Ohio bill to establish 'Natural Family Month' faces backlash from LGBTQ parents

Over 2 twelve Ohio lawmakers are pushing a measure that designates the weeks betwixt Mother’s Day and Father’s Day arsenic "Natural Family Month," sparking backlash from immoderate LGBTQ families, according to reports.

State Reps. Beth Lear and Josh Williams, some Republicans, said they introduced House Bill 262 to observe families and stress their captious relation successful society, astatine a clip erstwhile marriages and commencement rates are declining.

"At a clip erstwhile matrimony is trending downward and young couples are often choosing to stay childless, it's important for the State of Ohio to marque a connection that matrimony and families are the cornerstone of civilian society, and perfectly imperative if we privation to support a steadfast and unchangeable Republic," Rep. Lear said successful a property release.

"With America facing declining commencement rates and a shrinking population, we tin nary longer spend to disregard the foundational relation that beardown families play successful sustaining our future," Rep. Williams besides said successful a statement.

According to a CDC report, commencement rates declined to a historical debased successful 2023. (Photo by Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

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"H.B. 262 is astir much than policy—it’s astir promoting the economical and societal stableness that comes from raising children successful healthy, two-parent households. We indispensable usage each instrumentality astatine our disposal to enactment the families that are gathering the adjacent procreation of Americans," helium added.

The measure does not specify what makes a "natural" family, but Williams told NBC News the measure is intended to "promote earthy families—meaning a man, a woman, and their children—as a mode to promote higher commencement rates."

Birth rates successful the U.S. fell to a historical low successful 2023, according to a study by the CDC published past year.

 The CDC precocious reported that commencement rates accrued by 1% from 2023, which "drove a little than 1% summation successful the wide fertility rate."

In April, President Donald Trump expressed enactment for a connection to springiness a $5,000 "baby bonus" to caller mothers to combat the nation's declining commencement rate. (Getty)

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Some matrimony rates person besides experienced a downward displacement implicit the past fewer decades. The Pew Research Center reported that the fig of 40-year-olds successful the U.S. who person ne'er been joined reached a grounds high successful 2021.

But the measure was criticized by the LGBTQ community, according to reports by WLWT5 and NBC News.

Ohio nonmigratory Vanessa Melendez, who identifies arsenic lesbian, is simply a joined parent of 2 who lives with her wife, adopted daughter, and stepson from a erstwhile marriage, successful College Hill.

Melendez deed the Ohio lawmakers for utilizing the connection "natural" successful their pro-family bill, saying it excludes families similar hers, and others who person adopted, conceived done IVF oregon are raising children without a partner.

"The elephant successful the country connected however they've positioned it is connected the connection 'natural,'" Melendez told WLWT5. "And I deliberation that what they're saying is if there's lone 1 mode to beryllium a earthy family, and that's wholly not true."

One LGBTQ household pushed backmost connected an Ohio Republican measure to make "Natural Family Month." (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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"They're truly coming aft it astatine a precise narrow, exclusionary way, and they're lone giving a statement of 1 benignant of family," Melendez added. "We don't privation to instrumentality distant from that 1 benignant of family, but there's truthful galore different kinds of families."

Williams defended the measure to NBC News, saying the measure is not meant to beryllium discriminatory but is intended to enactment the household operation that's "most straight tied to the instauration and raising of children."

"By that aforesaid logic that each families should beryllium celebrated," Williams besides told WLWT5. "You could spell past to June and accidental we shouldn't person Pride Month due to the fact that each intersexual predisposition should beryllium celebrated, not conscionable those that are alternate to the mainstream."

Williams, who is Black, was raised by a azygous mother, grew up successful poorness and experienced homelessness, argued that fatherlessness has had antagonistic effects connected the Black community. 

State Rep. Josh Williams, R-Ohio, said statistic amusement that Black children raised without fathers successful the location acquisition higher rates of poverty, dropping retired of schoolhouse and engaging successful transgression conduct. (iStock)

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"And we cognize the statistic that amusement that that results successful a higher complaint of poverty, a higher complaint of dropping retired of school, a higher rate, a higher complaint of being connected nationalist assistance, a higher complaint of engaging successful transgression conduct," helium told WLWT5.

Williams and Lear did not instantly instrumentality Fox News Digital’s petition for comment.