Ohio To Plug Loophole In Gay Marriage Ban But Only For Straights

A state lawmaker from northeast Ohio says he’ll introduce a bill this week to close a perceived loophole in the domestic-violence law created by the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Democratic state Representative William Healy of Canton says his bill would define domestic violence as an act committed when individuals reside together, regardless of marital status.

State judges have issued differing rulings recently on whether the amendment bars prosecutors from charging unmarried people with domestic violence. Two Ohio judges have issued differing rulings in the past week on that issue.

A Franklin County judge on Friday decided against dismissing a domestic violence case, disagreeing with arguments that the law doesn’t apply to unmarried couples. Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Stuart Friedman said Wednesday that domestic violence charges cannot be filed against unmarried people because of the state’s recently enacted definition of marriage. [...]

However, the change in the law will only affect heterosexuals in non married relationships. The domestic abuse law will not apply to same-sex couples because of the constitutional amendment.(source)

You get to a point in all of this that you wonder just how many mean spirited people there are in positions of power. Democratic state Representative William Healy’s bill (H.B. 161) is in response to a domestic violence charge (a felony) being reduced to a misdemeanor.

Even though the case involved a heterosexual couple, the judge dismissed the charge because of Issue 1, the Ohio constitutional amendment that prevents unmarried couples from having the protections of marriage.

Healy’s bill would close that loophole, but only for heterosexual couples.