This article first appeared in the Buckeye Flame

New data places Ohio among states with the highest number of anti-LGBTQ+ incidents in the country in 2025.  

GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ+ media advocacy organization, released a report on Tuesday tracking anti-LGBTQ incidents in 2025 from the ALERT Desk, GLAAD’s Anti-LGBTQ Extremism Reporting Tracker. 

Incidents were defined as “an act of harassment, threat(s), vandalism, and/or assault against an individual, group, and/or organization,” containing an explicit indication of anti-LGBTQ hate as a motivating factor.

The ALERT Desk tracked 50 anti-LGBTQ+ incidents in Ohio, the fourth-highest in the nation –  behind only California, New Hampshire and Texas. 

Ohio’s incidents included three arson attempts, two threats of mass shootings against LGBTQ+ people and multiple propaganda drops by white supremecist organizations like Patriot Front and White Lives Matter.

“We are once again seeing a dramatic increase in incidents targeting transgender and gender-non-conforming people and unfortunately still seeing a lot of incidents targeting LGBTQ+ people during Pride events,” Sarah Moore, GLAAD’s senior manager of news and research, told The Buckeye Flame.

In particular, GLAAD officials noted the high number of anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda drops from supremacist groups that many Ohioans mistakenly think are defunct or inactive. 

“These groups are still causing very real harm to local communities where they’re spreading these really gross racist, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ+ messages on posters, letters or even little pamphlets on people’s lawns,” Moore said. “We’re hoping that by bringing these incidents to light, maybe city ordinances on things like anti-littering laws can be used to help prevent the spread of this hate and fear in the future.”

Moore highlighted a correlation between a high number of incidents and those states with contentious debates about LGBTQ+ rights. 

“It’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation to say that introducing [anti-LGBTQ+] legislation causes these incidents,” Moore said. “What I think is more likely is that states in which we’re having these ongoing debates about LGBTQ+ rights means that the conversation is not only playing out in legislative sessions where these laws are being passed, but also on the streets and leading to some of these attacks against LGBTQ+ people.”

Moore cited specific incidents to support this conclusion, including the attack of a trans veteran in Washington, a state that also had 50 anti-LGBTQ+ incidents in 2025. One of the assailants in the assault allegedly referenced the Trump administration’s ban on trans active servicemembers. 

“We’re seeing that in some of these cases, people will directly cite [anti-LGBTQ+] legislation as their reasoning or as something that brought this hatred up to the forefront of their minds,” Moore said. 

Across the country, the ALERT Desk tracked 1,042 anti-LGBTQ incidents in 47 US states and the District of Columbia. These incidents included 128 acts of hateful vandalism, 76 violent assaults, 22 threats of mass violence and 15 arson attempts. This is up from 984 incidents tracked in 2024, a 5 percent increase in hate. 

“Americans should refuse to accept a country where our neighbors fear for their safety,” said GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. “With the ALERT Desk data showing an increase in violence against LGBTQ people, especially transgender Americans, we must join together in a united call against the violence and harassment that too many LGBTQ Americans face. Instead of growing divides that lead to this violence, politicians should recognize that all Americans deserve freedom, fairness and safety.” 

• Visit the GLAAD Alert Desk here for resources and reporting on hate and extremism impacting LGBTQ+ individuals.

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Dr. Ken Schneck (he/him) is the editor of The Buckeye Flame, Ohio’s LGBTQ+ newsroom. For this work, he was honored with the Sarah Pettit Memorial Award for National LGBTQ+ Journalist of the Year. He is the author of “Seriously, What Am I Doing Here? The Adventures of a Wondering and Wandering Gay Jew” and three LGBTQ+ Ohio history books. He is a graduate of the Executive Program in News Innovation and Leadership at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York.