Gay-marriage cases in Ohio draw activists

CINCINNATI (AP) — A Michigan man who said he wants to show that gay couples share the same values as heterosexual ones camped out overnight outside a federal courthouse to secure a courtroom seat for oral arguments today over bans on same-sex marriage in his home state and three others.

Frank Colasonti Jr., 61, of Birmingham, Mich., was one of a handful of people at the courthouse in Cincinnati before it opened to get a ticket for one of two overflow courtrooms nearly six hours before the scheduled afternoon start of arguments before a three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. They were scheduled to hear marriage cases from Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.

Hundreds on both sides of the issue were expected for rallies and prayer vigils during the arguments.

Colasonti said he and his partner of 26 years married this year in Oakland County, Mich., before a court order halted marriages pending the state’s appeal.

“It’s very important to show that we are like other people,” said Colasonti, who shared a pillow during the night with a woman who was also among the first to get a ticket. “We wanted to show that our love is no different than what heterosexual couples share.”