Ohio Gay Marriage Supporters Hope To Repeal Ban

[William769]

Supporters of gay marriage in Ohio have begun a campaign to repeal the state's 2004 constitutional amendment defining marriage as a heterosexual union.

The group Freedom to Marry Ohio on Thursday submitted nearly 1,800 signatures to the Ohio Attorney General's office, the first step in putting the issue back on the ballot in either 2012 or 2013.

Ian James, who headed the group which led the unsuccessful 2004 campaign to defeat the ban, is leading the effort.

“We had to leave the country we love to be married,” James told Columbus CBS affiliate WBNS. “My husband and I were married in 2003 in Canada. But this isn't about us. This is about Ohio.”

http://www.ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=11131&MediaType=1&Category=26

[MarkCharles]

1. Best of luck to them, but I'm doubtful that...

Ohioans will vote to approve. Ohio is a purple state, half red, half blue. Fundamentalist religion is alive and well in Ohio.

[Ms. Toad]

3. And I would not put it on the ballot

in a presidential election year.

...just in case anyone has forgotten that the marriage discrimination amendment was used to drive conservative voters to the polls in Ohio in 2004, and those of us on the ground in Ohio were torn between a non-existent campaign against the marriage discrimination amendment (which could likely have been won with good organization because the impact was far broader that the lesbian and gay community), and campaigning to elect Kerry (knowing there would likely be lifelong Supreme Court appointments coming up).

And then we were blamed for not waiting at the back of the bus until it was our turn, and losing the election for Kerry.

I really don't want to go through that again.

[xchrom]

2. Du rec. Nt