March supporting trans people grows heated in Northside

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - Dozens marked International Transgender Day of Visibility in Northside on Friday, bringing awareness to discrimination faced by trans people across the country.

Several pieces of legislation impacting the trans community are enacted or in the works in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.

The controversy surrounding those bills was a common topic among march participants Friday.

Chants of “Love not hate makes America great!” could be heard above the din of traffic along Hamilton Avenue.

“People deserve to be loved, you know? As they are, no matter what,” Christina Miller said.

Christina and Rod Miller are the parents of 11-year-old Slo-Mo, who is transgender and attended the march.

“We’re all just humans, we’re all just people,” Slo-Mo said. “We all have earned the chances, the chances to be who we are and who we want to be.”

The Millers came to support Slo-Mo with signs reading “Proud momma of an amazing trans child.”

But not everyone at the rally supported the day.

“I believe these people are confused and they need help,” Vincent Walsh said. “They need guidance.”

Walsh attended the march as a counter-protester, shouting scripture from a megaphone.

“Science says the human mind isn’t even developed until you’re in your early 20s,” he said. “You’re cornering these children and encouraging them and saying, ‘Well, maybe you’re a girl, maybe you should be a boy,’ before their mind is even fully developed.”

Ohio House Bill 6 is one of those pieces of legislation. It aims to keep trans athletes from participating in women’s sports in college and youth athletics. The bill is currently in committee.

Christina Miller describes HB6 as an overreaction.

“It’s being turned into this giant monumental thing that could be just something that schools identify and appreciate the uniqueness of the individual and let them play,” she said.

H.B. 6 would require schools to designate separate single-sex teams and sports for each sex.

“Every event that men are acting like women and getting in, they’re dominating,” Walsh said. “It’s not fair to the women. Men are biologically different. I don’t even know why we’re having this discussion.”

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