[News] [OH, USA] Ohio Gay Rights Foes Call Proposed LGBT Protections Bill 'Dangerous'

[Stephanie Stevens]

On Top Magazine, USA


Ohio Gay Rights Foes Call Proposed LGBT Protections Bill 'Dangerous'

By On Top Magazine Staff

Published: May 23, 2013


An Ohio group opposed to gay rights has called a proposed bill which
seeks to prohibit anti-gay discrimination “dangerous.”

The measure, introduced in the Ohio House and Senate earlier this
month, would prohibit housing and workplace discrimination based on
sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Equal Housing and Employment Act is sponsored in the Senate by
Senators Frank LaRose, a Republican from Akron, and Michael Skindell,
a Democrat from Lakewood. A companion bill in the Ohio House is
sponsored by Representatives Ross McGregor, a Republican from
Springfield, and Nickie Antonio, a Democrat from Lakewood. Antonio was
first elected in 2010, making her the House's first openly lesbian
member.

In an email to supporters, CCV Action, the political arm of Citizens
for Community Values, the group behind Ohio's 2004 constitutional
amendment limiting marriage to heterosexual couples, condemned the
proposal.

“A dangerous bill has been introduced into the Ohio House and Senate.
The bill, under the guise of discrimination, will eliminate some
religious freedoms,” the group wrote.

The group called the bill a “Trojan horse” meant to open the door to
“the next level.”

“Contact your Ohio House member and Ohio senator member and stop this
unfair and unjust bill that will strip religious freedom and
irrationally compare homosexual behavior to the plight of African
Americans. Homosexual activists have the right to have sex with whom
they want but they do not have the right to force acceptance of their
behavior on Ohioans, our businesses or our children.”

A recent poll conducted by Goodwin Simon Strategic Research found that
79 percent of Ohio voters support such protections.


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