Ohio group launches signature drive for 2026 ballot measures on discrimination, ‘same-sex marriage’

A grassroots Ohio organization has launched a statewide signature drive to place two proposed constitutional amendments on the 2026 ballot: one focused on the so-called “same-sex marriage” and another on expanding anti-discrimination protections.

Ohio Equal Rights, the group that proposed the two amendments to update the Ohio Constitution, intends to repeal the state’s ban on “same-sex marriages,” which has been dormant in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, and add a broad set of discrimination protections covering categories such as race, sex, sexual orientation, “gender identity,” disability, and more, according to NBC 4 News.

To qualify for the ballot, organizers must collect a required number of valid signatures from registered voters — approximately 10% of the total vote cast for governor in the last election and from at least half of Ohio’s counties — and submit them by the statutory deadline later this year. Once submitted, the Ohio Secretary of State’s office must verify the signatures before the measures can be certified for the ballot, Ohio Capital Journal reported.

The initiative follows a fall ruling by the Ohio Ballot Board that the group’s original plan contained two separate amendments rather than a single unified measure. Organizers could have challenged this decision in the Ohio Supreme Court, but instead decided to proceed with simultaneous signature collection for both proposals.

In August 2025, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost certified the summary language for both amendments.

“This certification should not be construed as an affirmation of the enforceability, constitutionality, or wisdom of the proposed amendment,” Yost wrote. “Those matters are left for a different forum and another day.”

Susan Appel, volunteer campaign manager for Ohio Equal Rights, said supporters who are now actively circulating petitions across urban and rural counties in the state are motivated to ensure the Ohio Constitution implements the proposed changes.

“Individual rights are constantly under attack in this country, and Ohioans deserve protections that cannot be taken away by shifting political winds,” she told the Journal. “We cannot trust that the government will always do the right thing simply because it should. So we’re doing what Ohioans have always done — we’re taking matters into our own hands.”

Appel also said that “Ohioans deserve a Constitution that reflects the will of the people—not outdated laws or political agendas.”

“These amendments are about protecting families, protecting freedom, and protecting the basic principle that government should not be telling people how to live their lives,” she said.