COLUMBUS, Ohio – Advocates of same-sex marriage in Ohio and across the nation celebrated two rulings by the Supreme Court yesterday, though the impact of the decisions won’t be immediately felt in the Buckeye State.
More than a dozen states recognize same-sex marriages, but Ohio is not one of them, which means the court’s rulings on the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s state gay marriage ban may have almost no effect in the near future.
“It doesn’t have the direct impact on Ohio as far as removing Ohio’s 2004 marriage ban, so that’s really going to be in the hands of the voters,” said Ian James, spokesman for Freed to Marry Ohio.
The organization is behind an effort to place an issue on the ballot in November of 2014 overturning a 2004 voter-approved constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in Ohio.
That effort is reportedly being met by opposition by a group that plans to ask candidates to sign a “traditional marriage pledge,” according to the “Columbus Dispatch.”
The justices’ ruling on the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) extends federal benefits to same-sex couples by declaring the law, which defined marriage as a legal union between a man and a woman, to be discriminatory and a deprivation of the equal liberty of persons which is protected by the Fifth Amendment.
The ruling means legally married same-sex couples are entitled to the same federal benefits which are available to men and women who are married, but only if they are married in states that recognize same-sex unions.
Since Ohio does not, it remains unclear how the decision will affect couples, including those who move in from states where they have been legally married.
“The path to full LGBT equality will be longer in Ohio and the many other states with discrimination written into their constitutions,” ACLU of Ohio Executive Director Christine Link said.
The high court declined to rule on a challenge to a lower court order overturning California’s Proposition 8, a voter-approved measure which banned same-sex marriage. In sidestepping the case, the Supreme Court did not rule on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage or bans like Ohio’s.
“The fact remains that Ohio’s Constitution is stained with the bigotry of a 2004 ballot issue that denies Ohio’s gay community full rights,” Brian Rothenberg, executive director of ProgressOhio, said in a statement released by the organization.
Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman opposed the 2004 ban in Ohio and will continue to advocate for its repeal, according to his office.
“This is a major step in the long struggle for true equality. But our fight for marriage equality will not end until all our citizens, including those in the State of Ohio and the City of Columbus, can share in the fundamental freedom to marry,” he said.