May 4th is the National Day of Reason in 2024 and into the future. One of the ways we have wanted to mark the occassion is to have the city council issue a resolution marking the day in the city. We weren’t prepared for how hard it really is to get it done. That’s why we started a petition. Back in 2019, SHoWLE reached out to the Mayor of Toledo about issuing a proclamation but his office declined and then the pandemic happened and our efforts fell by the wayside. This year we decided to focus on the city council since they have issued resolutions for a whole host of issues with the most recen ..read more

Starting today you can find a SHoWLE community server on the Discord platform. Participation is free and open to anyone who wants to participate but it does require an invitation. You need to create an account on Discord. You will need to install the Discord app or use the browser version to access the group. The good news the invites are free. A limited time one is with this post. If it is expired feel free to reach out to us and ask for an invite. If you are a member of SHoWLE you get a special invite and get a special role on the server. This is just another social media platform to have s ..read more

On Tuesday 3/19, Lucas county Judge Stacy Cook ruled that the Sylvania City School District bus transportation plan for students of non-public schools doesn’t violate Ohio law or constitution. Back in 2022, a couple of families that send their children to a catholic school in Sylvania, filed a lawsuit because their children had to be picked up hours before their school started, transported with older students, then dropped off at a high school to transfer to another bus, to arrive at their catholic school. The parents thought it was unlawful and violated the equal protection and religious free ..read more

We were contacted recently by someone who lives in the Sylvania Public school district. She said that LifeWise had a presentation scheduled for the next school board meeting and wanted to know if we had any information about the group. Released Time Religious Instruction is allowed under Ohio Revised Code 3313.6022. The big takeaway is that school districts aren’t required to approve RTRI programs. Other points from the law: (1) The student’s parent or guardian gives written consent. (2) The sponsoring entity maintains attendance records and makes them available to the school district the stud ..read more

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Toledo Humanists Condemn Override of HB 68 Veto TOLEDO – The Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie condemn the override of the veto of House Bill 68 that will now allow the ban on gender-affirming care and ban on Trans women in school sports to become law. The majority ignored medical science and the pleas of the Trans community and dismissed their very existence. Several Senators during the vote claimed Trans kids don’t exist and that their God assigned the child’s gender at conception. Rep. Gary Click, in a statement on X called for resources for individuals who re ..read more

We cancelled the in-person part of the meeting on 1/13 and we took that action close to the time of the meeting leading several people to show up at the venue. We also address a concern about not wanting to use Zoom ..read more

At our November meeting, it was mentioned that food banks could use cash donations in addition to the usual food donations. Cash donations can actually help more clients of the food bank than direct food donations. We also acknowledge that the need for food banks last all year and not just for the holidays. SHoWLE will be arranging some volunteer time at a local food bank early in 2024. This is just a list of the two main food banks in Lucas county. Toledo Northwestern Ohio Food BankSeagate Food Bank ..read more

The Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie are dismayed and disappointed that several local members of the Ohio House of Representatives signed on to a letter to announce their intention to subvert the will of the voters who passed State Issue 1 on November 7th. The Ohio House Pro-life Caucus issued a press release on November 8th that said in part: “We will do everything in our power to prevent our laws from being removed based upon perception of intent…” Northwest Ohio members who signed on to the letter include Josh Williams (41), Derek Merrin (42), Susan Manchester (78), Roy Klopfenstein ..read more

President Douglas Berger submitted written testimony to the Ohio House Higher Education Committee that is considering House Bill 183 that would prohibit transgender kids and adults from using the public bathrooms that align with their gender identity. Two people on the committee are from the NW Ohio area. Rep. Derek Merrin (R-42) and Rep. Josh Williams (R-41). The hearing for opposition testimony is Wednesday October 11th. Here is the text of his testimony as submitted: Chair Rep. Young, Vice Chair Rep. Manning, and Ranking Member Rep. Miller, my name is Douglas Berger and I am President of th ..read more

Each year we try to discover how our friends and members feel about SHoWLE. Please fill out the survey below. You can be anonymous but please be honest. It will be open until 10/1/2023. If you wish to tell us something not in the survey like you moved or something use our contact form for that or make sure you use your email address in the survey If there is no embedded survey above click on this link… *Note* All responses and information shared in the survey will be for internal use only and not shared outside the Board of Directors except for general aggregate results ..read more