NEWS

It will be largely the same opposition gay rights supporters faced when the original cityCharter amendment, prohibiting gay protective measures, was passed by Cincinnati voters in 1993.

''We will wait and see if they actually get an issue on the ballot,'' said Phil Burress, chairman of Equal Rights Not Special Rights, which has led the fight for the amendment in the courts and on the ballot.

''But my question is what makes them think the vote now won't be exactly the same as it was in 1993? The voters then approved the Charter amendment (known as Issue 3) 62 to 38 percent.''

''Cincinnati understands laws shouldn't be passed based on someone's private behavior,'' Burress said. ''Our charter now says you can't pass laws that give people preferential treatment.''

The U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday ended the five-year legal battle over Issue 3 when it refused to hear the appeal from a decision upholding the Charter amendment by the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The appeals court twice upheld the amendment, which prohibits the city from enacting or adopting any laws or policies which would provide gays and lesbians ''any claim of minority or protected status, quota preference or other preferential treatment.''

Cincinnati City Council Member Charlie Winburn said he wants the plaintiffs who sued the city over the Charter amendment, to pay the city's legal bills. The plaintiffs were Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, and Equality Foundation, as well as six gay and lesbian Cincinnatians. They sued the city of Cincinnati and the group Equal Rights Not Special Rights.

With the Supreme Court's decision Tuesday, all appeals are ended and the city's Charter amendment stands.

Stonewall Cincinnati, the largest local gay rights organization, immediately announced a petition drive to put a measure repealing the amendment on the May primary ballot.

''The failure of the courts to overturn Issue 3 means that it is in the hands of the voters to right the wrong of legislating discrimination into the charter of the city of Cincinnati,'' Lycette Nelson, executive director of Stonewall Cincinnati, said.

Ms. Nelson said at a time the city is bidding ''to bring the 2012 Olympic Games to Cincinnati, the city is attempting to attain the stature of a world-class city. We say to the citizens of Cincinnati, you will never be a first-class city by designating one seg ment of your community as second class citizens.''

The Olympic Committee in fact in 1996 refused to allow the Olympic torch bearer to pass through, as scheduled, one suburb of Atlanta which had anti-gay ordinances.

Stonewall will begin circulating petitions for the repeal initiative next week.

''What (the court) did was end the five-year battle in the courts,'' said Scott Greenwood, general counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, which led the court effort. ''It is now in the political arena.''

Stonewall and gay rights supporters all expressed dismay and disappointment with the Supreme Court's decision.

''What the (court's) decision means right now is that Cincinnati is the only city in America which has anti-equal rights built into its law,'' Greenwood said.

In the meantime, Council Member Todd Portune said he is introducing a number of amendments to the city's Hate Crimes ordinance to provide protection for gays and ''to make it a crime for offenses to be perpetrated against individuals due to the victim's age, gender, disability, sexual orientation or perceived membership in any of the protected categories.''

But both Greenwood and city attorneys said Portune's motion may not be legal, since it would in fact violate the Charter amendment - which prohibits the city from taking any action to provide for distinct anti-discrimination measures for gays.