The Advocate reports that Ohio's new marriage amendment prevents people who are not married from filing domestic abuse charges. (Via Metafilter.)

Ohio's constitutional amendment doesn't just outlaw gay marriage, but also common-law marriage and rights for live-in partners. Here is the text of the amendment:

Only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this state and its political subdivisions. This state and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance or effect of marriage.

The Advocate reports on a case from Cleveland where the lawyer of a man accused of domestic violence against his live-in girlfriend "had asked the judge to throw out the charge because of the new wording in Ohio's constitution that prohibits any state or local government from enforcing a law that would 'create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals.'"

Before the amendment was ratified, "courts applied the domestic violence law by defining a family as including an unmarried couple living together as would a husband and wife."

Hear that, straighties? Your precious Issue One -- the one that was designed to prevent you from being ass-raped every minute of every day as you walked to the corner store for some milk and a carton of eggs (because that's what the gays do) -- has backfired on you! Turns out Robert Blackwell hates rednecks as much as he hates gays! The joke's on you for buying into the right's "you should vote for us because we'll keep the heathens away, even though we're screwing you financially" argument!

Ohio is still reprehensible.