The Columbus City Council on Monday
unanimously approved a resolution supporting marriage equality in
Ohio.
“There was a time in this state where
a city council would never dare to pass a resolution like this,”
said Michael Premo of Why Marriage Matters Ohio, a statewide campaign
to increase support for allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry in
the Buckeye State.
According to Premo, Columbus is the
“first municipality in the state of Ohio” to approve such a
resolution.
Voters in Ohio approved a
constitutional amendment defining marriage as a heterosexual union in
2004. Last month, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati
overturned a lower court's ruling striking down the ban as
unconstitutional. Plaintiffs in the case have asked the Supreme
Court to review the decision.
(Related: Ohio
AG Mike DeWine asks Supreme Court to uphold gay marriage ban.)
While Columbus is considered Ohio's
most liberal big city, Cincinnati
recently scored 100% on the Human Rights Campaign's third annual
Municipal Equality Index (MEI), which measures a city's support
for LGBT rights.