Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate’s LGBTQ+ damage control meeting devolves into ‘shitshow’

This story originally appeared on The Buckeye Flame.Editor’s note: Amy Acton’s opponent, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, received an “F” on Equality Ohio’s 2026 Candidate Scorecard, indicating that he has a “poor record and likely to harm LGBTQ+ civil rights.”Representatives from Amy Acton’s gubernatorial campaign staff met with more than 40 LGBTQ+ leaders on a Zoom call on Tuesday.The meeting followed a few weeks of pushback from some Ohio LGBTQ+ leaders in response to anti-transgender comments that Acton made to the Toledo Blade on June 30 regarding the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to uphold state bans on transgender athletes.“I do not support boys playing in girls sports. This is already settled law in Ohio, and as governor I will enforce and uphold the law,” Acton said. “As a doctor, public servant, and a mom, I will always stand up for fairness and protect kids’ health and safety … ”The Buckeye Flame received an invitation to the meeting on July 17, RSVP-ed “yes,” but then was informed by Jeremy Blake, political director for the Ohio Democratic Party, that it was his “understanding that this meeting will have no reporters.”We spoke with five people who were at the meeting. Although most said they entered the meeting with hope, they left dissatisfied.Some prominent LGBTQ+ leaders were not admitted into the virtual space and other individuals were removed from the Zoom mid-call.Acton herself did not attend the meeting, despite many participants’ hopes she would be. Rev. Dr. Ben Huelskamp, executive director of LOVEboldly, said the meeting did more harm than good.“The meeting did more to inflame tensions and create further divides between the LGBTQ+ community and the Acton campaign,” said Huelskamp, also a board member of The Buckeye Flame. “It was framed beforehand as a conversation, but was run as a one-sided ‘listening’ session.”“It was a shitshow,” said one meeting participant, who we have agreed to k