Oregon’s ban on gay marriage lifted
PORTLAND, Ore. — A federal judge struck down Oregon’s ban on same-sex marriage yesterday, saying it violated the U.S. Constitution. Gay-rights activists cheered the long-sought victory, and counties across the state quickly began issuing marriage licenses.
The ruling came after Oregon’s attorney general announced in February that she would not defend a 2004 voterapproved amendment to the state constitution that defined marriage exclusively as a union between a man and a woman.
“There is no legitimate state interest that would justify the denial of the full and equal recognition, attendant rights, benefits, protections, privileges, obligations, responsibilities and immunities of marriage to same-gender couples,” U.S. District Judge Michael McShane said in his ruling in a lawsuit by four same-sex couples.
Officials in four Oregon counties said they began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples minutes after McShane’s ruling was made public, including in Portland, where some couples had camped in front of a county building hoping to be among the first to wed once the ruling came down.
The Multnomah County Courthouse in Portland took on a festive atmosphere as couples including Shawna and Emily Roach, who brought along their 2-year-old daughter, lined up for licenses and passers-by honked car horns in support.
“Us being able to be legally married means she won’t remember what it’s like for discrimination
Some same-sex couples camped outside a Portland county building to be among the first to wed. Marriage licenses were issued as soon as the ruling went public, officials said.
to be legal,” said Shawna Roach of their daughter.
Marriage rights have been extended to gay couples in 17 states and the District of Columbia in a trend that has gained momentum since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that legally married samesex couples nationwide were eligible for federal benefits.
And in Utah yesterday, a federal judge ruled that the state must recognize the samesex marriages performed during a 17-day window after a court briefly legalized gay nuptials in the conservative, heavily Mormon state.
Utah temporarily became the 18th state to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples when a federal judge struck down a state gay-marriage ban as unconstitutional. That ruling was later put on hold by the U.S. Supreme Court while the state appeals the case, but not before hundreds of gay couples had tied the knot.
In Oregon yesterday, Gov. John Kitzhaber issued a statement about the judge’s ruling, saying: “No longer will Oregonians tolerate discrimination against the gay, lesbian, and transgender community.”
Brian Brown, a spokesman for the conservative National Organization for Marriage, called McShane’s ruling outrageous and said the group would ask the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the order pending appeal.
Earlier yesterday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused a request by the group to halt the proceedings.