For Ohio gay delegates, a reprieve in Hub

For Columbus lawyer and Democratic National Convention delegate Mary Jo Hudson, now is not a good time to be a lesbian in Ohio.

Earlier this year, Governor Bob Taft signed a law defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman. And currently, there is a ballot initiative underway to to have same-sex marriage prohibited by the state constitution.

The battle over that amendment, which would be heated in any year, is rocket-fueled right now. Since Massachusetts began allowing gay and lesbian residents to wed in May, the issue of gay marriage has become more urgent for opponents and supporters alike. In this presidential cycle, gay marriage has become the nation's most pressing social issue, the kind that Republicans hope will bring their voters to polls in socially conservative battleground states likes Ohio.

So, for Hudson, 41, coming to this year's Democratic convention is a relief.

''What's happened in Massachusetts, I have been watching it closely -- it's fantastic," she said last week. ''It's nice to go somewhere supportive of their gay community, to be in an open and affirming location."

But now that she is here, Hudson, like other gay and lesbian delegates from Ohio, is not looking for any fanfare from the Democratic Party. Official proceedings are not likely to make prominent mention of gay marriage, and that suits Ohio delegates fine, because they are convinced the issue is a losing one for Democrats.

''I am a firm believer in making changes slowly," said Hudson, who is working against the state constitutional amendment. ''One of the reasons why that issue is at the forefront all over the country, and not just in Massachusetts, is that those who are opposed are throwing it out there. What I'm fighting for in Ohio is not the ability to get married, but the ability to hope that one day I can."

Some gay activists are angry that the Democratic Party has not thrown its weight behind gay marriage. On Monday night, activists from the gay-rights group DontAmend.com protested outside a convention party thrown by other gay-rights groups, including Human Rights Campaign. They argue that HRC is failing to demand support for gay marriage.

But gay and lesbian delegates said they feel the party is behind them: There are plenty of informal receptions for gays and lesbians during the convention, and Democratic rhetoric is heavy on inclusion. And there are far more pressing issues than gay marriage, the delegates said.

''I think the party has been very supportive," said Tristan Hand, a gay tavern owner from Youngstown, Ohio, who is an alternate delegate. '' I think that what we're doing [by not making the issue of gay marriage a prominent one] is not buying into the polarization that the Republicans . . . are trying to do to the nation. [Gay marriage is] an important issue, but my Lord, we have the war, we have terrorism, unemployment. I'm 58 years old, and I'm scared to death of a Republican Medicare program that tells the pharmaceutical companies to take the money and run."

For Cleveland social worker Sue Doerfer, the fact that gay marriage is legal in Massachusetts makes gay-rights issues in Ohio all the more difficult. Doerfer, 42, was excited to come to Boston, she said last week, especially because she has a friend who legally married here a couple of months ago. But her feelings are mixed.

''Before, we were all kind of discriminated against in the same way," she said. '' Now it feels worse [in Ohio] because there's a place in our own country where we can get legally married, and our own state is discriminating. But I'm really excited to be in a place that recognizes civil rights for everyone."

Massachusetts gay marriages have hastened the push for a constitutional amendment in Ohio, Doerfer said. Supporters of the amendment in Ohio must collect 323,000 signatures to get it on the ballot, a threshold supporters and opponents say they will probably meet. That will put the issue before the voters on Nov. 2 in the Buckeye State.

At least 10 states are expected to have gay marriage bans on the ballot on election day as well. Attempts to win a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage at the federal level have put the issue on the radar screen in the other 40 states as well.

Earlier this year, President Bush came out in favor of a Federal Marriage Amendment to ban gay marriage being proposed in the Senate. The measure, which was not expected to succeed, did not get enough support to make it to an up-or-down vote, but the debate energized activists on both sides of the issue.

Conservative groups praised Bush for coming out so strongly for the amendment, though they have since criticized the GOP for failing to give gay-marriage opponents a prominent role at the Republican convention, which begins Aug. 29.

Gay-marriage supporters accused the president of playing politics with the constitution. A House measure to prevent federal and US Supreme Court judges from ruling on the validity of same-sex marriages is also expected to come to naught.

Senator John F. Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, opposes gay marriage, but supports civil unions. Most gay-rights groups have supported him in spite of his opposition to gay marriage and his support for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in Massachusetts.

They argued that Kerry has the best record on gay-rights issues of any presidential candidate in history, and that though he does not support gay marriage, his administration, and his Supreme Court, would be the most gay-friendly the nation has seen. Those groups, and Kerry himself, have repeatedly derided Republicans for trying to use gay marriage to divide the nation and shore up their socially conservative base.

But Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, which has fought for the Federal Marriage Amendment, said gay marriage is a potent issue for both sides.

''This is not a Republican issue," he said. ''It crosses party lines, racial lines. I've never seen an issue that has brought together so many diverse coalitions of people with different backgrounds to stand for one thing, which is the sanctity of marriage."

Gay marriage will not be a dominant issue in the campaign, but it will be ''a very important part of the mosaic of cultural values," said GOP pollster Whit Ayres.

National polls indicate that most Americans oppose gay marriage, though it is not among their greatest concerns. But the issue will be key in swing states, Ayres said, because ''the natural views of voters in those states are more conservative on cultural values, and therefore closer to Bush than Kerry."

All of which makes delegates such as Doerfer concerned about playing into Republicans' hands. She said she is satisfied with a party platform that does not throw itself behind gay marriage and a nominee, in Kerry, who has been less supportive than she might otherwise like.

For now.

''I'm willing to support him at this point," she said. ''Another four years, and anybody running for Democratic office is going to have to go further."