Facebook reaction
We asked followers of our Facebook page to respond to the gay marriage ruling. Here's some of the conversation:
Troy Bailey: It hurts nothing. People need to get over the fears of giving the same rights they take for granted to others. 50 years ago blacks fought for civil right and today it is gays and in 50 years who will it be? Everyone is equal no matter what and we need to realize that.
Chris White: This isn't an issue of gay marriage. This is an issue of too much federal power. Leave the states and it's citizens alone.
Don Carter: Activist judges enforcing personal agendas should be removed from the bench.
Chris White: Why even bring an issue up for a vote if a federal judge is going to rule against what the people of that state voted for?
A federal court ruling that Ohio must recognize the marriages of same sex couples married in other states drew praise on Monday from local gay couples and activists, while Ohio’s attorney general plans to appeal the ruling.
Judge Timothy Black’s ruling was a partial but significant victory for gay rights supporters, who called it a stepping stone for full marriage equality in Ohio.
“I hear the drumbeat of justice coming a little closer to the state of Ohio,” said Rev. Mike Castle, senior pastor of Harmony Creek Church and a member of Equality Ohio. “It’s a Constitutional win. It’s an American win.”
Gay rights opponents, including former state Rep. Seth Morgan, a board member of Citizens for Community Values, denounced Black’s ruling in Cincinnati as a misinterpretation of the U.S. Constitution and part of a “national agenda of forced acceptance of a lifestyle.”
“It’s another example of homosexual activists using sympathetic judges and courts as a blunt instrument to force a redefinition of marriage and family on the people of Ohio,” said Phil Burress, chairman of the group, in a news release.
Black ruled that Ohio’s refusal to recognize gay marriage is a violation of constitutional rights and “unenforceable in all circumstances.”
“The record before this court … is staggeringly devoid of any legitimate justification for the state’s ongoing arbitrary discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation,” Black wrote.
Attorney General Mike DeWine said his office will appeal Black’s order to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. DeWine declined to say what the state’s chances are at overturning it.
“This is a matter that ultimately is going to go to the U.S. Supreme Court. It may not be Ohio’s case that goes but some case or cases will go ultimately to the U.S. Supreme Court,” he said.
DeWine personally believes marriage is between a man and a woman but he opposed the constitutional amendment in 2004, fearing that the language was problematic. Regardless of personal views, DeWine notes that as attorney general he has a duty to defend Ohio law and the state constitution. His office represents the Ohio Department of Health as the defendant in the case.
Rob Nichols, press secretary for Gov. John Kasich, said, “The governor believes that marriage is between a man and a woman. He supports the constitutional ban on same sex marriage here in Ohio. We are glad that the attorney general is appealing.”
DeWine said rather than have the federal courts answer the gay marriage question, it should be left to the states.
“It’s not like this is an issue that is not being dealt with by the states. It’s being dealt with in the classic political, public policy way. And I think frankly it would be better and people would be more willing to accept the result if that could play out for a while,” he said.
The court said it is inclined to stay the order on the constitutionality issue but not hold it off for the four gay couples who are plaintiffs in the case. The question is whether couples legally married in other states can have both parents listed on birth certificates.
“I think Mike DeWine is going to waste our valuable taxpayer money by pursuing it in a court action,” said Donnellsville resident Mitchell Snyder, 48, who is married to Andy Baker, 48.
“I think all Ohioans deserve equal rights,” Snyder said.
Gay marriage is legal in 17 states and Washington, D.C. Gay marriage bans have recently been overturned by federal judges in Michigan, Utah, Texas, Oklahoma and Virginia. Judges in Kentucky and Tennessee have ruled that those states must recognize gay marriages performed out of state. Stays have been issued pending appeal in all states except Tennessee, where the ruling applies only to three couples.
Mary Batiuk, 64, and Joyce Dean, 67, of Kettering plan to to travel to New York to be married after 20 years together. Batiuk said the ruling means they will get the same privileges as any other married Ohioans. She credits young people for pushing the change.
“I think its been coming for a long time with young people,” Batiuk said.
Joe Dulaney, 46, of Bellbrook said he hopes he can now add his husband Jason Bush, 40, to their son’s birth certificate.
“I believe everybody has the right to marry who they love,” Dulaney said.
He said it has been “disheartening” that Ohio didn’t recognize his 2013 marriage.
“Religion and the Bible have a huge hold on the country,” said Dulaney. “I figured they’ll always win because they have always won.”
Dayton School Board member Joe Lacey is disappointed that the ruling doesn’t overturn Ohio’s anti-gay marriage law but “it puts another nail in that coffin, a big one.”
Lacey is a Democrat running in the May primary against Dee Gillis of Tipp City and Thomas Matthew of Troy for the Ohio Senate 5th district seat now held by State Rep. Bill Beagle. Lacey and his partner, Tony Ballis, have a daughter together.
“It’s an amazing move forward for family security,” said Ian James of Freedom Ohio, a group actively seeking to put the gay marriage question to voters on a statewide ballot. He noted that appeals through the federal courts could take years.
James’ group received petition language approval from DeWine’s office on Monday for a new ballot question on whether to legalize gay marriage in Ohio. Freedom Ohio had already circulated a previous version that caused dissent within the gay community. The new petition language is more uniformly supported, James said. “We are certainly working on an all of the above strategy: courts, ballots, public relations, grassroots advocacy. Do everything we can to make sure that everybody has equal protection and everybody has the right marry the one they love,” James said.
Why Marriage Matters Ohio campaign manager Michael Premo in a written statement praised Black’s ruling and called it an historic day for all Ohioans. “This ruling is about love, stability and family; and it is a victory for the families that have been denied equality under the law,” Premo said.
Why Marriage Matters Ohio, launched last fall, is a grassroots public education campaign to build support for gay marriage in Ohio.
Polling of registered Ohio voters by Quinnipiac University shows growing support for allowing same sex marriage. Support has risen from 45 percent in December 2012 to 48 percent in April 2013 to 50 percent in February 2014, according to the polls.
Ten years ago, 61.7 percent of Ohio voters said yes to a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between one man and one woman and forbids local and state governments from recognizing any unmarried relationships that approximate marriage.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
