By Gregory Korte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Saying 11 years is plenty of time for Cincinnati voters to change their minds about gay rights, opponents of the city's controversial Article XII filed petitions with the clerk of City Council to get the charter amendment repealed.

With more than enough signatures already counted, the move all but assures that Cincinnati voters will get a second chance to vote on the measure, 11 years to the day after 62 percent of them approved it.

The Equal Rights Not Special Rights Campaign - the 1993 architects of Article XII who are organizing a campaign to defeat the repeal - won't contest the signatures.

Gary Wright, co-chairman of the repeal campaign, called Article XII "an outdated law that makes it perfectly legal to fire someone ... just because they're gay."

Phil Burress, who helped write the amendment, said it's really about special rights for homosexuals.