Ohio House Bills 467 and 471

LOVEboldly's Stance: SUPPORT HB 467 and OPPOSE HB 471

Why should Christians care about Ohio House Bills 467 and 471?

Summary - HB467 and HB 471

HB467 seeks to add an exemption for Transgender candidates to an Ohio election requirement for candidates for elected office to list any former names. There is already an exemption for people who have changed their names due to marriage or divorce.

HB471 seeks to allow candidates of any party to challenge any candidate regarding their former names. Currently, candidates can only challenge candidates of their own party.

HB471 is seen as a response to HB467.

Status of the Bills
(as of June 26, 2024)

HB467 was introduced on March 27, 2024, and assigned to the House Government Oversight committee on April 2, 2024. The bill has had sponsor, opponent, and proponent hearings. No additional hearings or votes are scheduled at the time.

HB471 was introduced on April 8, 2024, and assigned to the House Government Oversight Committee on April 23, 2024. The bill has had sponsor, opponent, and proponent hearings. No additional hearings or votes are scheduled at the time.

Take Action

1. Call and email members of the House Government Oversight Committee and urge them to vote for HB467 and against HB471. You can find the list of committee members here: https://ohiohouse.gov/committees/government-oversight

2. Call and email your representative. Tell them to vote YES ON HB467 and NO on HB471.

Don't know who your senator or representative is? Find out at www.legislature.ohio.gov (search under “Who represents me?”).

Congregational Action*

1. Members of your congregation can participate in all the actions above.

2. If your congregation is not yet a Church Partner with LOVEboldly consider becoming a partner.

3. Encourage your members to donate to LOVEboldly or one of our strategic partners including Equality Ohio, TransOhio, Trans Allies of Ohio, Honesty for Ohio Education, and the ACLU of Ohio.

Other Resources Regarding Ohio HB183

*Legal Stuff

We're not lawyers and nothing we say should be taken as legal advice. Please consult your congregational and denominational legal counsel for legal advice. That said, we know congregations sometimes wonder what they can and cannot do when it comes to advocacy.

Like LOVEboldly, most churches are 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations and as such are tax exempt. Donors to 501(c)(3) organizations can also, under some circumstances, deduct their donations from their taxes (another area where people should consult a professional which LOVEboldly is not).

DO - Churches and other 501(c)(3) nonprofits can engage in issue-based advocacy. This means we can publicly support or oppose policies, bills, regulations, and other governmental actions. In most cases our support or opposition is in the form of educating people and then arguing why people should support or oppose a particular issue. Everything on this page is an example of issue-based advocacy in opposition to HB8.

DON'T - Churches and other 501(c)(3) organizations cannot engage in partisan politics. We can neither endorse particular politicians nor can we lobby politicians or government officials. We can hold nonpartisan events such as a voter registration drive. We all have examples of churches behaving badly: pastors endorsing candidates from the pulpit, sermons demonizing other candidates, and many more. Don't model their behavior.