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"You have financial administrators and human resources people who need to know, either you're married or you're not," Knox says. They're welcome to pay him a fee to fight over something like adoption, he says, but if they wait a year or two the law is bound to change in their favor. The overall legal landscape is changing so rapidly that Scott Knox, a local gay-rights attorney, sometimes waves clients away. "Any critical thinking young person is not going to sign a contract saying they can't support their gay friends," he says. "We've had a moral conduct clause in our contract for years, perhaps decades."Īndriacco recognizes that church teachings regarding homosexuality are "under challenge." For his part, Moroski argues that Cincinnati's Catholic schools, which have been losing enrollment, risk becoming marginalized. "For teachers, representing the institution doesn't end at the classroom doors," he says. He draws a comparison with journalists, who may have their own opinions but aren't allowed to express them in letters to the editor. The new guidelines simply make clear prohibitions that were already in place, says Dan Andriacco, communications director for the archdiocese. The contract led to a parents' protest last week, and some Catholic school teachers are thinking of unionizing.
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The Archdiocese of Cincinnati last month released a new contract that bars "teacher-ministers" from publicly expressing support for gay rights. Moroski refused, and the battle is still ongoing. After writing a blog post supporting same-sex marriage, his employer instructed him to take it down. Moroski is a straight man who worked as an administrator for a Catholic high school. And, last year, Mike Moroski was fired for supporting gay rights. Gays were not welcome to march in this year's St. "Even my conservative friends, who vote Republican down the line, support gay rights." "There's definitely still a pocket of people against gay rights, but they're definitely a minority," says Dan Traicoff, a University of Cincinnati graduate student and president of the Hamilton County Young Democrats. For the most part, though, acceptance is now almost taken for granted. There are still parts of town where gay couples wouldn't be smart to kiss or hold hands in public.
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"He shook hands with two guys and gave me a hug. "I'm a trans woman, yet I was in the mayor's office yesterday, and he gave me a hug," says Paula Ison, who was just appointed to a city diversity board.
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"We know as a company, in order to have that, you have to have a culture where people are free to be who they are."Īs in much of the nation, there are still legal battles on a number of fronts, but the city's culture and attitudes toward the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community have changed markedly. "Inclusion particularly implies the idea that we welcome divergent points of view," Marmer says. That's why greater equality was a long-sought goal not only of gay activists, but a corporate community that pressed for greater tolerance both for "moral" and "business-driven" reasons, says Lynn Marmer, corporate affairs vice president for Kroger, a grocery store chain headquartered in downtown Cincinnati. One was predicated on the other, he says. The city's emphasis on inclusion and economic development have gone hand in hand, suggests Mayor John Cranley. The Cincinnati Enquirer described the announcement as "the biggest economic coup for Ohio in a decade." The city's downtown is undergoing a major revitalization, attracting more employers, including GE, which announced earlier this month it will be bringing up to 2,000 jobs to staff a new U.S. For the first time in decades, Cincinnati is drawing more young people - those who identify as gay, as well as straights who insist on a more tolerant atmosphere. It's not just people like Messer who are coming back. "When I was 23, we were such a novelty," Messer says. "They're doing great things, and we lost that talent."īut the city charter, which blocked legal protections for gays and lesbians up until a decade ago, has since been amended. "They still have this Cincinnati group in San Diego," he says. Messer was one of a number of gay men of his generation who packed up and left Cincinnati, a city with a history of official discrimination, for friendlier cities on the coasts. Ryan Messer decided he could go home again. Today, both men agree that gays are more accepted in the city than they've ever been. It also led to Mike Moroski losing his job. Gay rights issues led Ryan Messer (left) to move away from Cincinnati.