DAYTON, Ohio, Nov 1 (AFP) - Voters in the battleground state of Ohio were poised to approve a measure banning gay marriage so sweeping it is opposed by prominent businessmen as well as the state's Republican governor and Republican senators.
State voters on Tuesday will choose between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat John Kerry for president, and also vote on a state constitutional amendment forbidding gay marriage and same-sex civil unions.
According to opinion polls the amendment has overwhelming support.
The measure defines marriage as between a man and a woman -- but also bans any "legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance or effect of marriage."
The amendment has solid support among evangelical Christians, many of whom are conservative, politically active, and regard homosexuality as a perversion.
Many evangelicals see the battle over gay rights as part of the larger struggle over the role of Christian values in US society.
"We will be voting the strongest defense of marriage of any state in the country," Gregory Quinlan told a class of evangelical bible study students at the Solid Rock Church in Monroe, Ohio, on Sunday.
"Homosexuality is a gender, identity disorder," said Quinlan, and the government "should not be enabling it. It should be enabling one man, one woman households."
According to Quinlan, a former homosexual-cum-evangelical Christian, homosexuality is a lifestyle of choice.
"Don't let anybody tell you that they were born that way," he told his students. "It's a belief that can change. Just look at me."
Evangelicals have openly campaigned openly for the measure, known as Proposal 1.
But Republican Governor Bob Taft and the state's two Republican senators, Mike DeWine and George Voinovich, have all come out against it, fearing that it is so broad it could harm unmarried couples living together and ultimately hurt businesses.
The Ohio-based Nationwide Insurance, one of the largest insurance companies in the United States, has mobilized against the measure, along with Limited Brands, the Ohio-based corporation that owns The Limited, Chloe and Victoria's Secret retail chains.
"The ability to offer domestic partnership benefits is an important recruiting tool as Ohio companies seek to grow," the companies wrote in a letter to Ohio state business leaders.
For conservative evangelicals, there is far more at stake in the presidential elections than just gay marriage.
"The right to be a Christian in this country is at stake," said Quinlan.
Liberal activists who believe in a constitutional separation of church and state are wrong, said Jamie Painter.
"Separation of church and state -- that's the first problem right there," Painter said. "The government should go back to the principle of 'In God we trust,' and make that the foundation of our state."
Painter, a mother of three, is anxious about what she views as widespread moral backsliding and wants to see a return to 'Biblical values' -- and on Tuesday plans to vote for Bush.
Carol McCay is equally perturbed by the perceived loss of morality in US society. "It's like a slow leak in a tyre," she said, "but they call it tolerance."
McCay wants a president who will take a strong stand on issues of principle like gay marriage, which she is convinced is "wrong."
"We have to have some moral absolutes," she said.
11/01/2004 19:45 GMT - AFP