 (HB208). Equality Ohio will continue to work with LGBT rights organizations throughout Ohio and nationally to achieve those goals. Equality Ohio will also continue its leadership in the formation of the broad statewide coalition pursuing marriage equality for all Ohio families.
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