Cleveland, Ohio I’ve lived in Ohio since the beginning. I’ve always had positive thoughts about it. It was a wonderful place to grow up, raise a family, and take road vacations because of its four seasons, Great Lakes, winding roads, and terminal moraine. I had no idea that it didn’t consistently support me.
Ohio is one of over two dozen states whose state constitutions do not guarantee equal rights. At least some of the others’ rights are safeguarded. Even worseOhio is one of 32 states that forbid same-sex marriage either by state law or by the constitution. These laws could take effect if the 2015 Obergefell case ruling is overturned, even if they haven’t been enforced since. The Movement Advancement Project estimates that 60% of LGBTQ+ adults would live in places where homosexual marriage is prohibited.
Indeed, we have state laws and regulations that safeguard equal rights in housing, employment, and other areas, but they are subject to the capriciousness of our state legislators. Rights must be incorporated into our state constitution in order to continue to be solid and stable.
Everyone is impacted by this. The protected classes, which encompass all facets of our existence, including age, sex, marital status, religion or creed, disability, race, origin, pregnancy, gender, and more, are shared by every Ohioan.
Members of shared-trait groups are protected under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which is a provision of the U.S. Constitution. Though they expand governmental protections, specific federal laws such as the Equal Pay Act (1963), Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1967), Fair Housing Act (1968), Americans with Disabilities Act (1980), and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (2008) are easily amendable in Congress.
The present conservative Supreme Court, which appears to be playing to an oligarchic Oval Office, also jeopardizes federal safeguards that are not found in the Constitution. The Supreme Court has recently been urged to reconsider the Obergefell ruling, which provided protection for homosexual marriage, in the hopes of overturning it, demonstrating its willingness to alter long-standing decisions.
However, what about additional hazards of discrimination? What if we were no longer able to purchase any home in any neighborhood? What if we were no longer allowed to select our own religion or spiritual path? What if we were told that because we weren’t the appropriate color, we couldn’t get a loan, a job, or a space? What would happen if we were told who we could and couldn’t marry?
A grassroots advocacy group called Ohio Equal Rights (OER) is striving to ensure that everyone residing in this heart-shaped state is shielded from discrimination at the constitutional level. The group proposed a citizen-led initiative to amend Ohio’s definition of marriage to conform to the federal law that protects same-sex marriage and to guarantee equal rights under the law for everyone.
The OER planned initiative was approved by Ohio Attorney General David Yost on July 3 and split into two items by the Republican-majority Elections Board on July 9. This was the proper course of action. Both attempts might not have passed the one-subject test if they had been left as one, meaning all the effort would have been in vain.
Though the organizational leaders were aware that an appeal could take months, the OER had the option to appeal the split. They agreed to the Election Board’s ruling last week, which allowed the volunteers to concentrate on collecting the roughly 415,000 signatures required for each initiative to be included on the ballot. These signatures must come from 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties, and the number of signatures in each county must match 5% of the total number of voters in November 2022, the most recent gubernatorial election.
Geauga County, for instance, would require roughly 1,300 eligible individual signatures from registered voters. The job would be completed twice as fast if those 1,300 people sign both petitions, which I think they will. Therefore, although though 830,000 signatures are required for both measures to appear on the 2026 ballot, it is likely that just 500,000 people will be required to obtain all of the necessary legal signatures. Those who favor equal legal rights, in my opinion, are probably of the opinion that everyone should be allowed to marry anyone they choose. I hope they do, anyway.
Though enormous, it is achievable. In order to succeed, OER is now putting procedures and processes in place. Like residents of the 26 states with at least some constitutional safeguards against discrimination, Ohioans can vote to defend their civil rights if both projects make it to the ballot. However, because our state would be the largest, Ohioans could boast. According to Ohio Equal Rights, the heart-shaped state would have the most comprehensive and robust equal rights protection of any state constitution in the nation.
Spreading the word now will help people grasp the challenges and the need for Ohioans to have their rights protected by the state constitution when petitions start to circulate in the future. Donations and volunteers are needed by Ohio Equal Rights. For additional information or to participate in the initiative, go to https://www.ohioequalrights.org/. Simple online forms are available for volunteering, partnering, and providing support.
Ohio must be on our side, particularly at this time when our senate and statehouse have been jerry-rigged, making everything glaringly susceptible. Our constitution must protect equal rights. For a period.
Living on Cleveland’s west side, freelance writer Leslie Kouba contributes frequently to cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.
