Anti-LGBT rights groups who are against Cleveland’s new domestic partner registry are once again challenging it in the courts.

Opponents of Cleveland’s domestic partner registry, who sued the city claiming it violates the state marriage ban amendment, now want an appeals court to reinstate the case after a judge threw it out.

The suit, filed last August by a newly-founded group and a Cleveland anti-gay activist, was dismissed in November by Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Joseph D. Russo.

It is nearly identical to a 2004 case which their attorneys lost against a Cleveland Heights registry.

The Heights measure was ultimately upheld by the Eighth District Ohio Court of Appeals–the same court that will hear this case.

The current suit was filed by a group calling itself Cleveland Taxpayers for the Ohio Constitution and city resident Dorothy McGuire. They are represented by attorney David Langdon of Cincinnati–who wrote the marriage ban amendment–and the anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund of Scottsdale, Arizona.

The ABJ makes the case for the repeal of the discriminatory Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy.

In 1993, the Rand Corp. conducted a study on the effects of allowing openly gay men and lesbians to serve in the military. It concluded they could do so effectively — if the policy received the strong support of military leaders. Put another way, troops would follow orders, the American military rising to the occasion, maintaining cohesion, as it did when Harry Truman ordered the integration of the ranks.

On Tuesday, Adm. Mike Mullen displayed the leadership the Rand analysts had in mind. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee: ”No matter how I look at the issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens.”

The admiral added that he believes ”allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do.” He joined Robert Gates, the secretary of defense, in outlining the process the Pentagon would launch to end the 16-year-old policy of ”don’t ask, don’t tell,” a compromise of the Clinton era that has proved ugly and harmful in many respects.

After updating its anti-discrimination policy last year, the city of Columbus continues to make itself more welcoming to LGBT residents.

City leaders are pushing to extend health benefits to domestic partners, 10TV’s Maureen Kocot reported Wednesday.

The city was one of the first, but now one of the last employers in central Ohio, to offer the benefits to people who are living together but are not married.

Mayor Michael Coleman is in serious discussions with City Councilman Andrew Ginther to have a plan in place by the end of the year, Kocot reported.

No one is estimating how much the extended benefits would cost taxpayers.

Another step towards equality in the military.

The military’s top uniformed officer on Tuesday, Feb. 2, made an impassioned plea for allowing gays to serve openly in uniform, telling a Senate panel that it is wrong to force people to “lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens.”

The comments by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, set the stage for the Defense Department’s yearlong study into how the ban can be repealed without causing a major upheaval in the military.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, appearing with Mullen before the Armed Services Committee, announced plans to loosen enforcement rules involving the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that has been in effect since 1993.

The Rev. Dr. Brodie R. Mathis, pastor of Zion Baptist Church in Dayton, sees both sides of the controversial debate.

A new step forward in ending job discrimination for transgender people.

The Obama administration, in addition to appointing a transgender woman to a Department of Commerce position this month, also extended equal employment rules for government employees to cover gender identity.

While federal law prohibits federal employment decisions based on anything other than merit, and discrimination based on sex is illegal, this is the first piece of federal policy explicitly banning discrimination based on gender identity.

The policy protects current and prospective employees of the federal government, but does not cover employees of private companies, or state or local governments. Currently, under 40% of the population lives in states, counties or cities that offer job discrimination protection based on gender identity.

“This new policy is a very significant development,” American Civil Liberties Union senior legislative counsel Christopher Anders said. “The inclusion of gender identity in federal EEO [equal employment opportunity] policies is a very clear statement that the federal government will not discriminate based on gender identity. The Obama administration is demonstrating a strong commitment to an effective workforce by making clear that the federal government will not discriminate against transgender employees.”

Columbus school officials are considering adding sexual orientation to it’s non-discrimination policy for staff as well as students.

Columbus schools are moving to prohibit discrimination against any student or employee based on sexual orientation, according to a policy change that will get a first reading at a Board of Education meeting today.

In listing the types of discrimination that won’t be tolerated in education programs, activities and employment practices, the ordinance would add prejudice based on sexual orientation to the current race, creed, sex, age, color, national origin and disability.

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“Sexual orientation is not included yet in state or federal nondiscrimination laws, which is why it’s so important to have them added to local policies,” said Carrie Davis, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio.

Attempts to codify protections for sexual orientation sometimes have been controversial.

The ABJ discusses recent moves by Akron and Summit County to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

The Akron City Council hardly approved radical legislation when it said yes on Monday evening to an ordinance outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. If anything, the council did not go far enough, adding unnecessary exemptions that essentially reflect the view that discrimination should be permitted in certain circumstances, albeit narrowly framed.

