The Ohio state house approved a nondiscrimination bill on Tuesday with the goal of providing employment and housing protections in the state.  Unfortunately, the bill is not likely to make it out of the senate.  The Advocate reports:

A bill to protect LGBT people from discrimination in employment and housing passed the Ohio state house on Tuesday, although its prospects in the senate appear far from certain. … The long-stalled bill finally moved toward a vote after Democrats captured the Ohio house last November. However, the bill is expected to face an uphill battle in the senate, where Republicans retain control.

Ohio is one of 20 states in the U.S. that has never elected an openly LGBT legislator.  States that are generally considered to be progressive stall on LGBT issues when there are no LGBT officials in the legislature.  Pennsylvania and Michigan, which have voted Democrat in every Presidential election since 1992, ban equal marriage and offer no workplace protections.  Both have yet to elect an openly gay or lesbian state legislator.

Of the twenty states lacking LGBT legislators, only two have nondiscrimination bills. Of the thirty states that have elected LGBT legislators, over half have passed such bills.