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This article first appeared on the Buckeye Flame.

Ohio Senate Minority Leader and out lesbian Sen. Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) has re-introduced the Ohio Fairness Act for the 12th time, despite waning support among Republican lawmakers.

The Fairness Act – which would extend equal civil rights protections to LGBTQ+ Ohioans – was formerly a bipartisan bill. 

However, Antonio said the Trump administration’s focus on anti-transgender policy and rhetoric has helped set an increasingly anti-LGBTQ+ precedent at the Ohio Statehouse.

“We should already have equal rights in the state of Ohio, so it’s important to introduce legislation that calls for that,” Antonio said. “People from the LGBTQ+ community should already receive equal treatment under the law – and that means in employment, in housing and when traversing the public sphere.”

People in Columbus Ohio gathered on Saturday, February 8 at the Ohio Statehouse to defend immigrant families and end the war on Black America.

Video here

Over the span of 24 hours in Ohio, Senate Bill 1 had a marathon eight and a half hour opposition hearing with 800+ opponents, was voted out of committee less than 12 hours later, and then passed in the Ohio Senate hours later. At every iteration of SB 1, the Ohio Student Association has tirelessly fought the bill existentially threatening our cherished campuses.

Higher education is on the line in Ohio as extremist politicians try desperately to fast-track SB 1’s passage, the most divisive Ohio bill in recent history. The bill would consolidate university governance in the hands of the government, censor what students can and can’t learn, gut our professors’ labor rights, and ban any program, office, or scholarship deemed to be “diversity, equity, and inclusion.” 

Seven protesters were escorted out of the office of Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne on Tuesday. They staged a sit-in action to demand Ronayne decline to renew the County's investment in Israel Bonds on March 1st. The protesters also demanded that the County Executive schedule a meeting with representatives of the Cleveland Palestine Advocacy Community (CPAC) before the reinvestment deadline of March 1st. 

Members of the Cleveland Palestine Advocacy community, a coalition of over 10 organizations championing Palestinian rights in Northeast Ohio, have been asking for a meeting with Ronayne for a year. Ronayne has refused to meet with them. 

The protesters were seated arm-in-arm for over 30 minutes waiting for County Executive Ronayne who never showed up. 

As they were escorted from the room the protesters chanted, "Divest, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.

Save Ohio Parks and 29 environmental and advocacy organizations from across the state have delivered a letter to Gov. Mike DeWine demanding a moratorium on new or pending nominations, bids and leases to frack under Ohio’s beloved and pristine state parks and public lands.

“The Oil and Gas Land Management Commission has never discussed in a public meeting nine criteria it is mandated by statute to considered in deciding whether to frack Ohio’s state parks, wildlife areas and other public lands,” said Cathy Cowan Becker, president of the board at Save Ohio Parks. “An explosion last month at Gulfport well pad just five miles from Salt Fork State Park demonstrates how dangerous this industry can be. Public records show an average of 250 reported gas and oil accidents per year since 2015- one every 1.5 days.”

Save Ohio Parks is a statewide 501c(4) organization dedicated to educating the public about fracking under state parks and public lands. A lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a 2023 law requiring fracking under Ohio public lands has not yet been decided.

People in Columbus Ohio gathered on Saturday, February 8 at the Ohio Statehouse to defend immigrant families and end the war on Black America.

Video here

People in Columbus Ohio gathered on Saturday, February 8 at the Ohio Statehouse to defend immigrant families and end the war on Black America.

Video here

A  at the Ohio Statehouse to protest Project 2025 and fascism, followed by a March to Senator Moreno's office, then a March back to in front of the Statehouse on February 5, 2025.

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Readers no doubt remember Trump’s first term bluster that Mexico would build the border wall, and pay for it. President López brought that racist promise to fruition then, and his hand-picked successor Scheinbaum renewed it February 4th, sending no less than ten thousand additional troops to the U.S. border.

To stop the flow of migrants back in 2019, President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador sent 15,000 troops to Mexico’s northern border, plus another 6,000 to the southern border with Guatemala. He did that after president Trump threatened tariffs, a menace he took back after Mexico reinforced its borders with its new-fangled National Guard. Sheinbaum folded before the same tactic.

Which is to say, Mexico paid for a wall made of soldiers rather than bricks, and paid their wages.

With so much attention on President Trump, there has been relatively little attention has been paid to Elon Musk, who welds quite a bit of influence in American politics.

Musk may not be as rich or as successful as he and others claim. His net worth may be artificially inflated to attract investors, huge loans, and billions in government subsidies.

Tesla is not really a success story yet. The auto company has had tens of thousands of customer complaints, returns, recalls, and thousands of cars they can't sell. Maybe if Tesla had some models which more people could afford, they might have stronger sales. But there are only a limited number of upper income drivers buying them.

Maybe if Trump really wants to save money for the government, then they could eliminate tax breaks, subsidies, and huge concessions to major money losing companies like Tesla and Space X.