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   Gay rights nullification vote set



   CINCINNATI, Ohio (UPI) -- A referendum designed to nullify a Cincinnati
anti-discrimination law will be held next week.
   A League of Women Voters' lawsuit opposing the election was dismissed Monday
by a Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge, who told the plaintiffs they
must trust the people to decide the fate of the 11-month law that prohibits
discrimination against gays and lesbians.
   The league, joined by a group called the Equality Foundation of Cincinnati,
argued there was confusion concerning the ballot lanugage and that the public
had been misled during a petition drive to place the measure on the ballot.
   Cincinnati's human rights ordinance prohibits discrimination in hiring and
housing, based on sex, race, religion, disability, Appalachian origin or sexual
orientation.
   The move to remove sexual orientation from the Cincinnati anti-
discrimination law is being spearheaded by out-of-state groups, which have so
far spent $147,000 in their campaign. Of that money, $75,000 came from a group
called Coloradans for Family Values, which promoted that state's anti-gay
rights law last year.
   Hamilton County Elections Director Robert Bedinghaus said he has not seen a
gret surge of interest in the debate and predicts fewer than 50 percent of
Cincinnati's 186,000 voters will go to the polls in next Tuesday's election.
   Bedinghaus conceded voters are probably confused, because a "yes" vote
repeals the law, while a "no" vote keeps it on the books.
   The measure would alter the city's charter to eliminate any laws granting
anti-discrimination rights to people holding a "homosexual, lesiban or bisexual
orientation."