May 11, 2006

By Diane Chiddister

Issue 1, the Ohio constitutional amendment that outlaws gay marriage, sent a chilling message to gay and lesbian couples when it passed in November 2004, according to several Yellow Springs families, and now the state seems poised to discriminate even further against gays by taking away their right to adopt children.

“The gay community is being used as a wedge issue to get people to vote,” local resident Gail Cyan said in an interview last week.

Based on their success in the 11 states that passed anti-gay marriage amendments in 2004, many conservatives seem to believe that “gay-bashing will help candidates win an election,” Cyan said.

Introduced into the Ohio House of Representatives earlier this year, House Bill 515 would ban homosexual, bisexual or transgendered people from adopting or serving as foster parents; would prohibit stepparents from adopting a child if they are homosexual, bisexual or transgender; and would ban anyone from adopting if they “reside with an individual who is homosexual, bisexual or transgender.”

The gay marriage debate will likely intensify before June 5, when the U.S. Senate will vote on a federal marriage amendment banning gay marriage. Senator Mike DeWine, who grew up in Yellow Springs, has signed on as a sponsor of the bill.

In the midst of the gay marriage controversy, the Equality Ohio human rights group is attempting to counter stereotypes about gay marriage with a statewide tour of Inlaws and Outlaws, a documentary film. The film, which will play in five cities plus Yellow Springs, will be shown at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 11, at the Little Art Theatre. The film is a fundraiser for Equality Ohio, and tickets cost $10. A discussion will follow at The Emporium.

Rick Incorvati of Springfield said that Yellow Springs is included on the film’s “Hearts and Minds” tour, along with Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton and Lima, as a nod to the village’s history of standing against discrimination. He said that Yellow Springs was ahead of most communities when Village Council passed antidiscrimination legislation in 1979.

Including Yellow Springs in the tour is “a gesture to the forward thinking of this community,” he said.

Yellow Springs is also one of the few Ohio municipalities that passed legislation that opposed Issue 1. The resolution, which Council passed in 2005, after the November 2004 election, was influenced by a local effort led by Solidarity Ohio, an area group that formed in response to the amendment’s passage.

Since that time, Solidarity Ohio has worked to educate the public about gay marriage and to create systemic change in the state, according to Cyan.

Also formed in response to Issue 1, Equality Ohio is a statewide group that has served to link together formerly unaffiliated human rights groups. Equality Ohio seeks to provide “a single voice” statewide to oppose efforts to discriminate based on sexual orientation, Cyan said.

For example, Cyan said that when HB 515 was introduced in the Ohio House, the group responded so forcefully that the House speaker, Jon Husted, a Kettering Republican, called the bill divisive and said he would not bring it to the floor for a vote.

But the bill is still alive, and has 10 legislative cosponsors.

“I think we should be offended that 10 lawmakers in this state would consider sponsoring this bill,” Incorvati said.

The bill’s sponsors could decide to take it directly to the people of Ohio in the form of a referendum, Cyan said, and for that reason, “We have to be extremely vigilant.”

In an effort to dilute support for HB 515, Equality Ohio is sponsoring a lobbying day at the Ohio Legislature on Wednesday, May 17, during which 500 people are expected lobby their state representatives about why they oppose the bill. The 500 participants have already signed on for the effort and have been trained in effective lobbying techniques, according to Cyan, who is one of the lobbyists.

Those who oppose discrimination based on sexual orientation are encouraged to attend the May 11 film, become active in Solidarity Ohio, and to register their displeasure with the Federal Marriage Act by contacting DeWine. Opponents of the marriage act may contact DeWine and other lawmakers at EqualityOhio.org, according to local Solidarity Ohio member Deb Zendlovitz.

“What people can do is to pay attention and speak out,” Zendlovitz said.

Contact: dchiddister@ysnews.com