Welcome to KYC! Whether it’s your first time or your hundredth time at KYC, we want to make sure you know your way around. Follow along as Daria gives you a tour of the center so you know what to expect the when you arrive. We can’t wait to see you soon! 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Last night, the Ohio Legislature failed to pass the transgender athlete ban! This victory for trans athletes and all LGBTQIA+ young people in Ohio demonstrates the power of advocacy and the good that can come when people bravely tell their stories.
#LetTransKidsPlay
⚠️TAKE ACTION ⚠️
House Bill 68, which bans gender-affirming care for minors AND trans girls from playing school sports, will have proponent testimony on Tues., 11/28 (one week from today!). While it isn’t our turn to testify (yet!), here’s how you can stay involved:
Kaleidoscope Youth Center is disgusted by House Bill 68, and we both denounce and condemn its passage.
HELP STOP HOUSE BILL 68 FROM BECOMING LAW: Contact Governor Mike DeWine (614-466-3555, governor
@governor
.ohio.gov) and tell him to veto H.B. 68.
⚠️ URGENT: HELP STOP TWO ANTI-LGBTQIA+ BILLS THIS WEEK ⚠️
Last week you showed up in large numbers (thank you!) in support of trans youth, and now we need you to continue to let your voice be heard to stop two anti-LGBTQIA+ bills from being voted out of committee this week!
🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️We've been overwhelmed by the support we've received over the past few days following the presence of a group of Nazis at a drag brunch hosted by
@LandGrantBeer
that benefitted KYC. Thanks to everyone who’s donated to KYC + shared words of support, encouragement & love. 🧵⬇️
🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈 To all the LGBTQIA+ youth in Ohio, particularly to our trans and nonbinary friends and family, we love you.
#YouBelong
. You are extraordinary. We'll always have your back, and so will many others in this community. 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Are you with us? Share or comment ⬇️
CW: Transphobia + suicide
⚠️Trans youth in Ohio are under attack AGAIN. The Ohio House Families, Aging and Human Services Committee is hearing testimony TODAY at 10 a.m. on HB 454, which would ban gender-affirming care for minors.⚠️
Read what KYC youth have said & take action⬇️
HAPPENING NOW: The Ohio Senate session has begun. The Senate is scheduled to vote today to override Governor DeWine's veto of Ohio House Bill 68. This follows the House's override vote on 1/10.
Follow along here for updates and watch live at .
HB68 IS VETOED! 🏳️⚧️🥳
@GovMikeDeWine
, thank you for your leadership in standing against discrimination. And thank you for trusting young people, their families, and their providers to make private and personal decisions that are in their own best interests.
⚠️TAKE ACTION ⚠️H.B. 68, which would ban gender-affirming care for minors AND trans women and girls from playing school sports, is having a hearing for opponent testimony (that’s us!) Weds., Dec. 6 at 3 p.m. The committee may also vote on the bill. Here's what you should do: ⬇️
Testimony on HB 68 has begun! There are 85+ folks here to testify, and countless others packing the overflow rooms and Statehouse atrium. Witnesses have been given 3 minutes to speak.
Follow along here for updates and watch live at .
⚠️TAKE ACTION ⚠️H.B. 68, which would ban gender-affirming care for minors AND trans women and girls from playing school sports, is having a hearing for opponent testimony (that’s us!) Weds., Dec. 6 at 3 p.m. The committee may also vote on the bill. Here's what you should do: ⬇️
From inside the chamber, you can hear protesters chanting "trans rights are human rights" outside the Statehouse. Additional folks are verbally protesting inside the chamber.
It's Nina🐥ing West!! Thanks, Andrew, for hanging out with us yesterday! The staff, volunteers, and youth of KYC sincerely appreciate ALL you do to serve and support
#LGBTQIA
+ youth in our community! ❤️
@NinaWest
❤️
⚠ UPDATE: In a 12-7 vote, the State School Board just voted to send the Resolution back to committee! ⚠
This delays a vote on this resolution. (And hopefully, it will die in committee.)
THANK YOU to all who showed up, submitted testimony and stood up for LGBTQIA+ youth!
TODAY, the State School Board is STILL considering a resolution encouraging schools to discriminate against LGBTQIA+ youth. What if schools supported queer and trans students instead?
