The legality of love

Ohio University junior Bobby Landers considers himself to be the typical college student.

He goes to class and work, studies and goes out with his friends. However, Landers is separated from the majority of Ohio students by the fact that because of his sexual orientation, he cannot be married instate.

It makes me feel like a second class citizen in a way

Landers said. I hate to whip out the Constitution but it's supposed to be equal rights for everybody.

Landers is one of many homosexuals in Ohio who are not given the same rights as heterosexual couples regarding partners.

One of the statues in the Ohio Constitution defines marriage as being between one man and one woman. In 2004, Ohio passed the Defense of Marriage Act, which states only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by the state, making it the 38th state to prohibit the recognition of same-sex union.

The term marriage and the legal contract of marriage brings with it over 1 000 rights and privileges

said Mickey Hart, director of the OU Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Center.

Hart said these rights include hospital visitation, parental rights, death, bereavement benefits and tax breaks.

When crisis hits a family

the last thing you want to deal with are the legal ramifications and the extra steps that could or should have been taken

Hart said. It's something that I think most married people don't really think about.

Only two states in the U.S., Connecticut and Massachusetts, perform gay marriages. The state of New York does not perform same-sex marriages, but recognizes same-sex marriages performed out-of-state.

Ohio is one of 45 states with laws or amendments restricting gay marriage. Such discriminatory laws are nothing new to the U.S., said Ron Hunt, professor of political science at OU.

Sodomy laws go all the way back to Roman law

Hunt said. Sodomy laws in the U.S. were abolished in a Supreme Court decision

Lawrence vs. Texas just a few years ago.

Even though Lawrence vs. Texas was passed in 2003, there is still a sodomy statute in the Uniform Code of Military Justice making sodomy a punishable offense in the military, regardless of sexual orientation, Hunt said.

He also said although some laws restricting the LGBT community have changed, repealing the ban on gay marriage in Ohio would be a long and difficult process that won't happen any time soon.

Sodomy is over

but the civil rights battle is not over and gay marriage is not over

Hunt said. It's not going to be over for a long time.

For gay marriage rights to be enacted in Ohio, both the state constitutional amendment defining marriage and the DOMA would have to be repealed.

The DOMA is designed to allow Ohio to not recognize a marriage performed in another state

said Kim Welter, program manager at Equality Ohio in Columbus. Right now if (a same-sex couple) gets married in another state and they come and live in Ohio