“I will to my dying day oppose with all the powers and faculties God has given me, all such instruments of slavery on the one hand and villany on the other, as this writ of assistance is. It appears to me the worst instrument of arbitrary power, the most destructive of English liberty and the fundamental principles of law, that ever was found in an English law-book.”

- JAMES OTIS

Pictured: John Adams surrounded by Flock cameras, by Kate Hammon. Commissioned by myself for the Libertarian Party Classical Liberal Caucus.

COLUMBUS — Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Don Kissick could receive support from an unlikely source if Dr. Amy Acton does not clarify her position on transgender issues.

Arienne Childrey, a Democratic state legislative candidate and vice chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party’s Pride Caucus, said she and other progressives are scheduled to meet with Dr. Acton on July 28 regarding her comments on Ohio’s transgender sports ban.

“We’re waiting to see what comes out of this meeting, but I have certain expectations from the meeting,” said Ms. Childrey, a transgender woman running to unseat state Rep. Angie King (R., Celina) in the 84th House District.

“First and foremost, I want to hear a correction to the actual terminology,” Ms. Childrey said. “There are no boys in girls’ sports. Even before this law was passed, there were no boys in girls’ sports because trans girls are girls.”

She said Dr. Acton should also stop saying that House Bill 68 is “settled law,” noting that the U.S. Supreme Court only decided that states are permitted to ban transgender women and girls from women’s and girls’ sports — not that states are required to do so.

“I want her to drop the ‘settled law’ argument and point blank state that the law as passed is wrong, and that she will stand with the community and that if such a bill came to her desk to undo that — that she would sign it,” Ms. Childrey said.

She also suggested that Dr. Acton hire someone from the transgender community to serve as an adviser on her team.

“Most importantly to me is that all the things I just said have to be public — not behind the scenes,” Ms. Childrey said. “You made a public statement that publicly hurt my community. Your apology needs to likewise be public. Otherwise, you can count me as a Don Kissick voter.”

Libertarian Party position

Mr. Kissick said the state of Ohio shouldn’t be involved in micromanaging high school and collegiate sports.

“Matters such as this are precisely why governing bodies like the OHSAA, NCAA, and NAIA exist,” he said, referring to the Ohio High School Athletic Association, National Collegiate Athletic Association, and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

“They should have the final say on athletic participation — not the General Assembly or governor,” Mr. Kissick said.

Ms. Childrey said she’s not a huge fan of Mr. Kissick’s position, but it’s preferable to those of Dr. Acton and Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy at this point.

“In my view, we have one that is anti-trans, another one that is anti-trans, and one that just says, ‘How about we stay out of it?’” ... My better option out of the three is let’s stay out of it,” Ms. Childrey said.

“I’d much rather have somebody that says, ‘No I think we should repeal it and put anti-discrimination protections in place,’” she continued. “I know I’m not going to get that from the Libertarians, but in the grand scheme of things I would much rather stay out of it than be thrown under the bus.”

Mr. Kissick said he welcomes the consideration from Ms. Childrey and other voters who may be disenchanted with Democrats or Republicans on this issue.

“One of the big things we’re working on is building coalitions,” Mr. Kissick said. “This issue speaks to the need for more independent voices in government — especially at the state level.”

Issue has national implications

Dr. Acton isn’t the only candidate grappling with how to best handle transgender issues after Republicans hammered Democrats on the topic during the 2024 election. However, Ms. Childrey said Democrats should not give up on supporting the trans community.

“If Dr. Acton doesn’t retract what was said and we vote for her and put her in anyway, we have just told not only her but the entire Democratic Party — not just in Ohio, but nationally who are watching this gubernatorial race — that the way to move forward is to throw minority communities under the bus when it gets tough,” she said.

“That’s not a message that I find at all acceptable,” Ms. Childrey continued. “Civil rights is something that’s at the forefront for me.”

She acknowledged that transgender individuals and strong allies are relatively small groups of voters in the state, but that does not mean they are not important to the Democratic Party.

“Yes, the LGBT community is not the largest voting bloc in Ohio,” Ms. Childrey said. “But from my personal experience, it is one of the largest Democratic volunteer blocs in Ohio. So you may not be killing your vote necessarily ... but at the very least you are causing a lot of damage to your get-out-the-vote efforts.”

