NEWS FLASH

Married Gay Couple Petitions Ohio City For Family Membership To Fitness Facility | A city council in Ohio is seeking legal opinion as to whether Cuyahoga Falls can provide family membership rates to a city sporting facility for gay couples legally married in other states, the Akron Beacon Journal reports. Shane and Coty May — who is an Iraq war veteran — married in D.C. in October and asked the facility to convert their individual memberships to a family plan. They were told their marriage “was not considered real” and that “until the State of Ohio recognizes gay marriage then my marriage license means nothing.” Mayor Don Robart says the council is unlikely to rule in favor of the couple and dismissed an online Change.org petition that is clamoring for the fitness facility to change its policy. Robart claimed “that for every person who signed the Mays’ petition, there is a resident opposed to extending the family rate to gay couples. “As soon as we make an exception for the gays, we will get a taxpayer lawsuit saying why are you giving them a break when their marriage is illegal in Ohio?” he said.