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Mary McCarty: New county judge makes history
Former Dayton commissioner will be Ohio's first openly gay judge
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Mary Wiseman got the call from Gov. Ted Strickland the day after running the Columbus Marathon. Strickland told the former Dayton city Commissioner she was being appointed to fill the post of retiring Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge John Kessler.
"I wanted to jump up, but my legs were too sore," Wiseman said.
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Mary Wiseman has been appointed to the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court by Gov. Ted Strickland.Latest headlines
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Get latest headlines via RSS feedsIt had taken "hope and persistence and determination" for Wiseman, admittedly not the most gifted of athletes, to complete her second marathon — a full six minutes faster than her six-hour goal.
Those same qualities were required for Wiseman to reach another milestone: Becoming the first openly gay judge in Ohio history. "I'm grateful to Gov. Strickland for appointing me, but I'm also grateful to the Dayton community," she said. "It says volumes about this community that I've been able to break through these barriers."
Bo Shuff, director of public policy and education for Equality Ohio, said the appointment is history in the making. "To the best of our knowledge, this is the first in the state," Shuff said. The Cleveland-based Gay People's Chronicle published a story last week naming Wiseman as Ohio's first openly gay judge.
When she left the city commission in 2002, a discouraged Wiseman wasn't sure when, or if, she would return to political life. "I'm a big city of Dayton booster," she said, "but my biggest frustration was the slow pace of change." One case in point: the defeat of the gay-rights amendment she introduced early in her tenure, believing she had enough votes to pass it.
Wiseman's return to public life comes at a good time for her. Her partner's two children, whom she has raised as her own, are nearly grown. The oldest is a young mother with two young children; the youngest is a 17-year-old junior at Miamisburg High School. "He has had two gay moms for 10 years now, and he is much more confident," Wiseman said.
He's more prepared, in other words, to cope if next year's campaign gets personal, or ugly. "I hope that doesn't happen," Wiseman said. "In my day-to-day work on the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, that's simply not going to come up. As a judge it will be my job to apply the law fairly and impartially and to treat everyone with dignity and respect."
Wiseman believes the politics of bigotry is on the wane since the last presidential campaign, when some believe Issue 1, the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act," helped capture Ohio for President Bush. Although her job will have little if any bearing on gay and lesbian issues, Wiseman said she is proud to be someone the gay and lesbian community can point to as being successful. "And the rest of society can look at that and feel more comfortable with gays and lesbians in public office," she said.
For his part, Strickland said Monday, "If we've broken a barrier here, that makes me very happy. But I chose her because she is superbly qualified. I was impressed with everything I learned about her, from her temperament to her impressive legal background, including her extensive experience in litigation and dispute resolution."
I asked Wiseman about the obvious paradox of her new position: She is now empowered to marry people, but she herself can't marry.
The question brought her up short. "I honestly haven't thought about that," she replied. "But yes, I suppose there is some irony there."
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2209 or mmccarty@DaytonDailyNews.com.
