February
speakout
Some DOMA sponsors don't really know what it does
by Clifton Spires
Some of Ohio's legislators declared open season on our gay and lesbian children last month by giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a pet project of State Sen. Jay Hottinger, RNewark.
Hottinger-the spelling dictionary on my computer ironically suggested "hatemonger" as a possible alternative spelling of his last name-first brought DOMA to his colleagues' attention in 1997. Wisely, they managed to bury it in committee.
Having lived for a few years in Hottinger's senate district, I found myself surprised by his tenacity. He struck me as a pleasantenough politico whose bland and vague columns seemed designed to offend as few people as possible. Hardly the type to practice a form of McCarthyism by demonizing a minority group and trying to prevent them from having equal status under the law.
What Hottinger wanted to do in 1997 and again is attempting to do now is amend Ohio's marriage laws. He proposes to fix the law so that only men 18 or over and women 16 or over who are unmarried and not first cousins can marry.
I know, I know-I'm as surprised as everyone else. I thought we already had a law on the book that says just that. Apparently Hottinger thinks it says something else, because he wants to make sure it says just that. He also wants to add lines about how the General Assembly declares the only legal marriages in Ohio involve two people of different sexes, that same-sex marriages are unauthorized, and yada, yada, yada.
I obtained a copy of the proposed legislation and its proposed yada-yadas and compared it to the current law. I immediately became confused. To me, a law that only recognizes the marriages of two people from opposite sexes seems pretty clear about ruling out any marriages between people of the same sex. It would seem logical that the state does not recognize marriages between two men or two women, because neither pairing would include just one individual from each
sex.
In other words, Sen. Hottinger wants to take up much committee time, use up much paper and waste taxpayers' money amending a perfectly clear law with wording that does nothing to change the meaning of the law.
This time around, Hottinger is a more experienced legislator. He lined up some cronies-all but one a Republican—from both houses of the Ohio General Assembly.
Backed up by co-sponsors Sens. James Carnes, R-St. Clairsville; Robert Latta, RBowling Green; Larry Mumper, R-Marion, Scott Oelslager, R-Canton; Lynn Wachtmann, R-Napoleon; Eugene Watts, RDublin; and Doug White, R-Manchester; Hottinger reintroduced DOMA as Senate Bill 240.
At the same time, State Rep. James Jordan, R-Urbana, introduced DOMA as House Bill 547, with even more co-sponsors, including State Reps. Charles Brading, RWapakoneta; Jim Buchy, R-Greenville; Stephen Buehrer, R-Columbus; Chuck Calvert, R-Medina; John Carey, R-Wellston; Patricia Clancy, R-Cincinnati; and Dean DePiero, D-Parma.
DePiero is the lone Democrat. The other House co-sponsors are Bill Harris, RAshland; Ron Hood, R-Canfield; James Hoops, R-Napoleon; Jeff Jacobson, RBrookville; Robert Netzley, R-Laura; Twyla Roman, R-Akron; Bill Taylor, R-Norwalk; George Terwilleger, R-Maineville; Patrick Tiberi, R-Columbus; John Willamowski, RLima; and Ron Young, R-Painesville.
Why have so many of these legislators jumped on Hottinger's bandwagon? Well, it's an election year.
Like Hottinger, many of them realize that gays and lesbians are easy targets. Doing something that looks as if it would prevent gay marriages is an easy way to appeal to religious conservatives among one's con-
stituencies. Why not take the easy road, even if it is the low road?
Some, like my longtime friend John Carey, are genuine social conservatives. Carey, my friend since the days when he was mayor of Wellston and I was a newspaper editor there, knows my wife and I are the parents of a gay son. He knows how passionately we feel about that son's right to equal status in society. We have shared meals and fellowship in each other's homes. When my father died, he personally visited with our extended family and offered support to my mother. I know from experience he is a man who votes his conscience.
Despite our family's disappointment with him for choosing to support this issue, our friendship will work around it and last.
I would like to think Carey may be like Rep. Bill Harris, another DOMA co-sponsor. Harris revealed in a recent telephone conversation with me that he was not as familiar with current Ohio law as he previously thought.
When I asked Harris why he co-sponsored the new legislation, he said personal religious beliefs motivated his sponsorship.
"I personally believe and my faith tells me marriage is a contract between men and women," Harris said.
When I pointed out the new version did not change the current definition of marriage, Harris paused a moment. He then admitted, "I did not recall that the law was that specific."
As we talked, it became clear that Harris was unfamiliar with the specifics of the version he co-sponsored.
"I know the intent is to make sure our law is applicable," he said. "I'm trying to think through that issue.”
Because he did not have the proposed legislation in front of him, Harris contacted his office before making further statements. When he called me back he admitted his legislative aides gave him a refresher.
"I called and asked them to read it back to me carefully," he then said. “I know now what the difference is."
That difference is the declaration of the General Assembly's intent not to recognize any same-sex marriages from other states, Harris said.
Knowing Harris not to be a mean-spirited individual, I'll resist the temptation to say that such declarations and the whole DOMA itself seem to be mere pandering to the rather mean-spirited—at least in regard to gay and lesbian issues-religious right that makes up a good chunk of the Republican voter base these days.
However, I also find myself remembering Hannah Arendt, who wrote about the "good Germans" who did nothing while Hitler's Nazis were loading cattle cars with Jews. Arendt referred to this benign participation in the creation of the Holocaust as "the banality of evil"—the blind following of the Nazis by people who just went along, not wanting to rock the boat.
Neither Carey nor Harris is a hard-core homophobe.
Carey would not verbally slur gays, lesbians or any other minority group. Harris gives the impression he is more comfortable talking about blocked railroad crossings or highway construction than any issue having to do with sex, let alone those involving same-sex participants. However, by casting their lot with Hottinger and Jordan in their pandering to groups who speak and act hatefully toward homosexual people, they demean the personal integrity that they work so hard to maintain.
I recently read the comment of American Civil Liberties Union attorney Susan Gellman of Columbus, who said an Ohio DOMA could violate the "full faith and credit" clause of the U.S. Constitution by carving a gay exception. The clause requires states to recognize the “public acts, records and judicial proceedings of every other state."
Sounds to me like a possible challenge to the amended marriage law, if passed. Could
be costly for taxpayers who might look unkindly at the legislators who brought it up in the first place, especially if the challenge wins on appeal.
Since the main change of DOMA is a declaration of the General Assembly's intent, the change is mostly a symbolic one. Spending much time and money on a court challenge seems a high price to pay for a symbol.
I suspect Carey and Harris are not the only legislators who jumped on the DOMA bandwagon without really understanding the state's
•
current marriage law, which seems to be accomplishing the co-sponsors' goals of keeping same-sex couples from getting hitched. I also suspect they are not the only ones who may not have realized the possible legal consequences, how many of their friends they may be hurting and the not-so-nice political alliances made by their commitment.
Clifton Spires is a newspaper journalist and freelance writer living in Norwalk, Ohio. He and his wife are the parents of two sons, one of each.
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