With petty ‘pastor protection,’ Ohio slides backward
LThomas Suddes
ast week’s Statehouse bill-a-thon was something to behold. Our well-paid but legally part-time General Assembly may not have known what it was passing, but whatever it was, there was lots of it. All the yakking called to mind a maxim of Capitol Square’s veteran lobbyists: “I spent a year in the Ohio Senate one day.”
Speaking of which, the Senate easily could have approved a House-passed payday-loan reform bill and sent it to Republican Gov. John Kasich. But that would have been too sensible. Doing so also might have slighted the relentless but politically generous Statehouse payday loan lobby, whose profits — at the expense of low-income Ohioans — would shame a defense contractor.
Instead, the Senate Finance Committee chaired by Sen. Scott Oelslager, a North Canton Republican, will continue to review House Bill 123, the payday loan bill. The bill is sponsored by state Reps. Kyle Koehler, a Springfield Republican, and Michael Ashford, a Toledo Democrat.
The House passed the Koehler-Ashford bill 71-17 on June 7, almost 15 months after Koehler and Ashford introduced it. True, the Senate’s never terse. But what more is there to say about a bill that clearly represents the will of Ohio’s voters?
Meanwhile, even with a new speaker, the House Republican majority is holding fast to a GOP tradition: taking periodic swipes at gay and lesbian Ohioans. On Wednesday, the GOPrun House passed House Bill 36, sponsored by Rep. Nino Vitale, an Urbana Republican. The bill would supposedly protect ministers and religious societies that refuse to officiate at a marriage “that does not conform to the minister’s or society’s sincerely held religious beliefs.”
The bill, which now moves to the Senate, evidently resulted from the fears of some ministers and sects that they might be successfully sued for refusing to marry same-sex couples. Why any couple would want someone who opposes their marriage to officiate at their wedding is a mystery.
As Equality Ohio, which represents gay and lesbian Ohioans and their allies, said, “The problem with the bill is not that clergy can choose not to marry someone if it goes against their faith. [Clergy] currently have, and should have, that right.”
The issue the bill actually raises, Equality Ohio said (as privately did a key Republican) is rental of church property (halls and such) that are otherwise open for rental by the general public. “The bill … allows for undefined ‘religious societies’ to discriminate, against couples seeking to marry, with regard to public accommodations,” Equality Ohio said.
House Republicans OK’d an amendment to HB 36 proposed by Rep. William J. Seitz, a suburban Cincinnati Republican. If, as HB 36 allows, a religious society denied the use of its building or property “to host a marriage ceremony for a marriage that does not conform to the religious society’s sincerely held religious beliefs,” the amendment means such a denial wouldn’t be considered a violation of the civil rights protections of Ohio’s long-standing publicaccommodation law.
No doubt it’s a complete coincidence, but Seitz was the lead sponsor of Ohio’s initial gay-marriage ban, House Bill 272 of the 200304 General Assembly, during the House speakership of Perry County Republican Rep. Larry Householder. (Later, in November 2004, voters ratified a separate constitutional gay-marriage ban.) Republican Gov. Bob Taft signed the Seitz gaymarriage ban in February 2004, saying, “This is not a law of intolerance.” Whatever you say, governor.
On Wednesday, the GOPrun House passed HB 36 in a 61-30 vote. Voting “yes” on the bill (that is, in favor of discrimination) were 57 Republicans, including Speaker Ryan Smith of Gallia County’s Bidwell and four Democrats: Reps. John Boccieri of Alliance, Jack Cera of Bellaire, Glenn Holmes of suburban Youngstown and Michael O’Brien of Warren. Voting “no” on HB 36 (that is, opposing discrimination) were 26 Democrats (including Minority Leader Fred Strahorn of Dayton) and four Republicans: Reps. Rick Carfagna of Genoa Township, Jonathan Dever of Madeira, Mike Duffey of Worthington and Jeffery Rezabeck of Clayton.
According to the Development Services Agency, the state’s brand is, “Ohio. Find It Here.” Considering HB 36, maybe it should be, “Ohio. Better Try Someplace Else.”