Same-sex Marriage in Ohio: Have we come very far?

A series of recent polls have shown that a majority of Americans now support same-sex marriage. For example, a recent Gallup poll indicated that 53% of Americans support the rights for gay and lesbians to legally marry. (1)

But what about Ohio? In 2004, 61% of Ohio voters supported the ballot initiative banning same-sex marriage. (2) This percentage rate was slightly higher than the 55-60% nationwide who opposed same-sex marriage. (3) So has Ohio experienced a shift similar to that nationwide? Recent polling seems to indicate not. An August 2011 Public Policy Polling survey found that 33% of Ohio voters thought that same-sex marriage should be legal, while 53% thought it should be illegal and 14% were not sure. A separate question on the same survey found that 61% of Ohio voters supported the legal recognition of same-sex couples, with 28% supporting same-sex marriage, 33% supporting civil unions but not marriage, 36% favoring no legal recognition and 2% not sure. (4)

Some noteworthy statistics:

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports the 2010 census identified more than 28,600 same-sex partner households in Ohio, an increase of nearly 10,000 from 10 years earlier. (5)
Columbus had more than 4,000 same-sex couples in the census, more than any other Ohio city. (5)
The biggest jumps in same-sex households were in the Columbus and Cleveland areas. Franklin County, which includes Columbus, had 5,132 same-sex households in 2010, a 58 percent increase. Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland, had about 28,000 same-sex households — a 28 percent jump. (6)
In Ohio, there are 28 cities and counties that have anti-discrimination ordinances. Only nine fully protect individuals from discrimination in employment or housing. The other 19 only have partial ordinance that only protect sexual orientation or may address housing and employment, but not both. (This means that if a person’s sexual orientation or identity is found out about in their workplace, they could be fired, denied a promotion, or be denied an apartment or house.) (7)

Groups promoting same-sex marriage in Ohio: