COLUMBUS - A gay rights group is starting a new effort to lobby lawmakers and advocate for candidates, saying the easy passage of a same-sex marriage ban in 2004 showed gay people had to improve how they promote their opinions.

“We consider ourselves the phoenix rising out of the ashes of Issue 1,” the gay marriage ban, said Lynne Bowman, executive director of Equality Ohio.

The group, which formed about nine months ago, spent Wednesday lobbying individual state lawmakers in their offices, a practice common to organizations trying to influence legislation but until now, an outlet gay rights groups had used scarcely.

Issue 1 changed that. About 62 percent of voters backed the state Constitution amendment that says only marriages between a man and a woman are legal.

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