A national lobbying organization for gays and lesbians announced a local campaign against proposed amendment to the Constitution set to hit the Senate floor next week.
Starting this weekend The Human Rights Campaign plans to go door-to-door in several Columbus neighborhoods hoping to rally the community to fight the Federal Defense of Marriage Act. DOMA is a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
Lynne Bowman, an HRC board member, calls the bill divisive and discriminatory.
State Representative Dan Stewart, who represents the Clintonville and Victorian village areas, says the legislation is a ploy to distract people from the real issues in an election year.
Presidential hopeful John Kerry opposes the amendment. President Bush supports the amendment.
Bowman says volunteers will go door-to-door in Clintonville, German Village, the Short North and Victorian Village. She says HRC targeted the neighborhoods because of their general political beliefs.
Bowman says this weekend's mobilization is a part of a national HRC campaign which includes literature drops, phone banks and television and print ads.
The vote on the Senate floor is scheduled for this Monday. In order to pass, 67 Senators must vote yes. Reportedly, senators do not yet have the votes needed to pass the bill and it is expected to fail. The House of Representatives has yet to consider voting on the amendment.
If both the House and Senate did pass the amendment three-fifths of state legislatures would have to ratify it before the Constitution could be changed.
Ohio Senators Mike Dewine and George Voinovich have not made committments in favor or against the proposed amendment.