Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, on Monday helped launch an educational
campaign aimed at increasing support for gay marriage in Ohio.
The Why Marriage Matters Ohio launch announcement was held in
Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus simultaneously.
“All Americans should be able to marry the person they love, and
they should be able to celebrate that love in Ohio,” Brown said in
Cleveland. “Full rights should not vary by geographical lines.
Why Marriage Matters Ohio will bring this issue of equal rights to
the forefront.”
The campaign has the backing of the Equality Ohio Education Fund,
Freedom to Marry, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and the
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Ohio.
The move comes three months after an effort to repeal Ohio's 2004
voter-approved constitutional amendment limiting marriage to
heterosexual couples was pushed back from 2013 to at least 2014.
(Related: Question
to repeal Ohio's gay marriage ban won't be on 2013 ballot.)
Speaking in Columbus, Elyzabeth Holford, executive director of
Equality Ohio Education Fund, said that the Marriage Matters campaign
is “part of our roadmap to fairness and dignity for all Ohioans.”
Several recent polls show Ohioans divided on the issue of marriage
equality, though a March survey commissioned by The
Columbus Dispatch found
a
majority (54%) of Ohioan back repeal of the marriage ban.
The debate in Ohio, at least in
the short run, appears to be taking shape in the courts. A federal
judge has ordered Ohio officials to recognize the out-of-state
marriages of two gay couples.
(Related: Ohio
ordered to recognize marriage of second gay couple.)