Ohio court OK's gay marriage ban petitions

An Ohio state appeals court has refused a request to throw out petitions signed by voters supporting the placement of a proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage on the Ohio ballot. The two-sentence judgment Monday from a three-judge panel said opponents of the proposal did not "demonstrate their right" to get a court order. "You don't throw out all these petitions at this point on a technicality that has already been ruled upon four or five months ago," said Donald Brey, special counsel to Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell. Alan Melamed, head of the campaign to stop the amendment, said the group had not yet decided whether to appeal but will continue other challenges to the petitions. The amendment seeks to ban any type of civil union or legal privileges of marriage for any unmarried couple. Opponents sued last Wednesday, saying Blackwell should never have submitted petition signatures to the 88 county elections boards for validation because the forms violate Ohio law by failing to include a summary of the amendment's intent. The petitions include only the 55-word proposed amendment as it would appear on the ballot.