COLUMBUS—The Libertarian Party of Ohio congratulates Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) on his change of mind on the issue of marriage equality. On Thursday, March 14, Portman told CNN that he had changed his opinion, and now favors people having equal access to legal marriage regardless of sexual orientation or identification. Portman cited the fact that his son had revealed to the family that he is gay two years ago as a pivotal point in his change of mind.

In an op-ed piece appearing in the Columbus Dispatch, Portman stated, “I have come to believe that if two people are prepared to make a lifetime commitment to love and care for each other in good times and in bad, the government shouldn’t deny them the opportunity to get married.” He went on to say that discovering his son was gay caused him to reexamine his position.

John Fockler, deputy communications director of the LPO, has been an announced candidate for Portman’s seat in the 2016 election since late last year. “I’m very pleased to have Senator Portman join us on this issue that affects the happiness and well-being of so many Ohioans,” Fockler said. “He may have been a bit late to the party, but then again, so was President Obama. The important thing is that he’s with us now.”

The Libertarian position on marriage equality starts with the idea that, in a perfect world, marriage, like all other areas of people’s personal lives, would be none of the government’s business.  The government would limit itself enforcing contracts voluntarily entered into by consenting adults. Many Libertarians acknowledge, though, that government recognition of marriage is thoroughly integrated into our society, and assert that since that is the case, equal protection under the law requires that the advantages and privileges be available to everyone equally. This has been the party’s position since its founding in 1971.

Noting that Sen. Portman had come under some criticism because family considerations led him to reconsider his position instead of reaching the conclusion without personal influences, Fockler said, “I don’t think it’s important why he has decided the way he has. Most of us who support marriage equality have been influenced in some way by people we know and care about.”

“I look forward to meeting Senator Portman in 2016,” Fockler concluded. “We will still have many issues to talk about. As far as I’m concerned, though, marriage equality is now off the table. I welcome the senator to the side of liberty on this issue.”

For more information, email news@lpo.org.

Santa Fe, NM — Governor Gary Johnson, Honorary Chairman of the Our America Initiative and 2012 candidate for President, will kick off a “Live Free” tour of college campuses across the country on Monday, April 1, 2013, with a visit to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.  Other stops on the month-long tour will take the former New Mexico Governor to campuses in Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Washington, DC.

Announcing the Live Free Tour schedule, Johnson said, “As I have traveled across the nation over the past couple of years, it is clear that the ideas of small government, fiscal responsibility and greater respect for individual liberty resonate with young people.  They understand that a $16 trillion debt, the erosion of civil liberty at the hands of the government, and the consequences of unnecessary intervention abroad are all going to end up on their shoulders.

“The purpose of the Our America Initiative and our Live Free Tour is to encourage a broader and, frankly, louder, public dialogue about these issues that are critical to the nation’s future.  I’m excited to be visiting these campuses and to have an opportunity to not only speak, but to listen to the very real concerns of our young people.”

Governor Johnson will be joined at various stops on the tour by other leaders from across the political and policy spectrum.  Among them will be former California Superior Court Judge Jim Gray, a nationally-known advocate for drug policy reform and greater civil liberties.  Other speakers for each event will be announced later.

For more information: http://ouramericainitiative.com/

COLUMBUS—A crowd of more than 35 supporters of liberty attended a fundraising dinner on Saturday, February 9 featuring Peter Christ of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (L.E.A.P.).

The event benefitted the Libertarian Party of Ohio, and was the first event organized by Joe Hassen, the party’s new finance director. Schmidt’s Sausage Haus in Columbus was the venue for the dinner. 

L.E.A.P. is an organization, co-founded by Christ, of present and former police officers, prosecutors and judges that opposes the prohibition of drugs.

Christ made clear that L.E.A.P. does not advocate drug use. It favors legalization, regulation and taxing of drugs because experience has shown that that is the most effective way to deal with drugs’ dangers. Christ is a retired police captain from suburban Buffalo, NY, who spent 20 years in law enforcement. He now travels full time as a volunteer speaker for L.E.A.P. He emphasizes that all of the organization’s speakers are volunteers who receive expense reimbursement but no pay. 

Christ explained to the crowd that drug prohibition is not the way to address the issue of recreational drugs in any way. While the so-called “War on Drugs” has given the United States the world’s largest prison population, it has completely failed to “control” drugs. Christ pointed out that we are unable to keep drugs out of the toughest maximum security prisons in the country. Given that, it’s foolish to believe that we can keep them out of anywhere else.

After the dinner, long time LPO activist Steven Linnabary commented, “I’ve been accused of being anti-law enforcement. It’s likely all Libertarians have been. But we got to meet with Peter Christ, a symbol of what real law enforcement should be about.” 

"For the first formal event I've held as finance director, I was happy to see such a diverse libertarian crowd to hear Mr. Christ speak,” said Hassen. “I can only hope the crowds grow larger as we showcase more speakers at our events."

To contribute to the LPO to support our mission of educating voters about liberty and electing candidates, please contribute.

Libertarian Party of Ohio chooses Libertas for IT platform

COLUMBUS—The Libertarian Party of Ohio is pleased to announce that it has selected the Libertas Platform, offered by Libertas Web Services, LLC, to provide a new hosted, supported, and libertarian-featured content management system (CMS) and constituent relationship management (CRM) system for the LPO. 

The LPO Executive Committee chose Libertas based on the recommendation of LPO IT Director Scott Pettigrew who evaluated multiple options for a complete replacement of the LPO’s current website and CRM, including options for custom development and other hosted platforms. Libertas’ low cost, flexible terms, and extensive feature list for Libertarian organizations were key factors in his decision, Pettigrew said.  

In addition to the Libertas Platform, the LPO is also working with Libertas Web Services to acquire a cleansed and appended data set for all of the Ohioans in the national Libertarian Party's monthly data release, as well as all of the registered Libertarians from the publicly available Ohio Secretary of State voting records. Aside from standard cleansed demographic data, this new data set will also include about 500 consumer overlay fields which will help the LPO to better understand and reach out to its supporters.

The data-sharing capabilities of the platform can be leveraged for maximum growth across the state, as LPO county affiliates and candidates can join the Libertas Platform as well, said LPO Chairman Kevin Knedler.

“I think that Libertas will greatly help our IT division support the LPO’s various divisions in their mission to bring liberty-minded voters home to the LPO and to elect candidates,” Knedler said.

LPO Finance Director Joe Hassen will be able to leverage the robust data set in the new CRM to manage his development efforts through email campaigns, phone banking, direct mailings, and in-person meetings.

Libertas Web Services provides comprehensive service and support to Libertarian organizations that would like to use its feature-rich website content management system and constituent relationship management system. LWS is wholly owned and operated by two libertarian IT professionals, Jillian A. Mack and Benjamin D. Smelley.  

The Libertarian Party of Ohio is the state's third-largest political party and the only one dedicated to the principles of smaller government, lower taxes and more personal liberty for every individual. The LPO has won three federal court cases dealing with ballot access in the last decade, and it had more than 20 candidates on the ballot for U.S. Congress, the statehouse, and county offices on Election Day 2012. Also in 2012, Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate for president, won more than one million votes nationwide.

For more information:

Aaron Keith Harris
LPO Communications Director
aaron.harris@lpo.org
937-825-0204
www.lpo.org

Jillian A. Mack
Libertas Web Services
info@golibertas.com
www.GoLibertas.com