Ohio Same-Sex Marriage Amendment (2014)

Not on Ballot
This measure was not put on an election ballot

The Ohio Same-Sex Marriage Amendment was not put on the November 4, 2014 ballot in Ohio as an initiated constitutional amendment. The measure, which was also known as the Freedom to Marry and Religious Freedom Amendment, would have overturned the state's ban on same-sex marriage that was put in place by a previously approved 2004 measure and replaced it. The replacement constitutional language would have allowed two consenting adults to marry regardless of gender, as long as they are no more related than second cousins and neither has a husband or wife living. It would have also allowed for religious institutions and clergy to refuse to perform marriages, and required that all legally valid marriages should be treated equally under the law. The measure was sponsored by the group FreedomOhio.

The group prepared two versions of the amendment to allow marriages, regardless of gender. FreedomOhio planned to "utilize extensive polling on both the existing and the new petitions to guarantee that voters will ultimately see the best possible language on the ballot."

On June 20, 2014, Ian James, executive director of FreedomOhio, said the organization was lacking enough signatures to get the measure on the ballot and enough funds to run an effective campaign.

Text of measure

Ohio Constitution
Preamble
Articles
I • II • III • IV • V • VI • VII • VIII • IX • X • XI • XII • XIII • XIV • XV • XVI • XVII • XVIII • XIX • Schedule

Constitutional changes

The measure would have repealed and replaced Section 11 of Article XV of the Ohio Constitution.

2012 petition version

The version certified on April 3, 2012, would have made the following changes, with the struck through text being removed:

Be it Resolved by the People of the State of Ohio that Article XV, Section 11 of the Ohio Constitution be adopted and read as follows: Section 11. In the State of Ohio and its political subdivisions, marriage shall be a union of two consenting adults not nearer of kin than second cousins, and not having a husband or wife living, and no religious institution shall be required to perform or recognize a marriage. Only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this state and its political subdivisions. This state and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance or effect of marriage.

2014 petition version

The version certified on April 14, 2014, would have made the following changes, with the struck through text being removed:

In the State of Ohio and its political subdivisions, marriage shall be a union of two consenting adults not nearer of kin than second cousins, and not having a husband or wife living, and no religious house of worship or the religious house of worship's clergy shall be required to perform a marriage. All legally valid marriages shall be treated equally under the law. For the purposes of this Section, a religious house of worship is one where the primary activity is religious worship. Only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this state and its political subdivisions. This state and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance or effect of marriage.

Support

This measure was primarily supported by Freedom to Marry Ohio (F2M Ohio). The steering committee for F2M Ohio included co-chairs Ron Templin and Jennifer Tyrrell. The committee to represent the petitioners included Joshua Everal Alan Snyder Hill, Jennifer T. Stack, Ben T. Deutschle, Kasey R. Van Buskirk and M. Joyce Patton.

Officials

State officials

• Rep. Stephen Slesnick (D-49)
• Rep. Vernon Sykes (D-34)
• Rep. Ron Gerberry (D-59)
• Rep. Sandra Williams (D-11)
• Rep. Sean O'Brien (D-63)
• Rep. Nicholas Celebrezze (D-15)
• Rep. Michael Stinziano (D-18)
• Sen. Shirley Smith (D-21)
• Sen. Capri Cafaro (D-34)
• Sen. Joe Schiavoni (D-33)

Local officials

• Michael Coleman, Mayor of Columbus
• Frank Jackson, Mayor of Cleveland
• Gary Norton, Mayor of East Cleveland
• David Berger, Mayor of Lima
• Don Plusquellic, Mayor of Akron
• William Healy, Mayor of Canton
• Sara Drew, Mayor of Stow
• Edward Kelley, Mayor of Cleveland Heights
• Mike Summers, Mayor of Lakewood
• Joe Cicero, Mayor of Lyndhurst
• Marilyn Brown, Franklin County Commissioner
• Joe McNamara, President of Toledo City Council
• Kevin Fisher, Member, Canton City Council
• Bill Bias, Athens County Treasurer

Former officials

• Former Rep. Marian Harris (D-19)
• Mark Mallory, former Mayor of Cincinnati

Organizations

• Marriage Equality for Pennsylvania (ME4PA)
• ProgressOhio
• GetEQUAL and GetEQUAL Ohio
• PFLAG Athens Chapter
• Pride Youngstown
• American Military Partner Association
• Building Momentum
• Vets & Military Families for F2M
• Third Space
• Libertarian Politics
• Columbus Food League
• OutLoud Columbus
• Marriage Equality Ohio
• Arch City Army, fan organization of NHL team Columbus Blue Jackets
• Marriage Evolved
• CWA Local 4310

Churches & religious organizations

• TJ Williams Historic Riverside Church
• Reformed Catholic Church
• The Order of Preachers, Reformed
• Moraine Open Door Community Church
• Catholic Apostolic Church of Jerusalem

