91.7 WVXU: Organization collects signatures to add equal rights protections to Ohio constitution

A grassroots organization called Ohio Equal Rights is collecting signatures for two proposed amendments. One of those amendments, The Ohio Equal Rights Amendment, aims to protect all Ohioans from discrimination. The other, the Ohio Right to Marry Amendment, would protect same-sex marriage rights if those were overturned at the federal level.

The United States Supreme Court's 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges made marriage equality legal throughout the U.S., but there's still an amendment in Ohio's state constitution that bans same-sex marriage. In 2004, a majority of Ohio voters voted to define marriage as the union between a man and a woman in a constitutional amendment.

A total of 413,487 valid signatures must be collected by the beginning of July for the amendments to appear on the ballot in November.

On Cincinnati Edition, we discuss the proposed amendments with Ohio Equal Rights and what LGBTQ+ advocates are doing to codify equal rights throughout the United States.

Listen to the full interview.