Just Balancing The Budget

In Ohio's legislation to curtail public sector union collective bargaining rights - just passed by the Senate - the following passage exists:

Sec. 3101.01 of S.B. 5: ... A marriage may only be entered into by one man and one woman. Any marriage between persons of the same sex is against the strong public policy of this state. Any marriage between persons of the same sex shall have no legal force or effect in this state and, if attempted to be entered into in this state, is void ab initio and shall not be recognized by this state. The recognition or extension by the state of the specific statutory benefits of a legal marriage to non-marital relationships between persons of the same sex or different sexes is against the strong public policy of this state. Any public act, record or judicial proceeding of this state, as defined in section 9.82 of the Revised Code, that extends the specific statutory benefits of legal marriage to non-marital relationships between persons of the same sex or different sexes is void.

So a blanket and total ban on any form of legal protections for gay couples, including any semblance of even domestic partnerships or civil unions, is, as one Republican put it, the "first big step in restoring fiscal responsibility in Ohio." And so the Tea Party slowly reveals itself.

[Update: an Ohio reader lets me know that this language merely reiterates the Ohio Revised Code since the Ohio Constitution was amended by ballot initiative in November 2004 to define marriage to be between a man and a woman. Its purpose in the bill is to strip out the benefits that would be affected by collective bargaining.)