The voter approved amendment that recognizes marriage only as a “union between one man and one woman” could remain in the Ohio Constitution, despite Friday’s landmark ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that requires states to recognize same-sex marriages.
The amendment is no longer law, but it cannot be removed from the Ohio Constitution without a vote of the people, Dan Tierney, a spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office, told Northeast Ohio Media Group.
And as of Friday, no one was proposing to put the issue on the ballot.
It won’t be the first time outdated or obsolete language has remained in the state’s constitution, either.
State Rep. Michael Curtin, a Democrat from Greater Columbus and an author of “The Ohio Politics Almanac,” recalled several obsolete amendments that remain in the Constitution.
The Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission is now looking for obsolete language that could be removed from the state constitution.
Curtin, a member of the commission, expects the commission could recommend some changes to the legislature later this fall. Those changes could go on a ballot next year.
He doubts, though, that legislators will propose removing the marriage amendment for some time, particularly given the conservative political makeup of the General Assembly.
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