We asked KYC youth about a time they were supported in school and how that made a difference.⬇️
Today, the Ohio House of Representatives voted to pass House Bill 8, which would force schools to "out" students to their families, and House Bill 68, which bans gender-affirming care for minors AND prevents trans girls and women from competing in school sports in Ohio.🧵⬇️
Transgender identities aren’t a contagion – transphobia is. And protecting the safety, wellbeing, and housing stability of transgender youth should be a goal shared by us all.
Read our op ed with
@ywcacolumbus
:
Senator DeMora is now speaking in opposition: "After having the least productive year of legislating since 1955, we're coming back to bully transgender children...We're wasting our time passing hateful legislation."
This is unequivocally unacceptable. Appropriate K-5 edu includes teaching about respect, diversity, and family structures – that includes LGBTQ+ families/people.
We urge you to contact your reps and tell them you DO NOT support HB616. We will amplify more action steps shortly.
"DON'T SAY GAY" ARRIVES IN OHIO - Today, Republicans introduced HB 616 in the Ohio House.
The bill contains specific bans on acknowledging or discussing LGBTQ+ identity.
#Ohio
#LGBTQ
⚠️The trans athlete ban (H.B. 6) has opponent testimony TODAY at 9:30 a.m. in the Ohio House Higher Ed Committee. We’ll be there to share stories of and from transgender athletes in Ohio, like Nyx.
Read her story ⬇️ + tune in to watch live at
📣 UPDATE: The committee hearing for H.B. 183 was cancelled for this week!
We don’t know when the next committee hearing will be, but there won’t be a House Session again until April. So, keep calling members of the House Higher Ed Committee, and tell them to reject H.B. 183.
📣Young people across Ohio are speaking out against a resolution encouraging all Ohio’s school districts to discriminate against LGBTQIA+ students, which the State Board of Education is voting on TOMORROW.
Read what they have to say, and learn how you can take action, too. ⬇️
Senator Antonio is speaking in opposition now: "The majority of Ohioans have said they don't want the government involved in their most private health care decisions...We aren't just overriding Gov. DeWine's veto. We're overriding the will of Ohioans."
Good news: The hearing and possible vote on the transgender athlete ban was CANCELLED for tomorrow!
Please continue to contact the representatives on the Ohio House Higher Education Committee and urge them to not take up H.B. 6 again.
HB 6, which bans trans girls from playing school sports, has hearing in the House Higher Ed Committee on May 3 at 10:30 a.m. This time, it’s for interested party testimony (not us). ❌There’s also a chance the committee may vote on the bill. ❌
Stand up for trans youth ⬇️
⚠️URGENT: HELP PRESERVE ACCESS TO GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE IN OHIO⚠️
Ohio is on track to have some of the most restrictive requirements in the nation for accessing gender-affirming care.
Here’s what you can do to stop this from happening⬇️
While you were sleeping:
✅ Senate passed HB 151, which included the trans athlete ban (and other things)
❌ House voted 46-41 to REJECT the bill
🏳️⚧️ Unless the legislature takes this up in a conference committee, the trans athlete ban will NOT become law!
Senator Hicks-Hudson is speaking out against the bill now. "What we are doing today is creating major harm for a small segment of the population of the state of Ohio," she said.
The hearing has begun. More than 200 people have submitted testimony against this discriminatory bill!
We won't make it through all of this testimony today, but there will be more opportunity for testimony in the coming weeks. Here's a thread of what opponents are saying.
⚠️The Ohio House Public Health Policy Committee meets today at 9:30 a.m. to hear opponent testimony (that’s us!) on House Bill 68.⚠️
You can watch live at , or check back here for updates during the hearing.
Here's what KYC youth say about the bill: ⬇️
📢 We are deeply disappointed that elected and appointed members of the SBOE would misuse their power and influence in this harmful way. Today they have failed the students and families of Ohio.
📢Immediate Action Needed! [CW: anti-LGBTQ+ language]
We need you to say NO to the Ohio State Board of Education resolution targeting LGBTQ+ students and rejecting Title IX protections. 🧵
Keep contacting committee members and other members of the Senate and urge them to vote NO on this bill when it comes to a vote.
As always, to all the LGBTQIA+ youth: You are valid. You are loved. You are the expert on your truth. We are here for you.
That concludes opponent testimony. The committee will NOT be voting on HB 68 today.
We will keep everyone posted on next steps, but for now: THANK YOU to all who showed up, submitted testimony, called their legislators and members of the Senate Government Oversight committee.
Senator Smith is calling out his colleagues for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. quotes they posted last week, saying their plan to override the HB 68 veto goes against the sentiments of Dr. King's they'd shared.
