A new analysis ranks Ohio among one of
the lowest states on gay and lesbian rights.
The scorecard compiled by the group
eQualityGiving.org
ranks Ohio, Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi and Tennessee lowest on such
issues as gay protections, marriage equality and the right to adopt.
The five states each received a score of 1.5 out of 6. No state
received a perfect score.
Ohio's House approved a bill that would
outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender
identity in the areas of employment, housing and public
accommodations in the summer. But the effort appears dead in the
Senate, whose president has called such laws unnecessary.
David Caldwell, a
spokesman for Ask Cleveland, a Cleveland-based gay rights
organization, said the report should be a wake up call for Ohio
organizers.
“There's no question that for LGBT
rights supporters, Ohio is tougher than some environments, but easier
than others,” he told On Top Magazine in an email. “For
too long we've been patting ourselves on the back and saying whatever
little progress we make is the best that could have possibly been
done.”
“We should be doing better,” he
added.
Last month, Ohio Representative Tyrone
K. Yates, a Democrat from Cincinnati, introduced a bill that would
repeal the state's ban on gay marriage and civil unions. The
legislation would authorize an early 2010 election to decide the
issue. But passage in the Republican-led Senate would seem unlikely.
Four states scored high marks:
California, Iowa, New Jersey and Vermont. Only Iowa and Vermont have
legalized gay marriage.
Florida, the only state that
specifically forbids gay adoption, also ranked low, coming in at 43
out of 50 states and the District of Columbia.
eQualityGiving.org is the four-year-old
online donor community for LGBT equality founded by Juan
Ahonen-Jover, PhD and Ken Ahonen-Jover, MD and is funded exclusively
by the couple.