Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe SEXUAL EQUALITY IN OHIO The Ohio Supreme Court has thrown out a law barring same-sex solicitation, saying the law violated the equal protection clauses of both the Ohio and U.S. constitutions. Advertisement The ruling came in a case involving a man who was convicted of importuning -- by soliciting another man to perform a sex act. In throwing out the conviction and overturning the law, the state's high court said it recognized the statute had a valid purpose -- preventing a violent response to words an individual could find repugnant. However, the judges concluded that the words in question do not constitute "fighting words" that can constitutionally be prohibited. The law specified that no "person shall solicit a person of the same sex to engage in sexual activity with the offender when the offender knows such solicitation is offensive to the other person or is reckless in that regard." It also said that "solicitation of homosexual or lesbian activity is also prohibited" -- but that "just asking" is not a criminal offense. Advertisement The court said the Ohio Legislature should have prohibited "all offensive solicitations of sexual activity." One of the judges wrote a separate opinion accusing his colleagues of failing to address the central issue of the case -- that the law was aimed at outlawing homosexual activity. -- Would the law have been acceptable if it outlawed solicitation regardless of gender? -- If Ohio were to pass a new law prohibiting all "offensive solicitations of sexual activity," what would constitute a useful definition of "offensive"? CELEBRITY BOXING TAKES ANOTHER HIT John Wayne Bobbitt has been arrested for allegedly assaulting his wife in Las Vegas -- but worse than that, he's been dropped from the lineup of Fox's upcoming "Celebrity Boxing 2." Bobbitt, 35, was being held at the Clark County Detention Center on a probation violation following his arrest Monday night for investigation of battery and domestic violence. Bobbitt was placed on five years' probation in Nevada in 1999, after pleading guilty to attempted grand larceny. His wife, Joanna, told investigators this week that Bobbitt pushed her to the ground. Bobbitt gained fame in 1993 when his then-wife Lorena Bobbitt cut off his penis while he slept. She was acquitted by reason of insanity, and surgeons managed to reattach Bobbitt's penis in a procedure that was so successful that Bobbitt went on to even more fame as the star of a handful of porn films. Advertisement It was that kind of celebrity that qualified Bobbitt to confront Joey Buttafuoco in a bout on the show, set for May 22. But now, he is out, and Buttafuoco will try his luck against Joanie Laurer -- better known as World Wrestling Federation star Chyna. Buttafuoco's wife, Mary Jo, was shot and wounded by his former girlfriend, Amy Fisher, in 1992. Fisher became known as the "Long Island Lolita" and went to prison for the crime. She had originally been scheduled to get into the ring with disgraced former figure skating champion Tonya Harding in the first edition of "Celebrity Boxing," but the New York State Parole Board wouldn't let her. The rest of the card is scheduled to feature former NBA star Manute Bol vs. former NFL star William ("Refrigerator") Perry, Darva Conger vs. Olga Korbut, and Ron Palillo (Horshack on "Welcome Back, Kotter") vs. Dustin Diamond, Screech on "Saved By the Bell." -- Considering that the participants are hardly celebrities and that what they do in the ring can only generously be described as boxing, shouldn't Fox come up with a different name for the show? Advertisement -- Do you ever wish the people who argue about politics on cable would just get into the ring and fight it out among themselves? ANOTHER BASEBALL STRIKE? According to a report in The New York Times, major league baseball players and owners are moving toward the same kind of confrontation that led to a season-ending strike in 1994 -- when the World Series was canceled for the first time in 90 years. The paper said management and labor still have time to work out a new collective bargaining agreement, but no deal is in sight. Union executive Gene Orza told the paper that the players union has begun to talk about setting a strike deadline. "You never want to have to discuss it," said Orza, "but you have obligations to consider that contingency." Orza said there have not been "substantive discussions" about a strike, and the union's priority is to get a new deal with owners. The Times reported that people close to the union have mentioned early August as a possible strike deadline. Players walked out on Aug. 12 in 1994 -- the game's ninth work stoppage since 1972. Commissioner Bud Selig has said Major League Baseball would not lock players out during the season or the postseason, but he has stopped short of promising no lockout after the World Series. If there is a lockout, the commissioner's office could declare an impasse and impose new work rules on players unilaterally. Advertisement A strike before the season's end might be the only way that the players union can avoid that. -- Didn't baseball just recently recover economically from the 1994 strike and the ill-will it created among fans?
