KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!

Know Your Rights! is sponsored by Jerry Bunge, Attorney at Law. If you have specific problems or questions, you should contact your attorney. The law surrounding issues affecting gay/lesbian/bisexual people is growing and changing rapidly.

DISCRIMINATION

Sexual orientation is not included among the protected classes in existing Federal or Ohio civil rights law. A Federal Lesbian/Gay Civil Rights Act that was introduced sixteen years ago has not yet passed. Ohio Senator Howard Metzenbaum is a co-sponsor of this bill; Senator John Glenn is not, and has told constituents that he opposes the measure. Three cities in Ohio are known to provide some protection against anti-Gay/Lesbian discrimination: Cincinnati, Columbus and Yellow Springs (near Dayton). Yellow Springs provides protection against discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. Since 1973, Columbus has provided protection against discrimination in housing and public accommodations. Since 1989, Columbus has also had a mayor's executive order prohibiting discrimination by the city against city employees. Early in 1991, the Cincinnati City Council passed a law prohibiting the city of Cincinnati from discriminating against city employees. A few years ago, the city of Athens passed a law prohibiting discrimination in housing, public accommodations and employment, but the law was overturned by public referendum.

It is not illegal for same-sex partners to kiss, hold hands, or dance together in public. In some communities, laws prohibiting discrimination in public accommodations (bars, restaurants, hotels and motels etc.), effectively prevent exclusion or removal of Gay/ Lesbian patrons for behavior that would be considered appropriate for heterosexual people. Still, Lesbians and Gay men have been harassed and arrested on charges of disorderly conduct for being openly affectionate.

The State Advisory Committee on Gay and Lesbian Issues (SACGLI)

On January 11, 1991, his last day in office, Governor Richard Celeste released The Report of the State Advisory Committee on Gay and Lesbian Issues (SACGLI). The report reviews the committee's 1985 recommendations to the Governor's office, recaps the extent to which they were implemented, reports the results of statewide hearings held by the SACGLI committee, and offers further recommendations for the Governor and the state legislature.

Governor Celeste issued Executive Order 83-64 on December 30, 1983. In addition to ordering protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation for all state employees, the order directed the appointment of a statewide committee-SACGLI—to make recommendations regarding Lesbians and Gay men in the workplace.

SACGLI held public fact-finding hearings in Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo, and Cincinnati to collect evidence from Gay and Lesbian Ohioans. No hearings were held in Dayton or southwest Ohio because no Lesbians or Gay men were willing to go public and give testimony. Nearly ten pages of the report were dedicated to the results of these hearings. The committee presented a first report to Celeste in 1985. Among its six recommendations were suggestions to prohibit sexual orientation discrimination in all labor contracts, and to include sexual orientation on all state posters discussing discrimination prohibitions. Both of these suggestions had been fully implemented by 1991.

A 1985 recommendation to equalize health and other benefits for Gay employees had been implemented in part, according to SACGLI. State employees who are part of collective bargaining units have had some benefits extended to them. However, bargainingunit-exempt employees are governed by statutes and not bargaining agreements, and legislation implementing changes has not gone through. In addition, under current state benefits rules, Lesbian or Gay state employees may not obtain health insurance for anyone who is not a legal spouse, nor may they purchase the equivalent of spousal life insurance coverage for their significant others.

A 1985 recommendation to add sexual orientation to the enumerated classes covered by Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws has been implemented in part. Executive Order 87-30, issued by Celeste in 1987, does include sexual orientation as an enumerated EEO class, and calls for sexual orientation discrimination incidents to be handled in the same manner as other complaints of discrimination. However, the Ohio Civil Rights Commission still has no jurisdiction over complaints of sexual orientation discrimination or harassment.

A 1985 request for a new executive order, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation by persons who contract with the state, has not been granted at all. However, the Department of Administrative Services did incorporate sexual orientation into its non-discrimination clause for all personal services contracts.

A 1985 suggestion that the Governor's cabinet and staff be trained on the nature and implications of the Executive Order has been met in part. A meeting with the Governor's cabinet was held, but no extensive training sessions, with either cabinet or staff, have taken place.

