Ohio Cosplayers & Con Community are facing a significant threat from the proposed "Indecent Exposure Modernization Act" (HB 249), which has already passed the Ohio House and is now moving to the Senate. This bill, if enacted in its current form, could impose serious unintended consequences on our thriving community.

What is the Concern?
HB 249 introduces a new legal category termed "adult cabaret performance," which astonishingly includes individuals who express a gender identity differing from their biological sex through clothing, makeup, or prosthetics. This categorization not only challenges the essence of self-expression but also broadly impacts those in cosplay... a community where creativity, identity exploration, and artistic expression are celebrated.

Implications for the Community
This bill risks labeling many benign cosplay activities as adult performances, which could lead to unnecessary legal scrutiny, venue restrictions, and potential criminalization of non-conforming gender expressions. This undermines inclusive and safe spaces that have been cultivated within our community, inhibiting our ability to freely express and celebrate our identities.

Why It Matters
Cosplay and conventions are vital for fostering creativity, camaraderie, and cultural exchange. They provide a unique platform for individuals to explore identities and create a vibrant community environment. The passing of HB 249 could stifle these experiences and discourage participation.

What Can Be Done?
We need to advocate for a revision of HB 249 to ensure that cosplay and similar forms of expression are explicitly protected. Clear distinctions must be established between adult entertainment and community events like cosplay conventions that promote cultural and artistic appreciation.

How Can You Help?
We urge you to stand with Ohio's cosplay community by signing this petition. Your signature will lend support to our demand for reconsideration of this bill's provisions in the Senate. Join us in preserving the freedom to be ourselves and keeping our community spaces welcoming and vibrant.

What is specifically the problem with HB 249 in regard to Cosplayers?
The specific language which is concerning is in Section 2907.39 where it defines "adult cabaret performance." It includes performers who exhibit "a gender identity that is different from the performer's or entertainer's biological sex using clothing, makeup, prosthetic or imitation genitals or breasts, or other physical markers."

That description fits a huge portion of normal cosplay. A male cosplayer dressed as a female anime character is technically exhibiting a gender identity different from their biological sex through clothing. The bill provides no explicit carve-out or exclusion for non-sexual contexts like cosplay competitions, anime conventions, or fan events.

The bill does have two partial protections. It requires the performance to be "harmful to juveniles or obscene" to trigger the prohibition, and Section F(1) does contain a carve-out stating it "shall not be construed to prohibit or restrict a bona fide film, theatrical, or other artistic endeavor or performance that is not obscene or harmful to juveniles."

However, the bill never defines what makes gender-nonconforming dress or cosplay "harmful to juveniles" specifically. That determination gets left entirely to whoever is enforcing it on any given day. A reasonable officer at a anime convention leaves everyone alone. An unreasonable one has enough language here to cause real problems for performers, organizers, and attendees.

Ohio law already defines "harmful to juveniles" in ORC 2907.01. To meet that standard all three of the following have to be true simultaneously: the material appeals to the prurient sexual interest of juveniles, it is patently offensive by prevailing adult community standards, and it lacks serious literary, artistic, or cultural value. Standard cosplay almost certainly fails all three of those prongs on its own. Cosplay has clear artistic and cultural value, which alone defeats the third element. So by the bill's own referenced definitions, cosplay arguably shouldn't qualify as harmful to juveniles at all. Which raises the question of why gender-nonconforming dress is sitting in this bill right alongside topless dancers and strippers with no distinction made between them.

There's no language anywhere that clearly defines where the line is between artistic expression and what this bill is trying to prohibit. That gap leaves the door open to problematic interpretations. The simple act of placing a cosplayer on a stage or including them in any organized performance risks that performance being labeled as adult entertainment, regardless of intent or content.

Our fear if this bill remains unchanged
Our fear isn't that this bill is unbeatable in court... based on ORC 2907.01's own definitions, a well-argued defense would likely prevail. Our fear is what happens before you get to that point. A bad-faith or simply incorrect interpretation and prosecution, even an ultimately unsuccessful one, opens the door to real consequences that have nothing to do with the final verdict. Pending litigation has to be disclosed in liquor permit proceedings, venue contracts, insurance renewals, and sponsorship agreements. The moment charges are filed, those relationships are at risk regardless of how strong your defense is. For small convention organizers, independent venues, and performers who can't absorb months of legal fees and reputational damage while a case works its way through the courts, the math is simple. The safest play becomes either age-gating all events or prohibiting non-biological gender conforming cosplay entirely just to eliminate the risk. That's the chilling effect we're warning about. Not that the law wins in court, but that the threat of prosecution alone is enough to fundamentally change what cosplay events in Ohio look like, and that change would happen quietly, venue by venue, event by event, long before any court ever weighs in.

Good legislation should not leave room for interpretations that harm innocent people simply because those interpretations are technically possible... and as written, this bill does exactly that.


Organizations at Risk
The organizations most at risk from HB 249 are not adult entertainment venues. They are:

• Small independent anime and gaming conventions across Ohio
• Cosplay-friendly bars, restaurants, and entertainment venues with liquor licenses
• Event organizers who personally assume legal liability for their programming
• Performers whose livelihoods and reputations depend on being able to work without fear of arrest
• LGBTQ+ community members whose authentic self-expression is incorrectly categorized as performance

None of us oppose protecting children. All of us oppose legislation so broadly written that it sweeps up our community, our businesses, and our people in its path. We are asking the Ohio Senate to fix this bill, not kill it. Add explicit protections for non-sexual cosplay, crossplay, artistic expression, and the authentic identity of LGBTQ+ Ohioans. Draw a clear line between sexual performance and cultural celebration.

Ohio's cosplay and convention community is large, passionate, and organized. We will be heard.

**Support us by signing this petition and ensure that freedom of expression and creativity thrive in Ohio.**


This bill extends beyond its effects on the cosplay community.
consider signing Stop Ohio from Criminalizing Drag Shows and LGBTQ+ Communities as well!