Ohio is on its way to becoming the next state to legalize same-sex marriage after Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine moved forward a proposed constitutional amendment that would reverse the state’s 2004 ban Monday.
DeWine determined the petition, submitted last week by the Freedom to Marry Ohio coalition, is “fair and truthful” and contains the required amount of valid signatures.
The petition will now move on to the Ohio Ballot Board, which will determine whether the issue should be placed on a single or multiple amendments, said Ian James, Freedom to Marry Ohio spokesman and an Ohio University alumnus.
“Since the issue is specifically marriage, it would be extraordinary to separate the proposal into more than one amendment,” said James.
In the meantime, the coalition will begin collecting the 385,245 required signatures to put the issue on the statewide ballot for the 2013 November elections.
The Freedom to Marry Ohio coalition has organized “Courting the Votes” events at each of Ohio’s 88 county courthouses to circulate the petition across Ohio, James said.
“We plan on working with newspaper outlets, being on college campuses and recruiting volunteers in order to get the required amount of votes,” said James.
Some OU students intend on helping spread the word, said Mickey Hart, director of the OU LGBT Center.
“There may be some individuals involved on campus, but our organization is waiting to see how it plays out and then work from there,” said Hart.
In addition to the Freedom to Marry Ohio coalition, other LGBT groups are actively working to promote same-sex marriage in Ohio, said Ed Mullen, executive director of Equality Ohio.
“We’re always working towards same-sex marriage and we’re spending a lot of time on it,” Mullen said.
Maine is currently the only state other than Ohio in the nation that is seeking a constitutional amendment on gay marriage.
Ohio is currently one of the 31 states that specifically prohibit same-sex marriage and if legalized, they would become the ninth state to do so.
“Ohio had Jesse Owens, Thomas Edison and the Wright Brothers and they all had people telling them their dreams wouldn’t be fulfilled,” James said. “But they worked diligently and saw their dreams come true and became successful, and we’re going to do the same thing.”
az346610@ohiou.edu
