COURT HALTS SSM REGISTRATION IN OREGON: From The Oregonian

The Oregon Court of Appeals has temporarily halted a judge's order requiring state officials to register the licenses of more than 3,000 same-sex couples who got married in Multnomah County in March and April.

The court made its decision days before the deadline for the state to begin processing same-sex marriage licenses, but before gay-rights advocates could respond.

A lawyer for the same-sex couples who sued the state over the right to marry said Wednesday that she would oppose the state's attempt to avoid registering same-sex marriage licenses while the case is on appeal.

In April, Multnomah County Circuit Judge Frank L. Bearden ruled that Oregon's marriage laws violated the state constitutional rights of gay and lesbian couples.

In his ruling, Bearden said he would allow the Oregon Legislature to try to solve the problem. Observers said Bearden's ruling, if upheld, probably would require the Legislature either to redefine marriage or to adopt a civil union system, which would give gays and lesbians the same legal rights as heterosexual married couples. ...

Multnomah County officials in March began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the county attorney concluded that Oregon's marriage laws violated the state constitution. ...

Meanwhile, opponents of same-sex marriage are circulating petitions for a ballot initiative that would amend the state constitution to say that marriage is between a man and a woman.

The deadline for submitting signatures is July 2. Supporters need to turn in 100,840 valid signatures to qualify the measure for the November ballot.

more
posted by Eve at 8:29 PM | link

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home