By Amy McCullough
Enquirer Columbus Bureau

COLUMBUS - Secretary of State Ken Blackwell and about 50 others rallied Friday to urge Ohio's two U.S. senators to ban same-sex marriages with a constitutional amendment.

Blackwell and others also support a statewide constitutional amendment. They want marriage universally defined as between one man and one woman.

The group gathered outside the offices of U.S. Senators Mike DeWine and George Voinovich. Both senators oppose same-sex marriages but say a federal amendment is not necessary. That wasn't good enough for Blackwell. "Our own senators have refused to sign on and support the same-sex marriage amendment. It is not enough to leave it up to the 50 state legislatures," he said.

The push to amend the U.S. Constitution gained urgency after the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriages were legal, said Phil Burress, chairman of the Ohio Campaign to Protect Marriages.

The Massachusetts ruling was controversial in Ohio and other states, where backers of the amendment say that defining marriage should not be left up to judges.

"The reason we are doing this is because of judicial tyranny," Burress said.

Opponents of the amendment, at the state and national level, say an amendment would exclude gays and lesbians from equal protection under the law.

John Schlagetter, co-chairman of Stonewall in Cincinnati, a gay-rights group, said the push to amend state and federal constitutions is driven by a fear that state laws defining marriage being between a man and woman will be found unconstitutional.

"Look at what's happened in Massachusetts. The sky has not opened up and the earth has not stopped. It's a big yawn," he said. "All we want is the right of access to this institution that we are told is good for us."

But Blackwell said a federal amendment is necessary to protect efforts at the state level.

In order for a state constitutional amendment to reach the ballot in November, 320,000 signatures must be collected in about eight weeks. Burress and other supporters of the amendment said they are looking at churches to help meet that requirement.

Mike Dawson, a spokesman for DeWine, said the senator "strongly believes that marriage should be between a man and a woman."

Voinovich released a statement saying the senator thinks states should work harder to make and enforce state laws banning same-sex marriages.