A PowerPoint presentation was put on in the Union last Friday outlining the many legal issues faced by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender-Queer students.
Jess Faulk, a graduate student at the University, offered this lecture as a part of Rainbow Dayz — a week-long awareness event sponsored by the on-campus Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender-Queer group, Vision.
The turnout was small, but the message was strong.
Faulk talked to roughly 10 students and handed out corresponding quotes which were read aloud by each individual audience member, in sequence, throughout the presentation, titled “Giving it to you straight.”
Prior to the slides portion of the event, Faulk handed out a “What is Your Knowledge of GLBT Rights” quiz to everyone present. The questions included, “How many states include gender identity and expression in their hate crimes laws?” and “Is Ohio one of them?”
Answers: Eight states and no, Ohio is not one of them.
Faulk pointed-out that 35 states have fired someone from a steady job based solely on their sexual orientation.
Ohio permits single GLBT people to adopt children, and does not explicitly prohibit same-sex couples from adopting. However, a person cannot adopt his or her same-sex partner’s adopted child, according to Faulk.
Still, Faulk says, Ohio law appears to permit unmarried women to undergo donor insemination.
Faulk also examined Ohio school laws.
Ohio law does not address school issues relating to sexual orientation or gender identity, she said. Likewise, Ohio law does not address discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation, according to Faulk.
To wrap-up the presentation, Faulk referred to the infamous hate crime involving Mathew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming. Sexual orientation is third on the list of hate crime targets, Faulk said. In the year 2000, 16 people were murdered in the United States alone, based on their sexual orientation.