On Thursday, April 14, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that the nearly 3,000 marriage licenses issued last year to same-sex couples in Multnomah County are void. This isn’t a surprising ruling, since Oregon voters passed Measure 36 last November, which amended the Oregon Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Still, it’s disappointing.<\/p>\n
(There is a slim chance that Measure 36 will end up being overturned on the basis of technicalities.<\/a>)<\/p>\n There is almost nothing positive in this ruling for same-sex marriage advocates. The only silver lining is that the Court didn’t rule on whether or not the Oregon Constitution requires that lesbians and gays be offered civil unions, leaving the matter open for another civil rights lawsuit.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, as The Oregonian<\/em> reports,<\/a> “Gov. Ted Kulongoski and a bipartisan coalition of state senators introduced legislation Wednesday allowing civil unions for same-sex couples and outlawing discrimination against gays and lesbians.” From the Oregonian’s<\/em> article, it sounds like SB1000 will pass the Senate but be allowed to die in the House.<\/p>\n SB1000 has strong opposition from the Portland-based Defense of Marriage Coalition. “In our mind, it’s bad public policy and it’s unnecessary,” Tim Nashif, a coalition spokesman, said Wednesday.<\/p>\n Nashif argues that little — if any — discrimination occurs against gays and lesbians in Oregon. And he said the anti-discrimination language could put employers and landlords at risk of frivolous lawsuits. […]<\/p>\n The Senate Rules Committee will hold a hearing on SB1000 within a few weeks, Brown said. She and others predicted the proposal would be endorsed by the Senate.<\/p>\n But nobody would handicap the bill’s chances in the House.<\/p>\n Chuck Deister, spokesman for House Speaker Karen Minnis, R-Wood Village, couldn’t say whether SB1000 would get a committee hearing .<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I love the way the “Defense of Marriage Coalition” opposes even anti-discrimination laws; what does keeping anti-queer discrimination legal have to do with defending marriage? Sometimes it seems that the marriage-movement types want <\/em>to have the phrase “defense of marriage” come to be synonymous with hatred of lesbians and gays.<\/p>\n Portland’s One True b!X<\/a> has more on the Oregon Supreme Court’s ruling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On Thursday, April 14, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that the nearly 3,000 marriage licenses issued last year to same-sex couples in Multnomah County are void. This isn’t a surprising ruling, since Oregon voters passed Measure 36 last November, which … Continue reading