OHIO ELECTIONS Citing vague language, Petro opposes gay-marriage ban

Both supporters and opponents expect the measure to be on the Nov. 2 ballot.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro is the first statewide elected official to oppose the proposed state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, saying vague language makes it the most intolerant-seeming of proposals in 10 other states.
Petro, arguing the amendment would hurt Ohio's economy, is splitting from fellow Republican statewide officials who support the proposal: Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell and Auditor Betty Montgomery.
All three are running for governor in 2006. Petro also opposed the new state law banning gay marriage, but Montgomery and Blackwell supported it.
Gov. Bob Taft has said he would support the amendment if it didn't go beyond the state's current law, something opponents say it does. His office is reviewing the proposed amendment.
Blackwell has not determined if the question will be on the statewide Nov. 2 ballot. But both supporters and opponents have said they expect it to be certified and have begun campaigns for and against.
What it does
In addition to banning gay marriage, the proposal seeks to bar any type of civil unions or the legal privileges of marriage to any unmarried couple.
Petro singled out as "vague and confusing" the second sentence, which says the state can't recognize relationships that "approximate the design, qualities, significance or effect of marriage."
Both supporters and opponents have said the language could prevent cities and public universities from offering health benefits to the domestic partners of unmarried employees, and some opponents say it could extend to private employers, too.
"We're trying to keep our young people in Ohio," Petro said. "We're trying to make sure our businesses have all the recruiting tools necessary."
Blackwell said high taxes are more harmful to the economy. Montgomery, the previous attorney general, said same-sex couples could use contracts and living wills to obtain many of the rights married couples enjoy.
Other legal experts said such contracts and wills might be vulnerable to court challenge under the amendment.
"The more people I talk to about this, and the more people have time to digest what the proposed amendment says and what it would do, the more people are struck by how far it sweeps," said Marc Spindelman, assistant professor at Ohio State University's law school.
Elsewhere
Similar amendments to ban same-sex marriage have passed this year in Missouri and Louisiana, and measures are on ballots in Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah.
Some stop at defining marriage as between a man and a woman, but Ohio's amendment backers say that doesn't go far enough.
Petitions in Ohio are still being verified. Results of checks by Ohio's 88 counties of an additional 144,000 signatures after the initial batch fell more than 42,000 short were due at the Secretary of State's office Tuesday.
In Summit County, some voters have reported to elections officials that they discovered their names were forged on petitions after they received a thank-you letter from the Republican Party.
The Summit board planned to meet Tuesday to decide whether to refer the matter to prosecutors.