Supporters of Ohio's gay marriage ban
have filed a legal challenge to a petition seeking to repeal the ban.
Earlier this month, Ohio's Ballot Board
cleared a proposed amendment filed by Freedom to Marry Ohio which
would legalize gay marriage in the state. It would repeal a
constitutional amendment defining marriage as a heterosexual union,
which passed in 2004 with overwhelming support.
The group now must collect roughly
385,000 valid signatures from at least half of Ohio's 88 counties to
get the proposal on next year's ballot.
The Ohio Campaign to Protect Marriage,
the group behind the 2004 amendment, on Tuesday filed a lawsuit
against Attorney General Mike DeWine, the Dayton
Daily News reported.
The suit asks the Ohio Supreme Court to
disqualify DeWine's approval of the proposed petition, arguing that
the petition summary is invalid because “it is not a summary and is
not a fair and truthful statement of the proposed constitutional
amendment.”
Mary Jo Kilroy, CEO of Freedom
to Marry Ohio, called the lawsuit “frivolous.”
“Although we have not seen the
lawsuit, we are not surprised that there are opponents trying to stop
the campaign,” Kilroy said in a statement. “We will continue to
exercise our right to petition. We believe Ohio voters will support
the proposed amendment which allows the freedom to marry while
recognizing the rights of religious institutions.”
(Related: Tim
Hagan walks away from effort to repeal Ohio gay marriage ban.)