A close-up of a rainbow flag with a crowd in the background during the LGBT Pride parade. Getty Images.
Ohio and Washington tied for fourth in the nation for the most anti-LGBTQ+ incidents last year (50).– according to a new report by GLAAD, an organization supporting LGBTQ+ people.
GLAAD’s LGBTQ Extremism Reporting Tracker (ALERT) has been documented 1,042 anti-LGBTQ incidents in 2025 throughout the country from January 1, 2025 to December 31. About half of the incidents involved transgender and gender non-conforming people, and about a quarter involved the events took place in June.
“We must unite in a common call against the violence and harassment that too many LGBTQ Americans face,” GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement. “Instead of growing divisions that lead to this violence, politicians should recognize that all Americans deserve freedom, justice and security.”
Project ALERT tracked these incidents through self-reports, media reports, social media posts, and data sharing by partner organizations and law enforcement agencies.
California had the most incidents With 198, then Nowy Hampshire with 72 and Texas with 66.
Breakdown of incidents in Ohio
Several incidents in Ohio involved the Dayton Street Preachers organizing anti-LGBTQ+ protests at universities, events, street corners, concerts, Pride events or outside Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark.
Many of the incidents involved White Lives Matter and Continental Resistance placing anti-LGBTQ+ stickers in cities last summer.
In September, the man threatened on social media to do just that kill transgender councilor in St. Marys in western Ohio. The FBI investigated the threat and arrested the man.
Otherwise a man set fire to multiple Pride flags hangs outside homes in Cincinnati in July.
In April, a man checked out 100 books on LGBTQ+, Jewish and Black history from the Beachwood library and set them all on fire.
Ohio had 19 events related to the dissemination of propaganda, 11 related to protests, 5 related to vandalism or destruction of property, three were arson, two is a bomb or shooting threat, and two are verbal or written threats.
There were seven incidents in Cincinnati and There were five incidents in both Columbus and Dayton.
Ohio anti-LGBTQ laws
The ACLU is currently tracking 366 anti-LGBTQ laws in the United States. Republican lawmakers in Ohio have introduced bills targeting the LGBTQ+ community.
Ohio House Bill 190 would prohibit school employees from calling students by names that are not listed on their birth certificates and would also prohibit them from using pronouns that do not align with their biological sex.
Ohio State Representatives Johnathan Newman and Josh Williams introduced a bill that received only one committee consideration.
Ohio House of Representatives Bill 172 would not allow minors age 14 and older to receive mental health services without parental consent. Currently, mental health professionals can temporarily provide outpatient mental health services to minors 14 years of age and older without parental consent.
Newman also introduced this bill and it happened it has had three committee hearings so far, which means it could soon come up for a committee vote.
Ohio House Bill 249 would ban drag queen performers performing in a location that is not recognized as a designated adult entertainment venue. States of Ohio Reps. Angie King, R-Celina, and Williams introduced the bill, which has been the subject of two hearings so far.
Equal rights in Ohio it has started collecting signatures to receive two amendments on the November ballot — including one that would repeal the Ohio Constitution’s ban on same-sex marriage.
The Ohio Constitution includes a ban on same-sex marriage after 61.7% of Ohio voters approved the amendment in 2004 this says that marriage is only between one man and one woman. The U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015 in the Obergefell case originating in Ohio.
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