"Ohioans will judge you for the content of your character," he said.
@TrotCon
🥹 🥹 Thank you all so much for this incredible outpouring of support. This is going to have a HUGE impact in advocating for and supporting LGBTQIA+ youth in our community! 🖤🤎❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
Even though many young people aren’t able to testify in-person, many trans, nonbinary and genderqueer youth are still speaking out against this invasive and dangerous bill.
"Gender-affirming care has been life saving for me and is for many other people," one KYC youth said.
TWO transphobic bills are getting hearings April 26: HB 6, which bans trans women from competing in school sports, has opponent testimony (that’s us!), and H.B. 68, which bans gender affirming care for minors, has proponent testimony.
Here’s how to stand up for trans youth⬇️
We're so excited to announce the establishment of the “Kaleidoscope Youth Center Endowment Fund” of the
@colsfoundation
after a very generous gift from Andrew Levitt aka
@NinaWest
(THX U!! ❤🧡💛💚💚💙💜)! Read more -->
TODAY, the State School Board is STILL considering a resolution encouraging schools to discriminate against LGBTQIA+ youth. What if schools supported queer and trans students instead?
We asked KYC youth about a time they were supported in school and how that made a difference.⬇️
To all trans, nonbinary and gender expansive young people: No matter what hateful and harmful things are said today, you MATTER and you BELONG. Your identity is valid, and you are deserving of love, acceptance and support. 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈
Dara from
@transohio
: “You can choose to be cruel and hurt trans kids, you can make them sad, you can make their childhoods harder, but those trans kids will grow into trans adults whether you like it or not, because it isn’t actually up to you, nor should it be.”
🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️WE HAVE A PODCAST!🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈
Speaking Queerly is back and gayer than ever. We'll explore topics related to the LGBTQIA+ community, including current events, legislation, pop culture, intersectionality and more.
Subscribe to Speaking Queerly on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!
Sean, a 15-year-old trans youth: "It is so degrading to have to come to the statehouse and beg my elected officials to treat transgender people like me with basic respect... HB 68 promotes lies and misinformation about the transgender community and our care."
TWO anti-LGBTQIA+ bills have hearings next week:
❌HB 8, which could require schools to “out” students to their parents, has opponent testimony (that’s us!) May 9.
❌HB 6, which bans trans women from playing school sports, has a possible vote May 10.
Here’s what you can do:
Senator Smith is speaking in objection to how the bill combines an attack on trans athletes and trans people's access to health care. He's speaking about how trans youth will be denied the lifelong benefits of participation in athletics.
Thank you to everyone who has shown up, testified, and contacted Board members throughout the past four months. Your efforts to stand up for LGBTQIA+ students have still made a difference, and they don't go unnoticed!
This fight isn't over. 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
The House Bill 8 hearing has begun in the Ohio Senate Education Committee!
You can follow along here and watch live at .
We've been told already that there will not be a vote on House Bill 8 today.
HB 8 would require schools to "out" students to their parents, require schools to notify parents of any “sexuality content” (ie, mentions of LGBTQIA+ identities) and more. A hearing for all testimony, including opponent in the Senate Education Committee is on Tues, Dec 12 at 3pm.
Happy Pride! 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈🖤🤎❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
🥳 We're celebrating YOU! In all the ways you can and can't show up in this world, we see you. Know that you are radiant. You are extraordinary. And you absolutely belong. We're proud to stand with and for you, always.
#BelongingBeginsHere
⚠️ You know the drill: It’s time to stand up for queer and trans youth by demanding that the State Board of Education reject its anti-LGBTQIA+ resolution.⚠️
Spread the word and learn how you can help stop this harmful resolution and help protect LGBTQIA+ students in Ohio.⬇️
The Senate is voting now, despite protests from inside the chamber.
In a 23-9 vote, the Senate voted to override Governor DeWine's veto. This means HB 68 will become law 90 days from the time it's filed. (We will keep people posted when we know for sure what day that is.)
🥳Today is the
#TransDayOfVisibility
! This day is dedicated to celebrating trans people and
#transjoy
, and raising awareness of discrimination faced by trans people worldwide.
🤩 The team at KYC is excited to stand with you today and every day!
#TDOV
🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️
HB 8 would require schools to "out" students to their parents, require schools to notify parents of any “sexuality content” (ie, mentions of LGBTQIA+ identities) and more. A hearing for all testimony, including opponent in the Senate Education Committee is on Tues, Dec 12 at 3pm.
