A Very Sad and Cold Day in Ohio

Ohio Set to Enact Same-Sex Marriage Ban
Thu Jan 22, 5:38 AM ET
By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS, Associated Press Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio Senate has approved one of the most far-reaching gay marriage bans in the nation despite charges from some lawmakers that the legislation was mean-spirited and discriminatory.

A divided Senate approved the bill 18-15 Wednesday and sent it back to the House, which is expected to approve minor changes next week. Gov. Bob Taft has said he will sign the bill.

The measure says same-sex marriages are "against the strong public policy of the state," and would prohibit state employees from getting benefits for domestic partners, whether they were gay or unmarried heterosexual couples.

The bill permits exceptions to the benefits ban, including cities, villages, townships, schools and private companies. However, universities are included in the ban.

Senate Minority Leader Gregory DiDonato, a Democrat, said the bill was mean-spirited and "just plain wrong." Sen. C.J. Prentiss, also a Democrat, quoted from Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech as she called the bill "good, old-fashioned discrimination."

But Republican Sen. Jay Hottinger, a longtime supporter of the same-sex marriage ban, said that opponents were misstating the bill's intentions. He said the bill was not an attack on gays, but was meant to protect a traditional definition of marriage.

"This is solely and clearly clarifying and protecting the definition of marriage between one man and one woman," Hottinger said.

Lawmakers have struggled with the issue for seven years, when Hottinger, then a House lawmaker, introduced a bill in the House. Republican Rep. Bill Seitz sponsored the current bill and told the committee that a ruling in Massachusetts that declared the state's gay marriage ban unconstitutional could affect Ohio.

Thirty-seven states have passed laws recognizing marriage as the union between a man and a woman. But Ohio's measure is particularly restrictive because of the benefits ban, said Seth Kilbourn, national field director for the Human Rights Campaign, a Washington-based gay and lesbian lobbying group. Nebraska has a similar ban.

I rarely discuss politics on this blog...mainly because being a comedian, I've learned that politics and religion are two areas that people are way too passionate about to not get upset. However, this particular thing really infuriates me. I'm not sure that I want to get married (although being allowed would be nice), but I was formally a state employee, and two of the state universities were looking at approving domestic partner benefits. What does domestic partner benefits have to do with marriage? When I accept domestic partner benefits, I have to pay taxes on them (both federal and state, while a married couple does not). What financial burden does this put on the state, that it was necessary to eliminate health insurance for at most 3% of the population?

Recently I came across the weblog of someone who is very proud of this state, and is determined to bring Cleveland back up in the ranks as an exceptional place to live. He states that we should be doing things to support the local businesses, support the local artists, and tell companies that we will not do business with them if they don't support Ohio. And if we don't agree with him, we should leave, because this city doesn't need us as we are part of the problem.

Currently...I can't say I agree with him. Ohio does not support me or him (he is gay as well), and I do not feel very proud to say that I live here. I choose to live here because the cost of living is decent (I couldn't even rent a studio in NYC for what I pay for a 3 bedroom house), I have friends in the area, and the airport is close enough that I can travel about once a month. Will I be more likely to support Ohio businesses...maybe those that offer domestic partner benefits.

Now I am smart enough to know that the Democrat party would like me to believe that they are my friends, vowing to stand up for me, but I am not naive. It all comes down to money and power. The population of Ohio is a majority of religious conservativism, and politicians want to stay in office and continue to make the enormous amounts that they make, so they always try to please the masses. Look good in the public eye and even if it smells bad, nobody will care.

This state scares me sometimes. I've gone to gay pride festival events, and seen small children carrying signs that say AIDS IS A PUNISHMENT. Yes...some gay men are promiscus (and at times in my life...I've been one of them). I've also known some straight men who were just as bad. Wasn't Mary Magdaline a whore? (sorry...my christian teaching is really poor). Bur for as many gay sluts I have met, I've met just as many men who were very selective in their sexual partners.

Maybe it comes down to being fair to each other. So in the favor of equality...I propose to eliminate health insurance benefits to the married and unmarried partners of all state employees, including all elected officials. Additionally, I think we should make it a ballot initiative that elected officals must put it to a vote of the population to increase salary. (Congress has increased their salaries nearly every 3 years. Do they really need to earn $150,000 a year?).

'Nuff said. I'm off that soapbox...for now.