Ohio Defenders of Marriage Voice Strong Support Through Signatures
by Rusty Pugh and Jody Brown
August 5, 2004
(AgapePress) - An Ohio-based pro-family advocate says his state is poised to follow the lead of Missouri and other states in supporting a constitutional amendment to preserve the God-given institution of marriage.
On Tuesday, more than 70 percent of voters in the Show Me State approved an amendment to their state constitution defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Now, supporters of traditional marriage in Ohio have delivered to the secretary of state a petition containing more than 391,000 signatures demanding that a marriage protection amendment be placed on the November ballot. Those signatures, collected over a nine-seek period, are far more than were needed.
Supporters of the Ohio amendment say it is necessary to avoid what has already occurred in Massachusetts, Vermont, and most recently Washington, where activist judges have ruled against existing laws defining marriage as between one man and one woman. The amendment would also protect the state from being forced to recognize homosexual relationships from outside Ohio.
Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values in Cincinnati, spearheaded the Ohio campaign to protect marriage. Burress says because the U.S. Congress obviously lacks the backbone to protect traditional marriage, the states will take control of the situation. He says the response to the petition in the Buckeye State exceeded even his expectations.
"We were pleased with the incredible response that we got from all across the state of Ohio," Burress says. "In 67 of the 88 counties, we received more than 40 percent more petition signatures than we actually needed. The required number was 323,000 -- so now we turn to the legal battle."
Burress contends the success of the petition drive proves Ohioans understand the importance of protecting marriage, and that they are concerned about the growing trend of activist judges overstepping their bounds. "A constitutional amendment must be passed in Ohio in order to keep activists from destroying this cornerstone of society," he says.
Even though Burress fully expects legal challenges from the minority, he says the people of Ohio have spoken and will make their wishes known once and for all in November. Since 1998, five states -- Alaska, Hawaii, Nebraska, Nevada, and Missouri -- have placed the issue of marriage before their voters. In all five cases, the concept of traditional marriage -- one man, one woman -- was supported by a more than two-to-one margin, with supporting votes hovering in the 67 to 70 percent range.
