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Oregon high court throws out gay marriage licenses
Associated Press
Published April 15, 2005
PORTLAND, Ore. - The Oregon Supreme Court on Thursday nullified nearly 3,000 marriage licenses issued to gay couples a year ago by Portland's Multnomah County, saying a county cannot go against state matrimonial law.
"Oregon law currently places the regulation of marriage exclusively within the province of the state's legislative power," the high court said in its unanimous ruling.
The court said state law bans gay marriage. It also noted that Oregon voters approved a constitutional amendment last November that even more explicitly prohibits the practice.
Kevin Neely, spokesman for the state attorney general's office, said the court left the issue of civil unions for gay couples for another day.
"I suspect the issue will be resolved by either legislation or by additional litigation," he said.
On Wednesday, Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski said he will push for a law allowing gay couples to form civil unions that would give them many of the rights and privileges of marriage.
Multnomah County, which includes much of Portland and is the state's most populous county, began issuing marriage licenses to gay couples last March, its county commissioners saying that failure to do so would violate the Oregon Constitution.
A judge stopped the practice about six weeks later, but not before about 3,000 gay couples had wed.
Similarly, San Francisco issued thousands of marriage licenses to gay couples in February 2004. Those marriages were likewise declared invalid, though a constitutional challenge to California's law against gay marriage is still pending.
"Two West Coast liberal states now, both California and Oregon, have both said that local governments don't have authority to take the law into their own hands," said Kelly Clark, attorney for the Defense of Marriage Coalition.
"It certainly sends a signal to the rest of the country."
The ruling came a day after Connecticut lawmakers passed legislation that would make it the second state, after Vermont, to offer civil unions to same-sex couples.
Massachusetts has allowed gay marriage since last May.
[Last modified April 15, 2005, 00:50:05]
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