Gay society lawyer may appeal decision to U.S. Supreme Court

CINCINNATI (P) uConsel for a Cincinnati "gay" society, rejected by the

Ohio Supreme Court in its effort to incorporate, wants to appeal the decision to the

U.S. Supreme Court.

Douglas M. Mansfield, a Cincinnati lawyer, said be probably will decide whether to pursue the case by tomorrow, and that his decision will be based primarily on whether the recent 4-3 Ohio decision is appealable.

"It could be determined that it is a parochial matter that is not appealable, but it also seems that what actually was a minority decision left the issue up in the air, and that my clients' rights to due process has been denied," Mansfield said.

Only two of seven Supreme Court justices concurred "fully" on the matter, he noted.

The decision came in the case of Powell Grant, Jack Busse and Robert Duggan. who were turned down by Secretary of State Ted W. Brown when they attempted to obtain articles of incorporation for the "Greater Cincinnati Gay Society, Inc.' in August 1972.

Brown said the proposed incorporation appears "to be contrary to the public policy of the state since homosexuality as a valid life-style has been and is currently defined by statute as a criminal act."

On Jan. 1 of this year, effective date of Ohio's new criminal code, homosexuality involving consenting adults no longer was a criminal act. The Supreme

Court noted this in its decision favoring Brown.

"Although homosexual acts between consenting adults are no longer statutory offenses we agree with the secretary of state that the promotion of homosexuality as a valid lifestyle is contrary to the public policy of the state," the court said.

Associate Justice Leonard J. Stern wrote an opinion for the dissenters, who included Chief Justice C. William O'Neill. It said in part that there is "no basis in law" for denying the articles of incorporation on "public policy grounds.'

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Mansfield, who said his clients still live in Ohio and want the case appealed,

said he agreed with Stern's assertion that "public policy" should not be the prerogative of Brown in deciding the case.

"I've always been of the opinion that public policy is a matter for the legislature and statutes," he said.

Mansfield said if he does appeal, he will seek to take the case directly to the U.S. Supreme Court "rather than having to go the federal route." The latter would involve appealing to a U.S. District Court and perhaps a U.S. Court of Appeals before getting it before the nation's highest court.