Political parties & organizations

• Summit County Democratic Party
• Hamilton County Democratic Party
• Mahoning County Democratic Party
• Hancock County Democratic Party
• Wayne County Democratic Party
• Butler County Democratic Party
• Morgan County Democrats
• Miami County Democratic Party
• Delaware County Democratic Party
• Wood County Democrats
• Medina Democratic Club
• The Kent State College Democrats
• Green Party of Ohio
• Wood County Green Party
• Libertarian Party of Ohio
• Warren County Libertarian Party
• Stark County Libertarian Party
• Central Ohio Democratic Women's Caucus
• Stark County Black Caucus
• Young Democrats of America LGBTQ Caucus

Businesses

• Buckeye Outdoors
• Precision Media
• Wayside Flower Shop
• Emilie Duncan Event Planning
• Kittie's Cakes
• Pattycake Bakery
• Black Kite Coffee & Pies
• Zapico Foods
• Dirty Frank's Hot Dog Palace
• J. Gumbo's, LLC
• Cocktails-Akron / Cocktails Cleveland
• Mj's Cafe
• The Jury Room
• Surly Girl Saloon
• Tip Top Kitchen and Cocktails
• Betty's Fine Food & Spirits
• Club Diversity
• Artwork by Marie K. Godwin: Artwork inspired by nature
• Reed Arts
• Traxler Tees
• Tigertree
• Wholly Craft
• Effective Lighting Solutions
• Hopewell Counseling and Consultation
• Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream
• Vision Video Productions
• International Hair Salon
• JJ Sub Mafia, LLC, parent company to Jimmy John's in Cincinnati
• Regionomics, LLC
• Milenthal-DelGrosso, LLC
• IM Creative
• Wonder Viv Studio
• J & J Dirtbusters, LLC
• Lancer Realty Company
• Breakthru Business Investments, LLC
• Arthur E. Ott, Attorney at Law
• The Chandra Law Firm, LLC
• Robby W. Stephens Agency of American Family Insurance
• The Strategy Network, LLC
• R Strategy Group
• Professional Petition Management

Individuals

• George Forbes, President of Cleveland NAACP
• David T. Donofrio, 2014 candidate for Ohio State Senate
• Keith Dyer, Co-Chair, Vets and Military Families for F2M
• Adam Gilson, Knox County Democratic Party Chair
• Loretta Cole, Member, Medina County Democratic Central Committee
• Brad Lowry, Former Field Development Division Director, Libertarian Party of Ohio
• Pastor Michael Heard, The Goodlife Church
• Pastor C. David Morgan, Presbyterian Church (USA)
• Kara Square, musician
• Portia A. Boulger
• Alex Sawyers
• Arthur E. Ott
• Linnea-Kristin Deutschle
• Mathew Erickson

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Ohio & Amending the Ohio Constitution

Petitioners had to gather 1,000 valid signatures for their initial petition submission. Supporters initially submitted 1,764 signatures on March 1, 2012. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine (R) rejected the initial submission on the basis that its summary was not "a fair and truthful statement of the proposed constitutional amendment," due to issues with the summary wording. Supporters resubmitted an updated initiative on March 26, 2012. That version was certified by the attorney general on April 3, 2012.

Updated language was resubmitted a second time, with the main change being the wording of "religious institutions" to "houses of worship," on April 4, 2014. That version was certified by the attorney general on April 14, 2014. Supporters attempted to gather signatures for both the version certified in 2012 and the version certified in 2014 "to ensure that the right language is placed on the ballot at the right time."

To place either version of the measure on the 2014 ballot, supporters needed to collect at least 385,247 valid signatures by July 2, 2014. A similar amendment failed to make the ballot in 2012 and 2013, however, supporters said they had enough signatures for the 2012 version of the amendment to get it certified and were seeking to collect 1 million signatures by July 2014.

Related measures

• Ohio Issue 1, the Marriage Amendment (2004)
• Ohio Same-Sex Marriage Amendment (2013)

See also

Suggest a link

• 2014 ballot measures
• Ohio 2014 ballot measures
• List of Ohio ballot measures
• Laws governing the initiative process in Ohio

Additional reading

• Washington Post, "Same-sex marriage is gaining momentum, but some advocates don’t want it on the ballot in Ohio," June 14, 2014

External links

• April 2014 version of initiative petition
• March 2012 version of initiative petition

Organizations

• Freedom to Marry Ohio (F2M Ohio)
• Marriage Equality for Pennsylvania (ME4PA)
• ProgressOhio
• GetEQUAL
• PFLAG Athens Chapter
• Pride Youngstown
• American Military Partner Association
• Third Space
• Columbus Food League
• OutLoud Columbus
• Marriage Equality Ohio
• Arch City Army
• Marriage Evolved