Revised petition language to overturn Ohio’s same-sex marriage ban was certified Monday by the attorney general, leaving one more hurdle for petitioners before they can begin collecting signatures. The same day, a federal judge, as promised, ordered that the State of Ohio must recognize gay marriages that were performed outside of the state.
FreedomOhio has been collecting signatures since 2012 to reverse Ohio’s constitutional gay marriage ban, but the proposed Freedom to Marry amendment didn’t have the support of Equality Ohio and other gay advocacy groups. Critics said exempting “religious institutions” from recognizing same-sex marriages was too broad and could cause a religiously-affiliated hospital to deny rights of married gay couples.
Earlier this month, FreedomOhio filed new petition language that defined marriage as between two consenting adults and exempted “houses of worship” from performing or recognizing any marriage. Equality Ohio officials said they appreciated the change but weren’t ready yet to endorse it.
The bipartisan Ohio Ballot Board will decide soon whether the amendment constitutes one or more ballot issues. If approved then, FreedomOhio will be able to start collecting the required 385,247 valid signatures of Ohio voters to put the issue on the ballot.
As promised nine days earlier, U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Black Monday morning issued a 45-page ruling requiring Ohio to recognize same-sex marriages performed legally in other states.
On April 5, Black said he had decided that Ohio’s refusal to recognize valid same-sex marriages violated constitutional protections, and he vowed to issue a permanent injunction, barring the state from denying all the rights and benefits of marriage to same-sex couples who were validly married elsewhere.
Black agreed to delay enforcement of his order until receiving written arguments from both sides by Tuesday in preparations for promised appeals to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Black said he intends to rule quickly on whether to delay the full effects of his ruling until it is reviewed by the federal appeals court.
Black’s surprise ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed in February in which four same-sex couples sought to force the state health department to list the names of both same-sex parents on the birth certificates of their children.
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