Group assails domestic-partner benefits suit against Miami
November 25, 2005
By Shaheen Samavati

COLUMBUS | An official for a new gay rights political advocacy group, said a lawsuit seeking to overturn domestic partner benefits at Miami University is "mean spirited."

"Taking away existing coverage from these families simply because they are gay is mean spirited and unnecessary," said Lynne Bowman, executive director of Equality Ohio, officially established in August in response to the November 2004 constitutional amendment banning civil unions.

It advocates equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Ohioans.

But state Rep. Tom Brinkman, R-Cincinnati, who filed the lawsuit, said, "Anyone getting state money should follow the law — that's all we're saying."

The lawsuit, filed this week in Butler County Common Pleas Court, contends the university unconstitutionally recognizes a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that imitates marriage, something the state and its political subdivisions are prohibited from doing under the amendment voters approved last November.

Brinkman said private companies can give benefits to whomever they want, and, "There is nothing preventing people from getting jobs elsewhere."

At least 33 Miami faculty and staff members receive domestic partner benefits through the policy, which took effect in July 2004, university spokesman Richard Little said.

Bowman said switching jobs is hard in the current economy, and finding a job somewhere else may mean finding a job outside of the state.

"I think a lot of people would just be without health insurance," she said.

Brinkman said those who don't like the amendment should "go back to the drawing board."

"Change the law, do whatever you think you should do to push your cause ahead, and we'll push our cause ahead," he said.

Via its Web site, Equality Ohio has collected more than 100 stories of Ohioans affected by the amendment since Nov. 15, Bowman said.

On Dec. 1, copies of the stories will be given to every member of the General Assembly, and be available to the public online at www.equalityohio.org.

"Voters made a decision based on misconceptions and perceptions on who we are, and to change that we'll have to tell people our stories," Bowman said.

Contact Shaheen Samavati at (614) 224-1625.