Ohio's gay marriage debate goes beyond courtroom

[theHandpuppet]

WLWT5 News
Cincinnati
Ohio's gay marriage debate goes beyond courtroom
Aug 03, 2014

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) —The debate over Ohio's ban on gay marriage extends beyond the courtroom to libraries, community centers, living rooms and city streets.

Supporters of same-sex marriage are holding town hall meetings and house parties to try to sway more Ohioans to their side. Other backers have circulated petitions at festivals and parades in a push to put the issue before voters. And opponents say their volunteers and 10,000 churches are ready to counter the efforts.

As a three-judge federal appeals panel prepares to hear two challenges to the state's ban on Aug. 6, groups have been mobilizing for action beyond any court decision.

"We can't rely solely on the court," said Ian James, the co-founder of FreedomOhio, an organization supporting same-sex marriage....

Read more: http://www.wlwt.com/news/ohios-gay-marriage-debate-goes-beyond-courtroom/27287050#ixzz39NMBHUA3

[theHandpuppet]

1. Cincinnati Archbishop: Pray for gay marriage judges

Anything I would have to say to the Archbishop right now would probably get alerted, so I'll let y'all fill in the blanks.

Cincinnati.com
Archbishop: Pray for gay marriage judges
August 4, 2014
Amber Hunt

As gay marriage supporters plan rallies in Downtown Cincinnati this week, religious groups are urging those of faith to help guide through prayer the three appellate judges who will weigh the fate of same-sex marriage bans in Ohio, Kentucky and two other states.

Archbishop Dennis Schnurr is asking the 475,000 Catholics in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati to pray for Judges Jeffrey S. Sutton and Deborah L. Cook and Senior Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey. The judges comprise the appellate panel that on Wednesday will hear challenges to same-sex marriage bans in Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Michigan.

In a statement emailed to hundreds of thousands of Catholics in 19 counties stretching from Cincinnati to Celina, Schnurr said that Ohio's bishops strongly supported the gay marriage ban in 2004, when more than 60 percent of voters made it law.

"Traditional marriage, the union of one man and one woman for life, is the cradle of the family, which is the basic building block of society," said Schnurr, who suggested an "appropriate prayer" would be the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Prayer in Defense of Marriage....

MORE at http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2014/08/04/archbishop-pray-gay-marriage-judges/13590553/