OHIO/CINNKY: Equal Housing and Employment Act -- Part 2

I just began a Facebook group (here) for those who are interested in a little "ground swell activism" (I hate the term grass roots... I ain't no root, and if it's activism, then I think "swell" is a great word).

And for those who are interested, I continue to suggest a couple of things you can do:

1) Email your state representatives and senators. For those who don't know how to contact them off the top of their head, the information can easily be accessed here: http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/

2) Email the current sponsors and thank them. You can just as easily go to the above website and search for them. Here are their names:

House: D. Stewart (introducer)**, Peterson (introducer), Skindell**, Beatty, Redfern, Foley, Celeste, Koziura, Brady, Budish, Ujvagi, Yates, Chandler, R. Hagan, Brown**, Szollosi, Yuko

Senate: D. Miller (introducer and author), Smith, Cafaro, Morano, R. Miller, Roberts, Kearney**, Sawyer, Fedor**, Goodman**, Boccieri

3) Email the members of the two Committees -- State Government and Elections (House) and Judiciary -- Civil Justice (Senate) -- to push it through and have it pass in the General Assembly! The starred members above sit on those committees. But for the rest of them:

Senate, Judiciary -- Civil Justice Committee: Goodman (R, Chair, sponsor), Schuring (R, Vice Chair), Buehrer (R), Faber (R), Seitz (R -- see below), Stivers (R), Kearney (D, Ranking Minority Member, sponsor), Fedor (D, sponsor), Mason (D)
A note on Seitz -- he is rabidly anti-gay and a proponent of the Defense of Marriage Act in Ohio, was actually one of the original
sponsors (perhaps the author?). I actually arranged a protest outside of his law offices in Cincinnati.

House, State Government and Elections: Daniels (R, Chair), Hite (R, Vice Chair), Carmichael (R), Collier (R), DeWine (R), Flowers (R), Reinhard (R), Schneider (R), D. Stewart (D, Ranking Minority Member, sponsor and introducer), Book (D), Brown (D), Domenick (D), Lundy (D), Skindell (D, sponsor), Sykes (D)

4) Email Ted Strickland -- http://governor.ohio.gov/Default.aspx?tabid=448 --and tell him to publically support it.

5) Lobby them in person or in a real live letter.

It's easy to do all of this. I recommend you try a little armchair acitivism today. And, if nothing else, contact Equality Ohio or Do What's Right, Ohio! for more information!

----

Update:

Got a response back from Gov. Strickland.

Thank you for writing with regard to enhancing equality at the workplace and in housing. I appreciate you taking the time to share your concerns and opinions with me.

At this time, there is legislation pending before Ohio’s 127^th General Assembly having to do with this issue, namely House Bill 502 and Senate Bill 305. Please be assured I will be mindful of the views you expressed. I also encourage you to communicate your views with your legislators as bills before the General Assembly are reviewed by your State Senator and Representative.

If you would like to contact your State Senator and Representative, you may call the Ohio Senate Clerk at (614) 466-4900 and the Ohio House of Representatives Clerk at (614) 466-3357.

Once again, I appreciate your writing to me. Please do not hesitate to contact my office if we can assist you in the future.

Sincerely,

Ted Strickland

Governor

It's kinda blah, but who knows. It doesn't give a position either way, though it uses "politically positive" language -- "enhancing equality". But, it's important. Still have not heard back from either my state Rep. Driehaus (but he's kinda in the middle of a scandal that's just plain silly) and state Sen. Kearney.