Trans Ohio House candidate loses appeal, still disqualified for omitting former name

Watch a previous NBC 4 report on Vanessa Joy in the video player above.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A transgender candidate disqualified from running for a seat in Ohio's House of Representatives will remain off the ballot after losing her appeal on Tuesday.

The Stark County Board of Elections voted to keep Vanessa Joy from running as a Democrat in House District 50, a heavily Republican district in the county, against GOP candidate Matthew Kishman. The board cited little-known Ohio law that a candidate must provide any name changes within the last five years to qualify for the ballot.

"A can of worms has been opened and unfortunately I find myself at the center of it," Joy said. "This unknown law that came out of nowhere is what disqualified me."

Joy had legally changed her name and birth certificate in 2022, which she said she provided to the board for the March 19 primary. To provide her former name, Joy said, would be to use her deadname, a term used by the trans community to refer to the name given at birth, not one they chose that aligns with their gender identity.

While Joy said she agrees with "the spirit of the law" and understands how it would prevent bad actors from running for office, she said the measure creates a barrier for trans people who want to run for office and may not want to share their deadname.

"Our dead names are just that -- they’re dead," she said. "They’re things that are gone and buried. It’s like somebody bringing up your kid that has been killed in a horrible violent way and talking about it all the time."

Joy noted that a 33-page Ohio candidate requirement guide outlines rules for those who wish to run, but does not directly list the name-change law. A few exceptions are built into the law, like not applying to a change of name because of marriage or to a candidate who has once complied with the law and who has previously been elected.

"With the trans community, this law is unintentionally discriminatory against us," Joy said.  

Other Ohio law prohibits Joy from running as a write-in candidate. So, it is highly unlikely she will be running in her district's upcoming election, leaving the Republican candidate uncontested.