Cruelty of out of touch Ohio Republicans pushing me further to the left

Republicans are pushing me further to the left

I always leaned toward the Democrats but believed we needed people from both parties who care about the good of all Ohioans to serve in government.

Ohio’s Republican party, however, continually pushes me further to the left.

They openly ignore the will of the people and find ways to work around what the majority want.

They treat women as being incapable of making decisions about their own body. They drive away educated people and harm workers. They cruelly bully and attack trans and other LGBTQ people.

They insult our intelligence and treat us as their inferiors.

They are out of touch with much of the state and bring us little but darkness and fear. I know I will no longer vote for any Republicans, but still hope that moderate, thoughtful Republicans with a desire to serve all Ohioans will take over their party.

Mark Hiser, Dublin

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Ohioans want other options

Re  "Third Party Presidential Candidates Face Uphill Fight in Ohio," Dec. 4: The fact that in 2021 close to 80% of Ohio Voters — 6,196,547 out of 7,982,501 according to the Ohio Secretary of State — were registered as "unaffiliated” is a clear indicator that the vast majority of Ohioans want another option.

But creating a viable, durable moderate third party doesn’t happen by suddenly fielding a third party presidential candidate.

Creating a new political party must start at the local level.

When combined with Ranked Choice Voting, moderate candidates can run and win and in so doing, represent those of us who want common sense policies. Let's start voting for the person and their views on policies that matter to us, and not the party line.  Keep an eye on the Ohio Forward Party and Rank the Vote Ohio.

Susan Miller, Columbus

Stop the backlash against progress

The history of civil rights in America is one of racial progress followed by backlash, backlash that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once called “just a new name for an old phenomenon."

The end of slavery heralded the rise of the KKK and Jim Crow.

There was backlash against the civil rights victories of the 1960s, a part of the story we prefer to leave untold.

Recently, the national awakening after George Floyd’s murder was followed by a powerful backlash against social justice. That backlash currently fuels the war on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in state legislatures across the nation.

Ohio’s legislature is in great danger of joining the wrong side of that war with laws like Senate Bill 83, which would not only prohibits mandatory DEI training, but also uses deceptively worded statements to ban foundational ideas in DEI, requiring “disciplinary sanctions for any administrator, teacher, staff member, or employee who authorizes or engages” in such training.

Let your state legislators know that this thinly disguised backlash against racial progress is unacceptable.

Let your fellow Ohioans of all races know you support them, want to hear their stories and perspectives, and will stand with them against those who would silence them.

Jared Cutler, Citizens for a Better Beavercreek

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio Republicans dead set on bullying LGBTQ people, women