The scorecard that you see in front of you today is the result of three months of research (and gallons of coffee). There are many important elected official scorecards. This scorecard is unique in that our sole evaluation criteria are LGBTQ issues in Ohio.

Equality Ohio is a nonpartisan organization and equality for LGBTQ Ohioans is our focus. Our main goal in the development of this scorecard was to transcend partisan barriers and develop a fair and objective tool for you to use at the ballot box.

Previous attempts have employed candidate/official surveys which put the candidate/official in control of the answers––if they chose to answer at all. We have not published any of those previous attempts, because they showed an incomplete picture.

This year, we developed a grading rubric based on votes and public statements. Simply: the grade you see is the grade they earned based on their own actions.

You will see what you may expect––some high and low grades across party lines––but there are exceptions, too. Importantly, a great number of officials in both parties received Cs. A C isn’t bad, but it does mean there is opportunity to grow and engage more with the issues that LGBTQ Ohioans face.

We are not blind to the fact that the Democratic, Republican, Green, and Libertarian Parties have very different platform stances on LGBTQ issues, but we also understand that developing relationships across the political spectrum is vital to success in our legislative goals.  

This scorecard gives you, the voter, an accurate representation of how those in power are making decisions that impact LGBTQ Ohioans.

But also, and importantly, it can serve as a point of reference for elected officials on how they are doing on LGBTQ issues, and we are on standby to help any elected official who wants to improve their grade.

This scorecard is an effective tool for both voters and elected officials as we work together for legal equality.