On Friday, FreedomOhio will do what no other ballot issue campaign in Ohio has ever done in an effort to bring equality to Ohio’s LGBT Community: hold its original petition for marriage equality in a state of readiness for filing, while collecting signatures on a new petition with revised language.  

In order to ensure that the right language is placed on the ballot at the right time, FreedomOhio will continue to work with in-state LGBT groups and allies.  Over the coming months, FreedomOhio will also utilize extensive polling on both the existing and the new petitions to guarantee that voters will ultimately see the best possible language on the ballot.

“FreedomOhio supports the efforts educating Ohio voters about why marriage equality matters,” explained Ian James, FreedomOhio co-founder and Executive Director.  “We’ve been listening to in-state LGBT groups and allies, and we’ve found that our adjusted language provides a pathway to consensus.”

In addition, FreedomOhio will begin to circulate a petition to give voters the opportunity to pass the Equal Housing and Employment Act through an Initiated Statute.  FreedomOhio will collect the 116,000 valid signatures necessary to present to the Ohio General Assembly for consideration.  After the required four-month period, if the General Assembly has failed to take action, FreedomOhio will collect additional signatures to bring the measure to a vote, which current polling indicates 7 of 10 Ohioans support.

“Nearly all statehouse observers agree: EHEA is a welcome statute whose time has come, but it cannot pass in this General Assembly. Therefore, we will work directly with Ohio voters to pass this measure so that everyone can have equal access to a safe place to live and work without fear of discrimination.”