Gary N. Click (born December 29, 1965) is an American politician, the Ohio state representative from its 88th district. He won the seat in 2020, after incumbent Republican Bill Reineke left it to run for the Ohio Senate, defeating Democrat Chris Liebold 62.9% to 37.1%.
Click has called gender-affirming care for minors "child abuse". In 2022, Click introduced a bill that would ban gender-affirming care for minors in Ohio. After that bill failed to pass, he introduced House Bill 68 in February 2023, which would ban gender-affirming care for minors as well as ban trans women from competing in women's sports. The bill passed the legislature in December 2023, but was vetoed by Governor Mike DeWine. In January 2024, the legislature overrode DeWine's veto thereby making the bill law. However, on April 16, 2024, a judge temporarily blocked the law from taking effect. On August 6, 2024, a judge overturned the injunction and allowed the law to take effect immediately. The plaintiffs immediately announced an appeal. On March 18, 2025, the state's 10th District Court of Appeale reversed the judge's decision and reinstated the injunction. On April 30, 2025, the Supreme Court of Ohio ruled 4-3 that the ban could take effect while further court battles play out.
In January 2024, in a conversation about trans healthcare with several Republican legislators, Michigan State Rep. Josh Schriver asked, "If we are going to stop this for anyone under 18, why not apply it for anyone over 18? It’s harmful across the board and that’s something we need to take into consideration in terms of the endgame." Michigan State Rep. Brad Paquette and Gary Click expressed agreement with that sentiment.
In October 2024, Click expressed opposition to a Baldwin Wallace University poll which attempted to measure Ohio voter's support for transgender rights and other political issues. Click objected to the poll using the term "gender identity" in the questions, saying that "There is no such thing as gender identity ... You are either male or you are female."
2016 | Sandusky County Commissioner | Partisan primary | Gary Click | Republican | 1,861 | 17.55% | Kay E. Reiter | Republican | 3,305 | 31.18% | John C. Havens | Republican | 3,159 | 29.80% | Justin C. Smith | Republican | 2,276 | 21.47% | |||||
2020 | Ohio House of Representatives | Partisan primary | Gary Click | Republican | 5,555 | 41.25% | Shayne Thomas | Republican | 4,789 | 35.56% | Ed Ollom | Republican | 3,124 | 23.20% | |||||||||
2020 | Ohio House of Representatives | General | Gary Click | Republican | 32,823 | 62.90% | Chris Liebold | Democratic | 19,359 | 37.10% | |||||||||||||
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