The new report makes the following eight recommendations:

Ohio Gay Guide⚫8

1. Institutionalize the work and program of SACGLI as a program of the state's Office of EEO. Retain SACGLI to advise the Deputy Director for State EEO. SACGLI would continue to meet twice a year.

2. Issue an Executive Order instructing state agencies to include in all state contracts a clause prohibiting contractors from engaging in sexual-orientation-based discrimination in their internal employment practices; violation of this clause would be a breach of the contract with the state.

3. Institute a new statewide educational program on Lesbian and Gay issues in the workplace. Address it to all state employees with a goal of eliminating sexual-orientation discrimination and harassment in the workplace. The program would be available to private sector employers as well.

4. Hold regular special training seminars on sexual-orientation discrimination, targeted to EEO and Human Resources managers.

5. Provide for significant others/spouse equivalents of state employees the benefits. available to legally married spouses of state employees, including health care benefits and recognition as family members for the sake of sick leave and bereavement leave. 6. Revise, update, and periodically review the state's AIDS policy to keep it current with medical and legal practice, and disseminate it to all state employees.

7. Develop and implement a statewide AIDS in the workplace educational program, with components to disseminate the state's AIDS policy; provide AIDS-prevention education; and educate workers about AIDS among co-workers.

8. Propose that the Ohio General Assembly amend the state's civil rights laws to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in employment, housing, and public accommodations (including health care facilities) and to include sexual orientation in the state's ethnic intimidation criminal statutes.

As of July 1991, Governor Voinovich had not indicated whether he would honor or reject the report. A meeting between Voinovich and the Committee is pending. During the fall of 1990, in a gubernatorial debate, an Ohio Public Radio reporter asked the candidates whether they would repeal Celeste's Executive Orders. Voinovich replied that he would have to see the SACGLI report, and remarked on his support of Gay/Lesbian rights issues while he was mayor of Cleveland.

SEX LAWS

In 1986, a Gay man from Georgia, Michael Hardwick, challenged the constitutionality of a state law making it a felony (punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment) for adults to engage voluntarily in private anal or oral sex acts. Hardwick was arrested in his bedroom by a police officer who had come to issue him a warrant for an unrelated offense. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Georgia sodomy law, stating that the long tradition of condemnation of sodomy inherited from the British provided justification to find that the Georgia legislature had a rational basis for passing the law.

In seven states, sex is only illegal when enjoyed by persons of the same sex. "Sodomy" laws are rarely invoked, but they are often used to challenge civil rights protection for Lesbian and Gay people since they effectively classify Gay men and Lesbians as potential felons. The laws have also been used to rationalize police surveillance of Lesbian and Gay bars, the denial of permanent residency or citizenship to Lesbian and Gay foreigners, and prohibitions on graphic safe sex information aimed at Gay men.

Ohio repealed its sodomy law in 1972, during comprehensive revision of state law that took effect in 1974. Private, consensual sex between two men or two women is legal in Ohio. However, legislators added an "importuning" provision that prohibits propositioning someone of the same sex if one knows that the other person is offended by the proposition, or is reckless in that regard. The Ohio Supreme Court upheld this law in 1979, although several attorneys are looking for a case to contest the law again, because they think they can persuade the court to change its mind. Propositioning a person of the opposite gender for sex, under Ohio law, is legal.

The "habitual sex offender" law requires that those convicted of two or more specified sex crimes must register with their county sheriff as a "habitual sex offender." Failure to register or to notify the sheriff of a change of address is a criminal offense. Violation of the "importuning" law is one of the crimes included under this registration.

The "public indecency" statute makes it a criminal offense to expose one's genitals, masturbate, or engage in sexual intercourse in a public place. This statute has been used primarily against Gay men in raids in public restrooms and parks, and is commonly used as a vehicle for entrapment by police officers.

FAMILIES

Since Lesbian and Gay unions are not legally recognized in any state in the country, Gay