Ohio Gubernatorial Candidate Ed FitzGerald: I Will Sign Marriage Equality and LGBT Non-Discrimination Bills

Ohio Governor John Kasich's only Democratic challenger for reeelection, Ed FitzGerald, tells Outlook Columbus that he supports full equality for LGBT Ohioans:

“I believe in full equality for all Ohioans, and that includes the LGBT community, and that includes issues not just related to marriage, but also employment and housing,” said FitzGerald, 44, a former FBI agent and former mayor of gay-friendly Lakewood.

“If it’s on the ballot I’m going to vote for it. If something comes across my desk when I’m governor, I’m going to sign it.”

FitzGerald was critical of Kasich’s position on LGBT issues, which goes no further than a comment in March that he has gay friends. Kasich told a TV interviewer then that he supported civil unions for gay and lesbian Ohioans, but his spokesman quickly retracted the comments and said the governor didn’t know what civil unions were.

“Maybe part of his brain told him it was the right thing to do and the other part told him, ‘You have a right wing in your party that you can’t defy,’” FitzGerald said.