🏳️⚧️🎉This is great news!🎉🏳️⚧️
Thank you to everyone who showed up, testified, and told lawmakers to reject HB 454. We'll keep standing up for trans youth by pushing back on future legislation like this. Until then, we're celebrating this win!
KYC is up first! Amanda Erickson, our director of education & outreach who has an education degree: "Why would I want to be a teacher in Ohio when legislators are proposing laws that would ban me from putting a family picture on my desk, or from talking about my family at all?"
It should go without saying, but we'll say it anyway:
There's a lot of disgusting, anti-LGBTQIA+ (especially anti-trans) rhetoric being shared during today's testimony. This is NOT the truth about who you are.
You are valid, you are loved. We are here for you.
🗣 Show up to support LGBTQIA+ youth! (Allies, this means YOU!) If you can make it to the Statehouse on December 12 and 13, help us pack the Statehouse to help show lawmakers how much support there is for queer and trans youth.
Eirin Donovan, a third-year law student, pointed out how HB 68 would prevent gender-affirming care for trans youth, but that "it would remain legal for those exact forms of care to be performed on intersex infant children, who are too young to consent to such surgery."
Eric Resnick: "It is never acceptable for an elected official...to use their power to make their fellow citizens into something second class, no matter how much animosity toward those people you may have, or the extent of your own ignorance of their personal situation."
It's a busy day here in Columbus fighting back against anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation.
🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️First up: We're at the State Board of Education, where the Board is scheduled to vote on its anti-LGBTQIA+ resolution before lunch. Check back here for more updates. 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈
🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION'S ANTI-LGBTQIA+ RESOLUTION:
• Likely up for a vote on 12/13. Show up and support LGBTQIA+ students!
• Contact the Board and tell them to reject this resolution.
• Submit testimony to SBOE
@Education
.Ohio.gov and Alex.Goodman
@Education
.Ohio.gov.
@EqualityOhio
Lane continues: "Extend empathy to the young people you are harming in holding hearings like this one. The emotional damage has already been done by this bill. Do not allow this governing body to continue to marginalize a very small group of people."
On Tues., Dec. 13 at 3 p.m., the Ohio Senate Education Committee will hear proponent, opponent & interested party testimony on HB 151.
⚠️🏳️⚧️ TAKE ACTION: Tell lawmakers to remove an amendment from HB 151 that would ban transgender youth from participating in school sports. 🏳️⚧️⚠️
⚠️TAKE ACTION⚠️
HB 8, which would force schools to “out” LGBTQIA+ youth to their families, and HB 68, which bans gender-affirming care for minors, have hearings next week. H.B. 8 may also be voted out of committee.
Here’s how you can stand up for LGBTQIA+ youth:⬇️
📣 TAKE ACTION: HB 183, the bathroom ban bill, has opponent testimony TODAY, Oct. 11 at 9:30 a.m., in the Ohio House Higher Ed Committee. We’ll be there to speak out against it. In the meantime, read more of what KYC youth have had to say about this harmful bill. ⬇️
John continued, "Today, you are questioning our medical decisions for our second child...We've already purchased a second home in an LGBTQ-friendly state. That's money that should have gone to Ohio tourism."
John Fisher, the parent of a trans child, "When my oldest was diagnosed with a rare medical condition in 2011, the Cleveland Clinic solidified our commitment to Ohio. No one questioned our decision to give our child a medicine every day in order to minimize his risk of death."
HB68, which bans gender-affirming care for minors AND ban trans women/girls from playing K-12 and college sports in Ohio, is scheduled to be voted out of the Ohio Senate Government Oversight Committee on Wed, Dec 13 at 9 a.m. It could also be voted on by the full Senate that day.
There have been a number of parents of trans youth who have spoken out today against HB 454. Their stories show a clear consensus: trans youth know who they are from a young age. We need to believe them and support them when they tell us who they are!
Join us Monday at the State Board of Education meeting and grab a t-shirt to show your solidarity with trans youth!
Also, look for the Community Care team, who'll be wearing these lanyards. KYC's team of behavioral health professionals will be there all day if you need to talk.
"Once again, they’re taking away rights the whole Christmas season. And out-of-state anti-LGBTQIA+ hate groups are, quite simply, the reason."
Read our civic engagement and advocacy manager's op-ed below!
📱Contact the Ohio Senate Government Oversight Committee and the Ohio Senate Education Committee and tell them to reject these discriminatory bills! While you’re at it, contact all members of the Ohio Senate and tell them to vote no when the bills make it to the floor.
