Oregon Circuit Court judge to rule on gay marriage this week

[Pookie]

ACLU Urges Oregon Court to Strike Down Law Preventing Same-Sex Couples from Marrying


April 16, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PORTLAND, OR - At a hearing today, the American Civil Liberties Union asked an Oregon Circuit Court judge to strike down a state law that prevents same-sex couples from protecting their relationships through marriage.

"The Oregon Constitution guarantees equal treatment for everyone. This means that the state must grant equal marriage rights to all couples, whether they are lesbian, gay, or straight," said Ken Choe, a staff attorney for the national ACLU’s Lesbian and Gay Rights Project, who argued the case in court. "The state offers straight couples and their children hundreds of protections to help them through hard times. The families of the 3,000 same-sex couples who have already married in Oregon, and those of the countless others who want to do so, need and deserve these safeguards too."

According to an agreement by the parties, today’s hearing only addressed the constitutional issues raised in the litigation. Opponents of marriage for same-sex couples were represented by the Defense of Marriage Coalition, which relied on familiar stereotypes about gay people by suggesting that gay people are incapable of providing proper parenting for children.

"You don’t protect marriage by destroying families," said Roey Thorpe, Executive Director of Basic Rights Oregon. "What we know is that healthy children are raised by all kinds of families. What matters most is love and the ability to put children first."

Marriage opponents also argued that the Oregon Constitution should be interpreted based on views and beliefs of the framers from 1857.

"It’s especially troubling that our opponents would like to turn back the clock to a time when women had very few rights at all," added Thorpe.

At the hearing and in papers filed with the court, attorneys for the state argue that the court should give the legislature the opportunity to remedy the discrimination by setting up a separate system of "civil unions" that would apply only to same-sex couples.

"Creating a system of civil unions for gay and lesbian couples only serves to highlight the discrimination," said David Fidanque, Executive Director of the ACLU of Oregon. "If you say gay and lesbian relationships must be ‘unions’ while straight people are allowed to marry, you are saying quite clearly that gay people aren’t worthy of marriage."

Fidanque continued, "If the constitutional rights of same-sex couples are being violated, the discrimination should end now. It’s perfectly within in the court’s power to strike down the law. The judge has no obligation to hand this over to the legislature."

The ACLU brought the lawsuit against the state on behalf of nine same-sex couples and Basic Rights Oregon, the state’s largest LGBT advocacy group. Four of the couples are already married after receiving licenses in Multnomah County, two of the couples were hoping to get licenses from Benton County before the decision to stop issuing all marriage licenses there, two couples were denied marriage licenses from the clerk in Lane County, and one of the couples has not applied yet.

Following the hearing, the judge announced that he would issue a decision within one week.

The couples are represented by Choe of the national ACLU and ACLU of Oregon cooperating attorney Lynn Nakamoto of Markowitz, Herbold, Glade & Mehlhaf of Portland.

Source: http://www.aclu.org/LesbianGayRights/LesbianGayRights.cfm?ID=15486&c=100

 

[ExistentialLuv]

They are sayiny the contitution was not wrote to protect gays? This is what I have been hearing on our local news channels lately.

Related link

 

[Pookie]

Some good news ...

Oregon Court Says State Cannot Discriminate Against Same-Sex Couples in Marriage, Orders Recognition of 3,000 Same-Sex Marriages Already Performed


April 20, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PORTLAND, OR - In a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of nine same-sex couples and Basic Rights Oregon, a Circuit Court judge today struck down an Oregon law that prevents same-sex couples from marrying and ordered Oregon to recognize the 3,000 same-sex marriages that have already been performed.

The court did not decide how Oregon must treat same-sex couples going forward; instead it gave the state legislature the opportunity either to extend marriage to same-sex couples or to devise a system of civil unions like that adopted by the State of Vermont.

"This is a truly historic day for all of the lesbian and gay people of Oregon, but especially for the 3,000 couples who have already married here," said Roey Thorpe, Executive Director of Basic Rights Oregon. "While you already know in your hearts that you are married, an Oregon court has just taken a giant step toward making sure the state treats your marriage just like all other marriages."

