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Senator Prentiss resigns from CSRAB Board

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                             Contact: Amanda Conn

Wednesday, October 19, 2005                                                           (614) 466-5899

Senator Prentiss resigns from CSRAB Board

Prentiss: “Board is discriminating against gays’

(Columbus)- Today the leader of the Ohio Senate Democrats announced she is resigning from the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board after a vote by the Board this morning to allow sexual orientation discrimination. Senator Prentiss' motion to prohibit discrimination failed on a 5-5 vote.

“If this was a question of race, it wouldn’t even be an issue. Because it deals with sexual orientation, this Board still thinks and acts like a bunch of cavemen,” said Senator Prentiss of Cleveland. “I am not going to be a part of a discriminatory Board that conducts business in such an offensive manner.”  

CSRAB, the Board which oversees the operations, maintenance, and historic character of the Ohio Statehouse building and grounds, met for its quarterly meeting this morning. The Committee includes leaders from the Ohio General Assembly, the Clerks of the Ohio House and Ohio Senate, a representative of the Department of Administrative Services, the Ohio Building Authority, the Ohio Arts Council, the Ohio Historical Society, and a member of the public.  

This morning two vendors’ contracts were up for approval before the Board. The contracts included a "non-discrimination" provision which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, sex, age, handicap, national origin, disability, Vietnam-era veteran status or ancestry. 

Senator Prentiss noted that sexual orientation discrimination was not included in the non-discrimination policy. The Senate Democratic Leader then requested that the contracts include that the vendors cannot discriminate based on “sexual orientation.” However, Senator Prentiss' request failed by a vote of 5-5.  Afterwards, Senator Prentiss informed the Board members she was resigning “in disgust.”

 "This was a simple issue: you shouldn't be denied a job because of your sexual orientation.  I don't understand how five people- including the leaders of the majority party- could fail to support such a common sense protection," said Senator Prentiss. "That's why the Senate's own policies prohibit sexual orientation discrimination." The Ohio Senate Employee Handbook clearly states that the “Senate does not discriminate against applicants or employees in its employment practices on the basis of age, race, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, or disability.” 

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