Public testimony on the anti-LGBTQ+ resolution is happening NOW.
We will be testifying against this discriminatory, hateful policy, and many other Ohioans are too. Follow along on this thread and at .
⚠️TAKE ACTION AND SUPPORT LGBTQ+ YOUTH⚠️ (CW: anti-LGBTQ+ language)
On Oct. 12, the Ohio Board of Education will VOTE on a hateful resolution targeting
#LGBTQ
students.
LGBTQ+ young people are NOT "harmful, coercive, or burdensome." This despicable resolution is. ⬇️
⚠️The Ohio House Primary and Secondary Education Committee is meeting today at 3:30 p.m. to hear opponent testimony (that’s us!) on House Bill 8. ⚠️
We'll be live tweeting the committee hearing. In the meantime, read what KYC youth have said against this bill. 🧵⬇️
Ricky: "When I stumbled upon that information, it was like everything suddenly clicked into place; like my whole life up until that point finally made sense... had I not been able to receive any of this life-saving [gender-affirming] care as a minor, I would not be alive today."
⚠️ SUPPORT OHIO’S LGBTQIA+ YOUTH⚠️
The State Board of Education's Executive Committee meets MONDAY, 10/31 at 12:30 p.m. to discuss the anti-LGBTQIA+ resolution.
📱 Contact committee members and demand they reject the resolution. Find their contact info: .
CJ Murphy,
@CDF_Ohio
: HB 68 "isn’t about protecting children & youth...HB 68 is about providing a legal way to not only restrict the rights of trans & gender non-conforming youth, but to also shout to the world you abhor those who go throughout this life differently than you."
Happy
#Pride
! 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈🥳🌈
This is your reminder that
#YouBelong
.
In all the ways you show up. In all the ways you don’t.
In all the ways you’re not allowed. In all the ways they
say you can’t.
Here. Loud and proud.
Laughing. Crying. Marching. Dancing.
#YouBelong
.
⚠️Happening TODAY at 9:30 a.m. ⚠️
We'll live tweet the opponent testimony for House Bill 6 (trans athlete ban), which we encourage folks to follow or watch at instead of paying attention to the hateful things that will be said during the H.B. 68 hearing.
TWO transphobic bills are getting hearings April 26: HB 6, which bans trans women from competing in school sports, has opponent testimony (that’s us!), and H.B. 68, which bans gender affirming care for minors, has proponent testimony.
Here’s how to stand up for trans youth⬇️
Ricky Fite, who's trans/nonbinary: "I didn’t know what was wrong with me or why. It was completely by chance that I learned about gender dysphoria and what it means to be transgender; they certainly didn’t teach us anything about it in school."
Youth! For
#Genderscope
community night, we're going to see
@ChaseRoss
at
@MCC_OSU
! Want to join us?! Pls contact evan
@kycohio
.org. It's a later night and we'll be on a bus, so we need a permission slip! There's plenty of space still available!
❗️TAKE ACTION❗️
Contact State Board of Education members and demand they reject the resolution.
📱 Email SBOE
@education
.ohio.gov, or find the name and contact information of the BoE member who represents you at
⚠️TAKE ACTION⚠️
Help stop the Ohio House from moving forward anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation! Here’s how you can stand up for queer and trans youth this week. ⬇️
Learn more at .
".. pre-pandemic the center was seeing about 5,000 engagements a year. Now, they are seeing 10,000..this funding not only will help them provide enough services to keep up with the demand, but it also shows the youth that the
@ColumbusGov
welcomes them."
Whether you plan to speak in-person or submit written testimony, submit a PDF of your remarks and a completed witness form (found at ) to brenner
@ohiosenate
.gov NO LATER than Mon. Dec. 11 at 3 p.m.
🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️Testimony on the anti-LGBTQIA+ resolution is beginning NOW. 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈
We'll be providing updates throughout the day. As always, be sure to take care of yourself, especially as hateful comments are being shared.
Follow along here, and watch live at ⬇️
Ohio’s State Board of Education is meeting again today to consider a resolution targeting LGBTQIA+ students. KYC staff will be in attendance, testifying & providing Community Care response to those who need support while they’re at the meeting. Watch live:
“We know as an organization we can't do this alone, and one individual can't either. And so, it's our way of really wrapping around these young folks to let them know they belong here, and they matter. And to make sure they have access to what they need.”