GAY MARRIAGE AMENDMENT Ohio to decide on nation's broadest measure

Polls indicate it will pass by a wide margin.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Ohio has the toughest of 39 state laws banning same-sex marriage. Now voters are being asked to back it up with the broadest of about a dozen proposed or passed state constitutional amendments on gay marriage.
Ohio's Issue One on the Nov. 2 ballot bans civil unions and legal status to all unmarried couples. Analysts say it could affect benefits policies of private employers as well as public and other legal agreements including joint home ownership.
"I don't think there's another one out there that's written more broadly," said Daniel Smith, a University of Florida political scientist who studies voter initiatives. "This is not only going to affect gays and lesbians."
Still, the amendment's language is so vague, including phrases such as "intends to approximate," that legal experts say it's impossible to predict how courts would interpret it. All that's guaranteed, they say, is years of litigation.
Polls have indicated the amendment will pass by a wide margin.
"It stops much more than gay marriage. The public should be clear about that," said Marc Spindelman, an Ohio State University law professor.
A step beyond
The amendment's author, Cincinnati attorney David Langdon, said he crafted it to go beyond the Ohio Defense of Marriage Act, which is limited to the benefits of marriage granted by law, such as the right to refuse to testify against a spouse in court.
With its gay marriage law, Ohio became the second state to deny some benefits to unmarried employees' partners.
After the law was passed in February, public universities and cities offered health insurance coverage to employees' domestic partners. Passage of the amendment wouldn't rescind those agreements but would prevent more government institutions from making what campaign director Phil Burress calls "an end run around marriage."
It also would solidify Ohio law that says two unmarried people can't jointly adopt a child, he said.
The amendment would deny any legal recognition by government "that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance or effect of marriage."
Arguments
Opponents say the ban would apply to private employers because courts -- as a public entity -- would not be able to "recognize" or enforce a private contract that includes domestic partner benefits. Supporters deny the amendment's sweep is so broad.
Such contracts would become unenforceable, hurting efforts by companies to attract the most talented workers and the state's economy, said Alan Melamed, leading the campaign against the amendment.
The wording might mean a public or university hospital must deny visitation rights for unmarried partners, Spindelman said.
Constitutional amendments -- some of which stop at defining marriage as between one man and one woman -- are on the ballot in 10 other states. Two passed this summer, but a court struck down one in Louisiana. A proposed federal amendment failed.
The catalyst
The amendments are inspired by this year's ruling from the highest court in Massachusetts allowing same-sex marriage.
Religious conservatives say they worry courts in other states would do the same. Opponents and analysts note the amendments are appearing mainly in swing states like Ohio where Republicans want to mobilize supporters of President Bush.
"This is about political parties using the initiative process as a wedge issue and political parties using it to drive turnout," Smith said. His recent book, "Educated by Initiative," examines the phenomenon of using statewide ballot issues to boost a conservative or liberal base.
In this case, Smith said, the strategy might backfire if liberals opposed to the measure also are more motivated to vote.
Statewide officeholders in Ohio, all Republicans, are split on the issue.
Gov. Bob Taft, who signed the gay marriage ban into law, said the amendment is unneeded and would harm the state's economy. He said the broad second sentence could have as many interpretations "as there are judges in the state of Ohio."
Another gay rights question will be on the ballot in Cincinnati. Voters will be asked whether they want to overturn the city's 11-year-old ban on laws protecting homosexuals from discrimination.