Ohio AG: Dismiss Challenge to Marriage Equality Proposal

Mike DeWine urges dismissal of suit seeking to block a pro-marriage equality ballot measure.

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

Read Full Bio

Trudy Ring

May 01 2012 8:16 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

trudestress

Sorry to interrupt...
But we wanted to take a moment to thank you for reading. Your support makes original LGBTQ+ reporting possible. Help us hold Trump accountable.

One-time Monthly

$19.67 $50 Other

$5 $19.67 $50

Ohio's attorney general has asked the state Supreme Court to dismiss a lawsuit by a group that wants to keep a pro-marriage equality proposal off the ballot.

Atty. Gen. Mike DeWine (pictured) last month approved the language of the measure, which would repeal a state constitutional amendment that bans same-sex marriage and replace it with an amendment permitting marriage between any two people regardless of gender. DeWine said that while he opposes same-sex marriage, his opinion has no bearing on the matter. He was simply performing the duties of his office in certifying that the wording is a "fair and truthful statement of a proposed constitutional amendment" to go before voters, The Columbus Dispatch reports.

A group called the Ohio Campaign to Protect Marriage has filed suit asking the state's high court to invalidate DeWine's certification, claiming the language "is not a summary and is not a fair and truthful statement." However, in a court document filed Friday, DeWine said the Ohio Supreme Court has no jurisdiction over the process, as state law leaves certification of ballot-measure language solely to the attorney general.

The approval by DeWine, followed by that of the Ohio Ballot Board, allows Freedom to Marry Ohio, the group sponsoring the pro-marriage amendment, to begin gathering petition signatures for the measure. It would take 385,253 valid signatures of registered Ohio voters to put it on the ballot in November 2013.