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Petro endorses gay marriage
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
Former Attorney General Jim Petro has endorsed an effort to legalize gay marriage in the state, adding his signature to petitions to place the issue before voters next year.
The onetime gubernatorial hopeful is among the first big-name Ohio Republicans to back the proposed constitutional amendment and the second Republican to publicly support marriages between individuals of the same gender. Republican U.S. Sen. Rob Portman earlier announced a reversal of his opposition to the latter, though he has not endorsed the Ohio ballot issue.
“Republicans should be for freedom,” Petro said during a morning press conference near the Statehouse on Monday. “They should be for equality. They should be supportive of the notion of commitment.”
He added later, “The government and governing is not a religious function. It’s a function that deals with freedom and equality in a democracy, which we have.”
In 2004, more than 60 percent of Ohio voters OK’d a constitutional amendment blocking the state from recognizing gay marriages or civil unions.
Opponents are now circulating petitions with hopes of reversing that amendment, allowing consenting adults to marry, regardless of their gender.
The proposed ballot issue includes language enabling churches to refrain from performing such ceremonies.
Advocates were given the green light to begin collecting signatures more than a year ago. They need more than 380,000 valid names to qualify for the ballot.
Last month, the group behind the effort, Freedom to Marry, announced it would focus on the 2014 general election.
Co-founder Ian James said backers have about 200,000 signatures in hand and are confident they’ll gain the required number by the submission deadline next year.
Petro, who retired this year from his Kasich Cabinet post as chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents, publicly opposed the 2004 ballot issue.
“The likelihood of the repeal, to me, grows each year,” he said. “And I think eventually we’ll see it repealed. From my perspective, the sooner the better.”
He added, “I believe strongly that it’s the wrong thing for Ohio. ... I believe in marriage equality, and I believe Ohio will be better and have better prospects for economic growth and prosperity if we did not have restrictive language in our constitution [concerning gay marriage].”
Petro also talked about the issue on a personal level — his daughter is gay.
“They have not made a choice,” He said. “There is a part of their being that causes them to have comfort and attraction to people of the same gender. That’s the way it is. When you learn about that, then you want them not only to be happy but you want them to have the same rights and the same measure of equality as all people.”