ACLU Drops Gay Marriage Case in Oregon
By reuters.com from the Web, November 19, 2004
PORTLAND, Ore. -- After Oregonians voted to ban same-sex marriages earlier this month, a gay rights advocate has given up its fight to take its case to the state's supreme court, activists said on Friday.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) will instead argue for a legal civil unions between same-sex couples giving them the same rights and benefits as married couples.
"This changes our case in only one way. We are no longer seeking marriage," said Ken Choe, a New York attorney with the ACLU who will argue the Oregon case.
"But we do believe that the Oregon Constitution requires equality with respect to the protections that come with marriage."
Also at issue is the fate of 3,000 same-sex couple who were married in Portland's Multnomah County after county commissioners started issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in March before halting the practice amid a flurry of lawsuits nationwide both for an against same-sex marriages.
The constitutional amendment to Oregon's state constitution, known as Measure 36, that passed earlier this month "in no way affects those 3,000 marriages.
Measure 36 cannot retroactively undo those marriages," Choe said.
Oregon's Defense of Marriage Coalition, which pushed for Measure 36's passage, disagrees.
"The licenses are not valid because they were issued in contradiction of the law," Tim Nashif, a spokesman for the Coalition said.
The Coalition contends that as a result of the gay marriage ban "the suit should be dismissed," Nashif said.
Oregon was one of 11 states that voted in the Nov. 2 election to prohibit gay marriage.
Some political pundits have argued that the push for gay marriage was too much too soon for many Americans and the initiatives on the 11 state ballots brought out more conservative voters, leading to President Bush's reelection.
Oregon went against that trend. About 57 percent of voters agreed to ban gay marriage, but Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry won in Oregon.
"Whether it is called civil unions or it is called domestic partnerships or whether it is called something else," Choe said, the arrangements must "contain the full range of legal protections that married couples enjoy."
Vermont pioneered the civil union in 2000. It entitles same sex couples to "all the same benefits, protections and responsibilities" as marriage, according to the state.
The Oregon Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the case on December 15.
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