Freedom to Marry Ohio on Saturday
kicked off an effort to gather the 385,245 signatures needed to put
the state's gay marriage ban up for a vote next fall.
The group's Court the Vote campaign
will collect signatures at a different county courthouse from noon to
2PM each Saturday. The group said it picked Athens as its stop for
symbolic reasons.
“We chose Athens as our first stop
because it was the only county in 2004 where a majority of voters
rejected [Ohio's] so-called Defense of Marriage Act,” the
group said.
Former Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy,
the CEO of Freedom to Marry Ohio, added, “[W]e know there are
thousands of people who support the freedom to marry and religious
freedom amendment and we want to make it easy for them to find a
petition to sign.”
The group added that it has over 1,500
volunteers collecting signatures everyday throughout the state.
If approved next year, the amendment
would repeal the state's ban and legalize gay marriage in the Buckeye
State.
(Related: Group
working to repeal Ohio's gay marriage ban cancels meeting with
established groups.)