CUYAHOGA FALLS: The Natatorium is not required to offer its “spouse” discount to gay couples married in other states, but there is no law stopping the Parks and Recreation Board from changing the fitness center’s rates to recognize couples in “nontraditional” relationships.
That’s the opinion Law Director Paul Janis provided to the City Council on Wednesday in the matter of two men who sparked a controversy last month by seeking to convert their individual memberships into a spousal plan after being legally married in Washington, D.C.
Natatorium employees turned down their request, saying Ohio does not recognize same-sex marriage.
Shane and Coty May, of Akron, became members of the Natatorium so that Coty May could work at recovering from injuries sustained while serving in Iraq.
After being rejected for the spousal plan, which would have saved them $260 a year, they sought support from a national audience through an online petition at the Internet website Change.org.
More than 5,400 people have signed the petition asking the Nat to “allow all couples, regardless of sexual orientation, to register as a family.”
Council members were bombarded with form emails from the petition effort, leading Council President Mark Ihasz to ask Janis for his official thoughts on the matter, including the question of whether the council had the authority to overrule the independent parks board on setting rates.
To that, Janis said the council had the right to repeal the parks board’s authority and establish new membership categories for the fitness center.
“In any event, the Park and Recreation Board would appear to have wide latitude in crafting alternative membership categories, should it wish to do so,” Janis wrote.
Mayor Don Robart said Janis’ opinion “certainly conforms to what I thought he would come through with.”
However, Robart said he does not support changing rates “that have been in place for over 40 years. The Natatorium has been very successful as it is” with more than 10,000 members.
Robart said he was also concerned that offering discounted rates to a group that cannot be defined by law, including unmarried heterosexual domestic partners, would open the process to “massive abuse.”
“How do we determine people are living together or not? People could abuse it and then we’d have to raise the rates on everyone else” to make up for the lost revenue, Robart said.
If the Natatorium did look to change its rate schedule, it would not be treading new ground. Other area fitness centers, including city-owned operations, already provide discounts for alternative couples.
The Medina Community Recreation Center has a “two person, same household” membership category, and gay couples can buy family memberships at the Twinsburg Fitness Center and all Akron YMCA facilities.
The Mays respond
Shane and Coty May emphasized that they are fighting for more than same-sex couples.
The issue “can affect a wide array of people just because Mayor Robart feels they don’t fit into his definition of a family,” Shane May said. “We heard from a couple who has been together 10 years, has three kids, and can’t get a family pass.”
Shane and Coty May met four years ago, introduced by a friend after Coty May returned to Ohio from a hospital.
Coty May served with an Army medical unit and was part of a convoy that came under attack. Shrapnel from the vehicle in which he was riding ripped apart his groin muscle and his dreams of a military career.
Shane May said he saw past the injuries to a man who is “compassionate and very loving ... He’s just such a good guy. He had a lot happen to him in the military, and he still kept a smile on his face.”
Coty May said he was attracted to Shane May’s “big heart.” They dated for a year and have been living together for the past three years.
After several surgeries, Coty May uses a cane and suffers from random falls. He faces another surgery this month.
“When I fall down, he’s always there to catch me,” Coty May said. “No matter if he can hold me up or not, he finds a way to do it. He’s like my third leg.”
Coty May said he also fights the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder every day, and prefers uncrowded familiar places. It took some time, but the Natatorium had become safe and comfortable.
“I relied on the Natatorium,” he said. “I relied on the hot tub, on the fitness center.”
That’s what made it sting so much when a Natatorium employee told the couple that their marriage wasn’t “real,” he said.
“After being with them for so long, for them to take my money for three years and then say, ‘You’re not family,’ it isn’t right,” Coty May said.
Council members wait
Now that the law director has weighed in, three council members said they’ll wait to hear what the parks board thinks before giving their own opinions. The board has its regular monthly meeting tonight and might discuss the issue.
“We’ll wait and see if the parks board is willing to do any changes. If they favor this couple, then the matter would be closed,” Ihasz said. “If they don’t make a change, it would come to council to be discussed.”
He said he has not spoken to park board members on where they stand.
When asked what he would encourage the park board to do, Ihasz said he remains “neutral” on the subject.
“I’m not against gay marriages or gay relationships ... I’m kind of undecided on what the best route would be” for the fitness center, Ihasz said.
He added that while he has received hundreds of the form petition emails, he is equally moved by a dozen emails personally written by residents opposing changes to the Natatorium’s policy.
Councilman Jeff Iula said he will also remain undecided until the park board has its say.
But any discussion should include other family combinations, Iula said, noting the trend of grandparents raising grandchildren.
Diana Colavecchio, a council member and attorney, said last month that if the council had the authority to set the policy, she would support “expanding the definition of family to include gay couples married in other states.”
Wednesday, she advised that right now is the time to “sit back and give [the parks board] an opportunity to respond before we do anything.”
Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/paulaschleis.