The Summit County Council got the task right, approving its proposal without hedging, stating firmly that discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity will not be permitted. It followed the course taken by most of the nation’s Fortune 500 companies, by more than 20 states and 11 four-year universities in Ohio, plus 17 cities in the state.

There is a strong economic argument for the legislation. Bar such discrimination, and a community, large or small, opens the door to becoming more diverse and vibrant. It draws on a larger pool of talent and reaps the rewards. In that way, the Ohio Senate would do well to concur with similar legislation that cleared the House in September.

Not to be outdone, Akron and Summit County also passed non-discrimination ordinances that protect residents on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Discrimination in Akron and Summit County based on sexual orientation or gender identity is now illegal — sort of.

Both Akron and Summit County councils passed ordinances Monday that added these to their protected classes.

But Akron City Council — after nearly an hourlong debate — carved out exemptions for contractors with the city who either serve minors or are religion-based.

City Council approved the amended ordinance 10-2, with councilmen Mike Freeman and Jim Hurley, both of whom voiced religious concerns, as the ”no” votes.

Cleveland City Council updated its anti-discrimination ordinance last night by adding gender identity to the list of protected classes.

Cleveland’s anti-discrimination laws will grow to protect transgender citizens under an ordinance passed Monday by City Council.

Existing city codes prohibit businesses from denying jobs or housing to citizens for reasons of age, race, religion or sexual orientation.

View full sizeJoe SantiagoActivists in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community had lobbied for more than a year to include gender identity and expression.

The unanimous vote was the latest step the council has taken to demonstrate a more tolerant atmosphere — one that helped the city land the 2014 Gay Games, an international competition.

The Blade recently editorialized on some of the unfulfilled promises the Obama administration has made in regards to LGBT rights, and encouraging others to hold him accountable for those promises.

EVERYBODY knows that President Obama is under attack by conservatives. What those same critics from the right refuse to acknowledge is that the President has been pursuing pragmatism, not socialism, and that approach has not endeared him to his own base. The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act is one of many examples.

The administration is in the odd position of defending in court the statute that defined marriage as being between one man and one woman, while the President himself is calling for its repeal.

Last Monday, Justice Department attorneys filed more papers seeking the dismissal of a federal suit from California brought by two gay men who are married and challenging the federal marriage law, which prevents gay couples from securing Social Security spousal benefits and filing joint taxes, among other benefits, and from being recognized as married in states that do not have gay marriage.

Bowling Green recently joined several other cities and counties in Ohio by passing protections for LGBT residents against housing and job discrimination.

Changes to Bowling Green’s anti-discrimination laws should have little impact on most residents, but they could make all the difference for some, said John Zan­fardino, a councilman representing the city’s 2nd Ward.

“To me, an ordinance like this is just a step of progress,” he said yesterday. “Whether it results in complaints or successful complaints, I think they’ll be minimal, but I think in Bowling Green there will be fewer examples of people being told, ‘We don’t rent to your kind.’”

After listening to residents’ comments for nearly two hours, city council late Monday night voted 7-0 to expand the list of protected classes in the city’s fair housing ordinance to include sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity, and marital status, as well as military and veteran status, physical characteristics, and genetic information.

Foes of equality have filed a lawsuit challenging Cleveland’s recently enacted domestic partner registry.

A conservative legal group is suing the city of Cleveland over its domestic partner registry, claiming it violates the state constitution.

The Alliance Defense Fund said it filed the lawsuit on Wednesday on behalf of taxpayers. The alliance is also asking the court for preliminary and permanent injunctions to shut down the registry.

Cleveland’s domestic partner registry, which began operating in May, provides an official record of same-sex relationships for employers, hospitals and other establishments.

The PD takes a stand for equality by supporting the Equal Housing and Employment Act, currently pending before the Ohio House.

After a summer of often dysfunctional budgeteering in Ohio, it’s welcome news that state legislative leaders are focused on doing something this fall that should engage the best of both sides of the aisle: an overdue law banning discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation in Ohio.

Ohio House Speaker Armond Budish, Democrat of Beachwood, says a floor vote on the bill is a top priority. Recent amendments may have softened earlier objections from Senate President Bill Harris, a Republican from Ashland, Harris’ spokeswoman told Plain Dealer reporter Aaron Marshall.

Such discrimination already is illegal where these two gentlemen work: The Ohio House and Ohio Senate both prohibit bias based on sexual orientation. It’s time to extend that prohibition throughout the state, as 21 other states have done. Many Ohioans will be shocked to learn it’s perfectly legal in most places in Ohio to fire someone based simply on his or her sexual orientation.