Photo By Jymi Bolden

Gary Wright, who has led the drive to put repeal of Article 12 on the ballot, is backed by Donald Spencer (left) and the Rev. Damon Lynch Jr. at a press conference Feb. 9.

Chicago attorney Carrie Huff wasn't trying to be funny during a Feb. 5 hearing in Boone County Circuit Court. The class action lawsuit against her client, the Diocese of Covington, is no laughing matter. More than 50 Catholic priests have so far been identified as child molesters during a period spanning the past half-century, according to plaintiffs' attorney Stanley Chesley. But in arguing whether the lawsuit should proceed as a class action, Huff said Chesley and his fellow attorneys aren't the only people concerned about the welfare of boys and girls harmed by priests.

"I understand they think they represent the class and they represent the victims," Huff said. "But in another sense, I think we are on the victims' side."

That drew guffaws and exasperated moans from the audience, largely comprised of victims and their families.

You gotta hand it to the boys at Cincinnati Police headquarters. When City Councilman Christopher Smitherman called for an investigation of alleged misuse of federal funds by some officers, they prepared a detailed response (see Don't Follow the Money,). The booklet on the police department's financial management, presented to each council member at the Feb. 3 Law and Public Safety Committee hearing, was bound in purple. It wasn't lost on several observers that purple is Elder High School's color.

Smitherman recently came under fire for asking for a list of the high schools that Cincinnati cops attended. Elder is the alma mater of more officers than any other school, with 76 grads, including Police Chief Thomas Streicher, on the force.

A caller to a radio talk show accused Smitherman of linking cops who are Elder grads to sexual abuse by Catholic priests -- an assertion Smitherman denies. A former altar boy who attended Catholic grade schools, Smitherman says his family has attended Mass at Bellarmine Chapel for about 40 years.

"For someone to assert after serving 10 years as an altar boy that I would be ever out disrespecting my family's religion is absurd," he says. "My grandmother wouldn't even let me back in the house."

Smitherman says the talk show discussion has led to threatening phone calls and letters, including one from the Ku Klux Klan saying, "Nigger, you better watch your step."

Meanwhile, Hamilton County Commissioner John Dowlin joined the ranks of Republican officials endorsing the attacks on Smitherman. At a Jan. 28 meeting, Commissioner Phil Heimlich supported Prosecutor Mike Allen's characterization of Smitherman as a "smart-mouthed little punk." Last week Dowlin joined the chorus.

"I do support Mike Allen's response," he said.

Dowlin says he had nothing to do, however, with a phone attack last week against City Councilman Pat DeWine, his challenger in the March 2 primary election. County residents received recorded messages from Keith Fangman, vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police, saying, "Patrick DeWine is no friend of law enforcement." Fangman cited DeWine's support of Issue 5, a charter amendment approved by voters in 2001 that allows the city to hire a police chief and assistant chiefs from outside the city.

Dowlin says Fangman told him about the calls only after they were made. Fangman couldn't be reached for comment.

"My phones are ringing off the hooks from people bothered by these negative attacks," DeWine says. His campaign countered with its own phone strategy, touting an endorsement from former Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters.

Making Fairness a Point of Civic Pride
Citizens to Restore Fairness (CRF) launched its campaign to repeal Article 12 of the city charter Feb. 9. Adopted by voters in 1993, Article 12 bars city council from passing laws against discrimination based on sexual orientation. But times have changed, according to CRF Chairman Gary Wright.

"There is a growing consensus among leaders in our town that Article 12 is wrong and the time to repeal Article 12 is now," he said at the press conference at Christ Church Cathedral. "The mainstream of Cincinnati supports fairness and tolerance for everyone, including gays, lesbians and bisexuals. Our strength is growing."

Business leaders, clergy and public officials stood behind Wright, including Mayor Charlie Luken, the Revs. Damon Lynch Jr. and Damon Lynch III, Rabbi Bob Barr, Port Authority Chair Jack Rouse and councilmen John Cranley and David Crowley.

CRF has gathered 13,000 petition signatures, almost twice the number needed to put repeal on the November ballot.

"I'd like to repeal it with such an overwhelming majority that it sends a very, very strong positive signal to the world that's been looking at Cincinnati somewhat askance in the past," Rouse said in prepared remarks.

He said Article 12 damages not only human rights but also the city's economy. The Greater Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau, for example, reports a loss of at least $46 million in convention business because of Article 12.

"What you will see between now and Nov. 2 is a movement that will grow stronger every day," Wright said.

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