Collatoral Damages of Anti-Gay Legislation

The mean people in Ohio that voted for the amendment to "ban gay marriage" probably didn't realize what was going to happen to domestic violence victims who aren't married to their assailants, whether they are straight or gay.

Ohio’s quarter-century-old domestic-violence law gives special criminal
status to an assault by a family or household member and establishes unique protections for the victim. Courts also have consistently applied it to
homosexual couples.

It is one of only two criminal offenses - along with menacing by stalking -
that automatically gives the victim access to a protective order to keep the defendant away, and police are obligated to enforce it. Further, a violation
of the protective order, or any second offense, "accelerates" misdemeanor
domestic-violence charges to a felony.

The new amendment forbids any state or local law that would "create or
recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that
intends to approximate the design . . . of marriage."

So, I guess in Ohio, if you are gay and beat the snot out of your partner, it is less of an offense, than if you are straight and beat the snot out of your partner. And if you are the beatee and are not married to the beator, you do not get automatic access to a protective order from the beator.

Hopefully the people in Ohio will realize how mean this is, and repeal it soon.