As a third-generation firefighter and then fire captain, Lana Moore served the city of Columbus for 35 years. In 2008, she came out to her crew as transgender.
While some in the department grumbled, Moore said both her chief and union president were fully supportive, and two years after she retired in 2016, she was inducted into the city’s hall of fame.
That’s why it pains her to know Ohio lawmakers – for whom, she said, she would have laid down her life as a firefighter – last month overrode Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto of HB68 , a bill banning gender-affirming care for youths and preventing transgender girls and women from competing in female high school and college sports. And they’re still mulling a slate of bills that would restrict transgender rights and visibility.
“It’s frightening,” Moore said. “It feels like I’ve been betrayed. They’ve identified a small minority of people they can stereotype and scapegoat. I’m not a historian, but I paid attention in history class, and it’s not hard to recognize what’s happening here.”