C. Powell Grant v. the State of Ohio
A UC graduate student tried to incorporate a gay organization. In 1974 the Ohio Supreme Court said no.
We are indebted to local attorney Scott Knox for sharing this story.
C. Powell Grant was a graduate student at the University of Cincinnati in the fall of 1972. He helped found the UC Gay Association on February 12, 1973. The student senate turned the group down, but the UC administration approved it on May 7, 1973. In June 1974, the University of Cincinnati adopted a policy that included gays and lesbians.
As early as August 1972, Grant ran into another barrier. He tried to register a new organization in Ohio as a non-profit, The Greater Cincinnati Gay Society, Inc., and the Ohio Secretary of State refused.
Through his attorney, Douglas Mansfield, Grant filed a mandamus action with the Ohio Supreme Court. On July 10, 1974, the court sided with the Secretary of State:
“We agree with the Secretary of State that the promotion of homosexuality as a valid lifestyle is contrary to the public policy of the state.”
State ex rel. Grant v. Brown, 39 Ohio St.2d 112, 313 N.E.2d 847
Grant was also once arrested aboard the Johnson party boat on the Ohio River and prosecuted by Simon L. Leis Jr., who was Hamilton County prosecutor from 1971 to 1983 and later sheriff from 1987 to 2012.