The judge's decision came just days after a hearing on the constitutional issues raised by the ACLU. While there are other unresolved legal issues involved in the case, this decision answers the fundamental issue of whether or not the state can continue to discriminate against same-sex couples in the marriage laws. The judge found that it could not, saying that it was a violation of the state's equal protection guarantees to discriminate in the rights and obligations of marriage on the basis of gender and sexual orientation. The court's ruling confirms legal opinions by attorneys for Multnomah County and the state legislature as well as the state Attorney General.

In his decision, the judge ordered the state to recognize the 3,000 marriages that have already taken place in Oregon. He also ordered Multnomah County to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but said it should resume issuing those licenses if the legislature does not come up with a remedy for the discrimination within 90 days of the next legislative session, whether regular or special.

"This court rightly recognized that same-sex couples are discriminated against by the state in marriage," said David Fidanque, Executive Director of the ACLU or Oregon.

"But by acknowledging this discrimination, the judge should have also realized that it cannot be fixed by creating a system of civil unions that does nothing more than highlight the discrimination," Fidanque added. "Where is the equality when same-sex couples are forced to refer to their relationships as 'unions' while straight couples get the preferred and more socially acceptable term of marriage? You can't use the law to say one group of Americans is not as good as another."

Of the couples represented by the ACLU, four are already married after receiving licenses in Multnomah County, two were hoping to get licenses from Benton County before the decision to stop issuing all marriage licenses there, two were denied marriage licenses from the clerk in Lane County, and one has not applied yet.

Couples represented by the ACLU include:

Mary Li and Becky Kennedy were the first couple to receive a marriage license from Multnomah County. They have been in a committed relationship for more than three years and have a nine-month-old daughter. Mary understands very clearly what it's like to face discrimination in marriage. Her father, who is Chinese, married her mother, who is a white, in 1963, before the United States Supreme Court finally said that it is unconstitutional for any state to bar marriages between people of different races.

Katie Potter and Pam Moen, both police officers in Portland, met on the job in 1990 and got married in Portland the first day Multnomah County issued licenses to same-sex couples. They are the proud moms of two daughters, a four-year-old and a one-year-old. In their positions, Katie and Pam constantly worry about how they would protect their family if one of them were killed or injured in the line of duty. Unfortunately, they are denied many benefits, including a $25,000 death benefit, as well as health, education and mortgage benefits, available to their straight colleagues who marry.

Sally Sheklow and Enid Lefton of Lane County have been together for over 17 years. They were married by a rabbi at a commitment ceremony in Eugene in1998 and would now like to make their marriage legal. Because Sally and Enid are unable to marry legally, Enid cannot cover Sally through her employer-sponsored health plan. Sally, a self-employed writer and part-time teacher, makes slightly too much money to qualify for Medicaid coverage and is unable to find a private insurer willing to provide coverage to her. At 53, she worries about being injured in an accident or being diagnosed with a life-threatening disease.

Walter Frankel and Curtis Kiefer, together for 23 years, were planning to obtain a marriage license in Benton County before the county commissioners decided to the stop the issuance of all licenses. As they near retirement age, Walter, who is 65, and Curtis, who is 52, have become increasingly concerned about their ability to take care of each other in their later years. Because they can't marry, they are denied many benefits including pension and Social Security benefits as well as hospital visitation and the right to make emergency medical decisions for each other. The couple has already experienced some of this discrimination. When Curtis's mother was dying in the intensive care unit, Walter was permitted to visit only after Curtis was forced to plead with the hospital - something a spouse is never required to do.

They are represented by Ken Choe of the national ACLU and ACLU of Oregon cooperating attorney Lynn Nakamoto of Markowitz, Herbold, Glade & Mehlhaf of Portland.

Source: http://www.aclu.org/LesbianGayRights/LesbianGayRights.cfm?ID=15512&c=101

There's still some issues to deal with, but this is a big step in the right direction.

I see one inconsistency in the ruling though. The option to setup civil unions instead of marriage would seem to go against this very decision. It'll be interesting to see how this is addressed.