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Statehouse Keeps Ban on Same-Sex Couples

KEEP OUT

Ohio's self-proclaimed "People's House" will continue to deny gay and lesbian people the opportunity to celebrate within its walls.

A panel of lawmakers and outside appointees that oversees the Ohio Statehouse decided on July 17 to stick with a seven-year-old ban on same-sex weddings and receptions at the public, taxpayer-funded building in Columbus.

"They're completely wrong," said state Rep. Michael Stinziano, D-Columbus, who asked to the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board to review its policy after Outlook wrote about the issue in February.

Since Ohio opened its Statehouse to wedding ceremonies and receptions in 2007, officials have required couples to show an in-state marriage license in order to rent space. Because of the

state's 2004 constitutional restrictions on marriage, the policy serves to shut out same-sex couples who wed in marriage-equality states.

Stinziano said Statehouse officials told him they must follow the Ohio Constitution. Statehouse spokesman Luke Stedke said the policy also ensures that the building will be used by Ohioans, although no state law prohibits nonresidents in opposite-sex relationships from getting a marriage license in Ohio.

In neighboring states such as West Virginia, Indiana and Michigan, where same-sex marriage also is banned, state capital buildings don't discriminate in their rental policies.

"I don't think the People's House should have a policy that prevents any taxpayer from using the facility," Stinziano said.

Hobby Lobby Fallout: HOBBY

OK for Discrimination

The US Department of Education granted a Christian university in Oregon a religious exemption from federal antidiscrimination laws and allowed the school to bar a transgender student from living in the men's dormitories.

PQ Monthly reported in July that George Fox University in Newberg, Ore, obtained the exemption in its effort to deny Jayce Marcus a place in its single-sex residence halls on the basis that it is a "Christ-centered community."

12 august 2014

LOBBY

Marcus's attorney contended that the school was violating Title IX, a federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender.

The exemption came weeks after the US Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision, which many LGBT rights advocates fear will be used by religious business owners to discriminate against LGBT people.

In their ruling, justices extended reli-

gious freedoms to certain corporations.

The Month in Marriage

Arkansas: Two same-sex couples filed a federal lawsuit July 16 challenging the state's marriage ban. A state judge already has ruled the ban unconstitutional, but the decision has been appealed to the Arkansas Supreme Court.

Colorado: Adams County District Judge C Scott Crabtree struck down the state's marriage ban on July 9, and some county clerks issued licenses until ordered to stop pending an appeal.

Florida: Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Luis Garcia ruled July 17 that the state's ban on samesex marriage is unconstitutional. The decision, which applies only in the county that includes Key West, was put on hold when state officials filed an appeal.

Illinois: 5,000 same-sex couples wed during the first month of marriage equality, according to a survey of counties by Equality Illinois.

Indiana: The Seventh Circuit US Court of Appeals will take up the state's appeal on Aug 13 of a federal judge's June 25 decision in favor of marriage equality.

Kentucky: US District Judge John Heyburn struck down the state's marriage ban on July 1, although the ruling was put on hold pending appeal. Heyburn previously ordered Kentucky to honor samesex couples' marriages performed in other states.

Oklahoma: The 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling in favor of marriage equality.

Pennsylvania: Schuylkill County Clerk Theresa Santai-Gaffney won't give up the fight against marriage equality. Although state officials decided not to appeal a May court ruling, she has asked the entire Third Circuit US Court of Appeals to hear her arguments.

Utah: State officials said July 9 that they will ask the US Supreme Court to review decisions by two federal courts in favor of marriage equality in Utah.

Wisconsin: 40 Democratic lawmakers have urged GOP Gov. Scott Walker and Attorney General JB Van Hollen to drop their appeal of a federal court decision for marriage equality. They say it's a waste of taxpayer money.

Nationwide: US Attorney General Eric Holder told ABC News that the Department of Justice will urge the Supreme Court to strike down marriage bans nationwide should justices take up one of the cases currently moving through the federal courts.

Croatia: With a vote of 89-16, the nation's parliament approved the Life Partnership Act, granting civil unions for samesex couples.

“Assuring equal protection for same-sex couples does not diminish the freedom of others to any degree."

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US District Judge John Heyburn, Kentucky

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