2023-45 Opposition to HB 245 - Laserfiche WebLink

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DocuSign Envelope ID: FDAB5A58-3104-4829-AC58-3B760CEADD6F RESOLUTION NO. 2023-45 BY: Baker, Bullock, Kepple, Litten, Marx, Rader, Shachner A RESOLUTION to oppose House Bill 245, which intentionally seeks to suppress freedom of expression among the LGBTQIA+ community and performance artists. WHEREAS, House Bill 245 was recently introduced in the Ohio General Assembly and co -sponsored by a majority of House Republicans; and, WHEREAS, House Bill 245 seeks to provoke unnecessary fear and suspicion regarding LGBTQIA+ performance artists, inappropriately suggesting that their performances are characterized by nudity and obscenity, a claim for which there is no evidence; and, WHEREAS, by proposing House Bill 245, lawmakers are shamelessly and intentionally misleading the public to believe that LGBTQIA+ performance artists are performing in a nude and/or obscene manner before audiences of juveniles in our communities, potentially inciting backlash, and recrimination toward the LGBTQIA+ community; and, WHEREAS, the overly broad nature of House Bill 245 violates First Amendment freedoms of speech and expression, a view supported by a federal judge who recently struck down a Tennessee law on those grounds; and, WHEREAS, interpreted in the strictest sense, HB 245 criminalizes the very existence of transgender individuals and performance artists who present a perceived gender identity in public that differs from the gender identity assigned to them at birth, rolling back several decades of progress for the LGBTQIA+ community; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY OF LAKEWOOD, OHIO: Section 1. That this Council strongly condemns HB 245 and similar legislative attacks on the LGBTQIA+ community by the Ohio General Assembly. Section 2. That this Council strongly encourages members of the public to contact their representatives in the Ohio General Assembly to express opposition to HB 245. Section 3. That the Clerk of Council is hereby directed to send a copy of this resolution to Lakewood's State Senator, House Representative, and the sponsors of HB 245. Section 4. It is found and determined that all formal actions of this Council concerning and relating to the passage of this resolution were adopted in an open meeting of this Council, and that all such deliberations of this Council and of any of its committees that resulted in such formal action were in meetings open to the public in compliance with all legal requirements.