Yesterday the Ohio Senate passed SB5, a bill to strip public employees of their basic right to collectively bargain. This was after some very dirty tricks by the Senate GOP, including booting two GOP members off the committee because they opposed the bill.

What isn’t getting much attention is one little provision hidden in the bill:

Sec. 3101.01 of S.B. 5: … A marriage may only be entered into by one man and one woman. Any marriage between persons of the same sex is against the strong public policy of this state. Any marriage between persons of the same sex shall have no legal force or effect in this state and, if attempted to be entered into in this state, is void ab initio and shall not be recognized by this state. The recognition or extension by the state of the specific statutory benefits of a legal marriage to non-marital relationships between persons of the same sex or different sexes is against the strong public policy of this state. Any public act, record or judicial proceeding of this state, as defined in section 9.82 of the Revised Code, that extends the specific statutory benefits of legal marriage to non-marital relationships between persons of the same sex or different sexes is void.

So declaring marriage as only being between a man and a woman, as well as stripping any same-sex benefits is part of balancing the budget?

In a single bill, the public gets a stark reminder of how much the GOP despises democracy. They get rid of people who don’t vote the way they like and then include controversial laws inside of another, totally unrelated bill. Actions speak louder than words and hopefully the people will remember these actions the next time we vote.

(UPDATE – I just noticed that Sully had updated his post. Apparently this added provision was to strip the same-sex benefits from any public employees.)