Gay rights
advocates in Cincinnati say they're pretty sure they can
stop an effort to repeal the city's new gay rights
ordinance. The fight now hinges on just two
signatures.
Earlier this year
the Cincinnati city council passed an ordinance
prohibiting discrimination against gays and lesbians in
employment and housing. A group called Equal Rights,
Not Special Rights then launched an effort to put a
repeal question on the November ballot.
They collected
more than 14,000 signatures, but the board of elections
ruled that only 7,656 were valid--just two more than
needed to get the initiative on the ballot.
Now local gay
rights groups are challenging the initiative, saying more
signatures should be ruled invalid. An attorney for the
group Citizens to Restore Fairness claims another 900
signatures appear to be invalid, while the antigay
group is filing its own complaint that says too many
signatures were invalidated.
The board of
elections will write and certify the ballot question by
August 24. Each side will then have 10 days to file
challenges. (Sirius/OutQ)