Protesters dressed in bridal gowns, veils and chains gathered outside the Ohio Statehouse on June 3 to demand action on a bipartisan bill that would ban child marriage in Ohio.
Roughly 26 women stood on the Statehouse steps wearing white wedding dresses, chains around their wrists and tape over their mouths in a demonstration organized by Unchained At Last, a nonprofit that advocates against forced and child marriage.
The protest focused on Senate Bill 341, sponsored by state Sens. Bill DeMora, D-Columbus, and Bill Blessing, R-Colerain Township. The bill would set 18 as the minimum marriage age in Ohio with no exceptions.
Blessing said he does not expect the bill to receive a vote before the Senate recesses for the summer.
“It’s really shameful and disappointing, but we’re going to be here pushing legislators to do the right thing,” said Fraidy Reiss, founder and executive director of Unchained At Last. “I have no idea why they can’t find time in their busy schedule to stand up for girls.”
The legislation has received four hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee and no opposing testimony. A committee vote scheduled for May was abruptly removed from the agenda.
Senate President Rob McColley, who is running for lieutenant governor with Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, said at the time that even straightforward issues sometimes need further review. “We’ve still got time left in this legislative session.”
Ohio’s child marriage laws
Current Ohio law allows 17-year-olds to marry with juvenile court approval and certain conditions, including a maximum four-year age difference between the parties.
Before 2019, children of any age could marry if the girl was pregnant and both parents and a court approved. Lawmakers raised the minimum age to 18 that year, with exceptions for 17‑year‑olds who meet specific requirements.
“When you see a bridal gown and veil, there’s an immediate assumption that it’s a happy day,” Reiss said. “The legislators in Ohio have turned it into something sinister.”
Reiss said the wedding dresses, chains and tape worn by protesters symbolized the experiences of minors forced into marriages.
“When a girl is forced to marry before 18, it’s not love, it’s not excitement, it’s not a happy day, it’s a human rights abuse,” Reiss said. “It’s a form of modern-day slavery. We are here to show legislators you’re chaining and silencing girls.”
Protestors demand Senate to pass child marriage ban
Supporters of Senate Bill 341 argue the current law leaves minors vulnerable to coercion, abuse and exploitation. State records show 5,063 minors married in Ohio between 2000 and 2024. About 90% were girls who married adult men, according to data compiled by Unchained At Last from the Ohio Department of Health.
Advocates argue minors who marry often lack the legal ability to hire attorneys, enter domestic violence shelters or pursue legal action to leave unwanted marriages.
“If we’re putting girls into situations that they can’t escape, we are silencing them and chaining them into a marriage contract that they do not have the ability to get a divorce from,” said Anastasia Law, legal advisor for Equality Now. “They don’t have the ability to hire a lawyer, enter a domestic violence shelter. We’re trapping them.”
Law said lawmakers should act quickly.
“We need to prioritize this issue,” she said. “This is not something that can wait another year. Every day there’s another chance of another girl getting into a forced marriage.”
DeMora criticized Republican lawmakers for failing to advance the measure.
“This bill has no opposition in any committee hearing, that is bipartisan, yet it stopped because people in the Republican caucus are holding this up for some reason,” DeMora said.
He argued minors who marry can lose important legal protections.
“Being married under the age of 18 makes you become a ward of the person who marries you,” DeMora said. “It’s ridiculous.”
Not all lawmakers framed the issue the same way. House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, said marriage is one of the most significant decisions a person can make.
“These are sort of tough questions,” Huffman said. “Do you trust 17-year-old kids with your four kids for three or four hours at night? Well, yeah, but you don’t trust 17-year-olds to do a lot of other things. I would suggest that marriage is the most important decision any individual makes in their life.”
House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn, D-Cincinnati, voiced support for raising the marriage age.
“It is shocking on so many levels that we are having a debate about child marriage in 2026 here in Ohio,” Isaacsohn said. “No, we should not have children getting married in Ohio and anywhere else.”
Among those attending the rally was Kendall Evans, 30, who said organizers spent about two weeks preparing for the demonstration.
“I think it’s really important to show a presence and show that we’re not going to back down and we’re not going to let this bill die,” Evans said. “There’s no reason Ohioans shouldn’t be safe and minors shouldn’t be protected.”
Ohio is among a shrinking number of states that still allow marriage before age 18 under certain circumstances. Supporters note that neighboring Pennsylvania and several other states have recently enacted laws establishing 18 as the minimum marriage age with no exceptions.
Trending reporter Amani Bayo can be reached at abayo@dispatch.com.
Should Ohio ban child marriage?
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Protesters in bridal gowns push for Ohio to ban child marriage
Reporting by Amani Bayo, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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By Amani Bayo, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
