Repeal of Cincinnati antigay amendment still on the ballot--for now (13471)

An effort to repeal a 1993 charter amendment that made Cincinnati the only U.S. city to ban enactment or enforcement of laws based on sexual orientation continues to be the subject of a legal dispute as the election nears. A judge last week rejected a request for a temporary restraining order to keep the repeal off the November 2 ballot, but he did set an August 30 hearing to consider issues in the case. Opponents of the repeal said Friday that they do not view Hamilton County common pleas judge Mark Schweikert's rejection of the restraining order as a setback in their effort to keep the city from passing gay rights laws. "He said it was not needed at this time, but he will take up the issues at the end of the month," said Phil Burress, president of Equal Rights, No Special Rights.

Burress said his group is concerned that the wording on petitions to get the issue on the ballot and the ballot wording approved by city council are misleading. The ballot language now states: "Shall the charter of the city of Cincinnati be amended to repeal Article XII, which prohibits the city from protecting people from discrimination based on sexual orientation?" Burress said including the word "discrimination" is incorrect. "The charter amendment never mentions discrimination," said Burress. "It is not about discriminating against anyone. It's about preventing special rights or preferential treatment. We just want the ballot issue to ask whether Article XII should be repealed, show the charter amendment as it is written, and let people read the amendment for themselves."

Repeal supporters have said that opponents are just using legal maneuvers to cover up the true issue. "This is about discrimination, and everyone knows that," Justin Turner, spokesman for Citizens to Restore Fairness, said Friday. "The people fighting this repeal don't want people to know what it is really about." Supporters of the repeal include Mayor Charlie Luken; Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk, leader of the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Cincinnati; Federated Department Stores Inc.; and Procter & Gamble Co.

Both sides appear to agree that the complete text of the charter amendment should be included on the ballot. Turner said the complete text was on petitions circulated by Citizens to Restore Fairness but was inadvertently omitted by city officials when the proposed ballot issue was approved. Turner's group collected about 14,000 signatures to get the issue on the ballot. Turner and Burress said the city council is expected to consider amending the ballot issue to include the amendment's full text when it meets next month.