RENEWED STATE EFFORTS MADE AGAINST SSM: From the New York Times
 
...Legislatures in seven states have already approved amendments that will be put before voters this year, starting with Missouri on Aug. 3 and Louisiana on Sept. 18, according to the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group. Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Utah will follow in November. Supporters of amendments have also collected enough signatures in Arkansas, Michigan, Montana and Oregon to place proposed amendments on ballots this fall. Those signatures are being reviewed, but experts believe most, and probably all, will succeed. In Ohio and North Dakota, signatures are still being collected. Organizers in both states say they are confident they will gather more than enough signatures to get on the ballot in November, an assessment opponents do not dispute. Amendment supporters said that although the federal amendment was soundly defeated in the Senate on Wednesday, the setback would energize conservatives to go to the polls for state amendments. ...
 
Opponents of the Ohio amendment said they hoped to recruit support from Ohio businesses, saying that the measure would discourage highly qualified gay and lesbian employees from coming to Ohio.
 
Alan Melamed, campaign manager for Ohioans Protecting Our Constitution, which is fighting the amendment, said it included broad language that could make domestic partner benefits for opposite-sex couples unconstitutional. Many major corporations and several colleges in Ohio offer such benefits to their employees.
 
But proponents of the Ohio amendment said it would not prohibit private companies from offering domestic-partner benefits. Missouri, which will vote on its constitutional amendment during an Aug. 3 primary, is being watched as a bellwether for how other states may vote. The Legislature approved the amendment with overwhelming support. But opponents contend that many voters remain open to arguments that it is discriminatory.
 
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