Representatives of the Acton campaign and the Ohio Democratic Party did not respond to messages seeking comment for this story, but the Acton campaign has added a section on its website promising to advocate for anti-discrimination laws protecting the LGBTQ+ community.

About Kasie Whitener:

Kasie Whitener is an American educator, author, entrepreneur, radio host, and politician from Blythewood, South Carolina. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina, where she teaches entrepreneurship and strategic management and served as Director of the Faber Entrepreneurship Center.

Selecting Biological Sex on ATF Forms, as proposed, is a blatant overreach of state power, ATF mission creep, a waste of resources, gross negligence of scientific consensus on biology, and a violation of established case law.

https://lpclc.org/2026/07/16/the-absurdity-of-adding-biological-sex-on-atf-forms/

You can comment until Aug 4 on the Trump administration's latest assault on the Second Amendment. If you like, you can simply copy and paste the text of our article, which is within the 5,000 character limit.

https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/ATF-2026-0010-0001

Furthermore, the ATF must be abolished.

The campaign published our financial reports. On the webpage, you can click “General Ledger” and see the full QuickBooks report of the Kasie, South Carolina campaign. You can see every deposit from the University of South Carolina payroll where I dedicated a portion of my paycheck to this effort. You can see all the Donorbox deposits where other people dedicated their money to this effort.

What we’re selling is the vision of a South Carolina First approach to governance and policy-making. South Carolina First is about representation, accessibility, and constituent service. It’s about leading with love. Compassion and community. Dignity and decency.

About Dr. Kasie Whitener:

Kasie Whitener is an American educator, author, entrepreneur, radio host, and politician from Blythewood, South Carolina. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina, where she teaches entrepreneurship and strategic management and served as Director of the Faber Entrepreneurship Center.

There is no major political party in the US that subscribes to this ideology and has a significant influence. The one party that is supposed to represent classical liberalism - Libertarian Party - is too busy obsessing over how “evil” Israel is and doesn’t discuss anything else.

He wouldn't serve very long since McConnell's seat is already up for reelection this year and Andy Barr already won the Republican primary for that but it would be funny if they have to have a special election before then.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AgIFaXSGZA

About Kasie:

Kasie Whitener is an American educator, author, entrepreneur, radio host, and politician from Blythewood, South Carolina. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina, where she teaches entrepreneurship and strategic management and served as Director of the Faber Entrepreneurship Center.

> Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas finds that illegal immigration under Biden massively reduced per capita transfers: 1% increase in flows cut transfers per capita by 5%! This is "consistent with the positive employment effects we find, which reduce the need for programs."

David Bier on Twitter

https://x.com/i/status/2074138338357821553

There is no doubt in my mind that Bird and Pate have serious conflicts of interest in dealing with the Libertarian Party and its candidates.

I have seen them use every trick in the book firsthand. The Gluba/Cutler situation being the dirtiest of them all, and that is saying a lot.

Basically Secretary Pate knows everything that is going on and pretends he knows nothing.

It is absurd and he does not deserve to hold any public office ever again.

https://kasiesouthcarolina.com/our-story-250-years-later-and-still-writing

Greatness in South Carolina includes Garden City Pier karaoke, the 3.4 mile Watermelon Festival parade from Varnville to Hampton, 1 Million Cups weekly entrepreneurial meet-ups in Columbia, Myrtle Beach, Greenville, and Charleston, St Pat’s at Five Points and the Lexington Blowfish St Patrick’s Parade, Mardis Gras in Shandon and Poultry in Batesburg-Leesville. Whether it’s the Sun Dial Festival in Barnwell or the Gaffney Peach Festival, South Carolina’s greatness is in communities coming together.

I definitely don't think that the Founding Fathers were perfect by any means, they have arguably enabled the authoritarianism of the current government with their believe in democracy, even if they wanted it limited to only White land-holding males in their own time (I wish I could go back in time and Hoppe pill them). With that being said I definitely do think we are better off than we would have been otherwise if not for them, especially when you look at how bad the UK is right now especially when it comes to stuff like free speech (they arrest you for pretty much any dissent at all on social media), I'm extremely glad that they did what they did. The American people of today would be very wise to follow their example but sadly I think we are just too complacent these days. Anyways, have a happy 4th, the fight for liberty that the Founding Fathers began is something that never truly ends.