The Ohio governor is pushing the most draconian ban on trans healthcare yet. But his major business interest in Asheville — the Tourists baseball team — is still set to get millions from local governments. Until the ban is stopped, those incentives must stop, and locals need to boycott the Tourists.

Above: Official photo of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who owns a third of the Asheville Tourists and is pushing a ban on trans healthcare

On Dec. 29 Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed a ban on trans healthcare for youth in the state. But any relief was short-lived, as the first week in January he proposed a sweeping executive order that would de facto ban trans healthcare for adults as well as youth. Borrowing from the anti-abortion playbook, DeWine’s measure, instead of using an open ban, imposes so many restrictions it’s basically unreachable. The basic healthcare many trans people rely on would require consulting with a literal bioethicist among many other nigh-impossible requirements.

This is, of course, pure bigotry. Trans healthcare is already far too difficult to access. It has a rate of regret so incredibly low that medical professionals are actually studying it as an instructive success story. But facts are never the point of rules like DeWine’s. Cruelty is.

If it goes into effect this ban will be among the harshest in the nation, even harsher than the youth healthcare ban the legislature eventually passed over DeWine’s veto. These laws inflict misery, denying trans people life-saving medical care and driving thousands from their homes.

While the escalating attacks on trans and queer communities are a nationwide problem, there’s a tie to Asheville that hasn’t gotten much attention. It should, because it’s a weakness that can be used to target DeWine where it truly hurts — his money — until he drops the ban.

DeWine’s family owns the Asheville Tourists minor league baseball team. His son is the CEO. The governor himself personally owns 32 percent of the Tourists, according to a 2020 article in the Columbia Dispatch.

There’s more: city and county governments are set to pour a combined $7 million into the DeWine family’s wish list for McCormick Field, overwhelmingly for “upgrades” that could make the team more profitable.

This was already a bad deal — giving more to the wealthy in one of the least affordable cities in the country — now it’s outright bankrolling bigotry. But the incentives aren’t set in stone. They can be stopped.

If you’re in Asheville, or anywhere, the message needs to be loud and clear: not one cent of public dollars to the Tourists until DeWine revokes the ban on trans healthcare. Far-right officials ignore public opposition in the form of calls and emails. But local government here likes to at least seem progressive. Shoveling cash into something that will directly profit anti-trans politicians is, as they say, a bad look. Especially in an election year.

If you’re a local, you also need to boycott the Tourists team until the ban is gone.

As it stands, every dollar spent on Tourists’ tickets goes directly to profit a politician who’s directly threatening trans lives.

Asheville likes to talk a good game about its acceptance of queer and trans communities. But the proof isn’t resolutions, bumper stickers or pride flags, it’s being willing to fight those who are trying to destroy our lives. If you care about any of us, now’s the time to prove it.

What you can do

While city council and the Buncombe County commissioners have already given the incentives the thumbs up the vast majority of the money isn’t spent yet. Instead it’s set to be doled out in increments over the coming years.

That means that either government can call a halt until DeWine revokes the trans healthcare ban. Remember, he personally owns a major part of the team: if they don’t they’re personally helping an incredibly bigoted politician make more money.

Now this is Asheville, where officials love to hang pride flags and pass tepid resolutions but draw the line at any actual support for trans communities (especially if it means conflict). So they will not do this on their own.

However, the pro-queer facade is also a vulnerability, as is their focus on the tourist industry.. They really don’t like people from all over the city and country calling them up.

So that’s exactly what you should do.

Here are the direct numbers for Asheville city council

Esther Manheimer (mayor) 828-231-8016
Sandra Kilgore (vice mayor) 954-540-5593
Sage Turner 828-216-9284
Maggie Ullman 828-713-9488
Antanette Mosley 404-395-3665
Sheneika Smith 704-401-9104
Kim Roney 828-450-1099

Roney is particularly vulnerable on this issue. She’s running for re-election and is council’s only queer member but has generally folded to city hall’s overall conservative bent. Indeed, she enthusiastically backed the original handout to the DeWine family. She really doesn’t want to be seen publicly supporting the fortune of one of the most anti-queer politicians in the country.

Here are the numbers for most of the Buncombe County commissioners:

Brownie Newman (chair) 828-243-0107
Parker Sloan (vice chair) 336-413-2395
Jasmine Beach-Ferrara 828-242-6672
Terri Wells 828-712-7735
Amanda Edwards 828-280-6600

Beach-Ferrara also runs the Campaign for Southern Equality, a major Gay Inc non-profit, so she’s particularly vulnerable on this front. If she doesn’t do the right thing, it needs to be made very clear that in a time of escalating anti-trans violence she used her power to direct public funds to personally profit the architect of a major trans healthcare ban.

Here’s a basic script to work from:

“I’m calling to demand that you halt the incentives to the Asheville Tourists until owner Mike DeWine drops his proposed rules de facto banning trans healthcare. If [Asheville city council/Buncombe County commissioners] give a damn, at all, about trans and queer communities they need to stop using public dollars to directly profit DeWine.”

If history’s any guide anger generally works better than civility. Officials here will say that it doesn’t, but that’s just because they really don’t like facing angry people. Public outrage has the best record of getting city council and the county commissioners to fold. This issue is no exception. Act accordingly.

Indeed, in recent years two separate attempts by city officials to ban direct mutual aid to the homeless have failed after major backlashes that directly targeted council members. They’re certainly a lot more vulnerable than many of the state-level politicians over in Ohio.

The standard excuse from local officials will, naturally, be that there’s nothing they can do or they’ve already committed to the incentives so they can’t change them now. This is untrue. Multi-year incentive deals like this get halted all the time for all kinds of reasons. They’ll just say that because they don’t want to do anything.

If you’re local, there’s also another step you need to do.

Boycott the Asheville Tourists

The Tourists rely on local support to make money. This isn’t a major league team with a massive national fanbase. Their marketing and extensive connections with local businesses and non-profits focuses on building that kind of support.

Until DeWine drops the ban that needs to end. The response from locals needs to be a widespread public boycott of the Asheville Tourists.

You can call the Tourists at 828-258-0428. Their other contact info’s here.

Additionally, if you work for, volunteer with or even just have some sway with any group that holds events with the Tourists, tell them to do the same.

This goes triple for LGBTQ+ groups. No events, no Pride nights, nothing with the Tourists until the ban gets dropped. This is Asheville: without the support of queer locals and their friends, families and wider communities the team will not stay in business.

An injury to one is an injury to all

The ban pushed by the Ohio governor is a reminder of how intensely intertwined oppression is, and how important solidarity is to defeating it. We have an obligation to fight and defend the rights of trans and queer people everywhere. If DeWine’s ban stays in place and he doesn’t face serious consequences, the far-right elsewhere will start pushing similar measures. Some already are. North Carolina will not be an exception.

On the other hand, if his cash takes a real hit from pushing this bigoted gibberish then they’re a lot more likely to think twice.

There is, right now, an unprecedented wave of laws targeting trans people and the wider queer community. Things have gotten this bad, this quickly because too many others — including no shortage of liberal politicians, media and non-profits — have let it.. In plenty of cases they’ve actively helped it along. The far-right is heavily outnumbered. They can absolutely be fought and defeated in a thousand different ways. But if too many turn a blind eye or simply surrender, our communities will face destruction.

The antidote is solidarity, fighting fear and isolation with courage and action. Wrecking Mike DeWine’s business in Asheville is a damn good place to start.

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Blade editor David Forbes has been a journalist in Asheville for over 18 years. She writes about history, life and, of course, fighting city hall. They live in downtown, where they drink too much tea and scheme for anarchy.

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