COLUMBUS - After seven years of debate, lawmakers moved closer yesterday to passing a law that would bar Ohio from recognizing same-sex marriages and keep some state employees from getting benefits for their domestic partners.
A Senate committee approved the measure yesterday morning, and it was likely to go before the full Senate as early as yesterday afternoon. If a version that passed the House last month is not amended, the legislation would go to Gov. Bob Taft, who has indicated he supports it.
The bill, considered one of the most far-reaching in the nation, puts into law that same-sex marriages would be against the strong public policy of the state. That language is necessary because of a 1934 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that requires states to recognize marriages from other states in most circumstances.
Ohio may be only the second state, besides Nebraska, that would prohibit benefits for state employees' unmarried partners, said lawyer Michael Adams of Lambda Legal Defense.
The Legislature has struggled with the issue since then-Rep. Jay Hottinger introduced a bill in the House seven years ago.
Similar bills have been introduced in each legislative session since then, but former Senate President Richard Finan, a Republican, blocked its passage. He said state law already took care of the matter.
After Finan left the Senate in 2003 because of term limits, Republican Rep. Bill Seitz sponsored the current bill and told the committee that a ruling in Massachusetts that declared the state's gay marriage ban unconstitutional could affect Ohio.
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