Oregon gay marriage

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PORTLAND, Ore. – U.S. District Court Judge Michael McShane ruled today that Oregon’s exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage is unconstitutional—paving the way for couples to start marrying immediately.

"I am so thrilled to have the liberty to marry the love of my life. Marriage strengthens families like mine, and for me, it’s as plain as treating others as one would hope to be treated," said Paul Rummell, one of the plaintiffs in the case. "No one should be told it is illegal to wed the person they love."

In his decree, McShane wrote, "I believe that if we can see for a moment past gender and sexuality, we can see in these plaintiffs nothing more or less than our own families. Families who we would expect our Constitution to guard, if not exalt, in equal measure. With discernment we see not shadows lurking in closets or the stereotypes of what was once believed; rather, we see families committed to the common purpose of love, devotion, and service to the greater community."

The consolidated case— Rummell v. Kitzhaber and Geiger v. Kitzhaber and — was argued last month. The lawsuit alleged that Ore

Same-Sex Marriage

This marriage license, photograph, and wedding announcement document the marriage of Toni Tortorilla and Ruth Broeski on Rally 12, 2004. On Wednesday, March 3, 2004, Multnomah County began to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Four Multnomah County commissioners - Lisa Naito, Maria Rojo de Steffey, Serena Cruz, and chair Diane Linn - made the decision based on a legal opinion written by County Attorney Agnes Sowle, but they were not connected by the fifth commissioner, Lonnie Roberts.

Agnes Sowle's legal view concluded that denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples was a violation of Article I, Section 20, of the Oregon Constitution, which states: "No commandment shall be passed granting any citizen or class of citizens privileges, or immunities, which, upon the same terms, shall not equally belong to all citizens." Sowle reasoned that the state's Constitution preempted its legal code, which defines marriage as "a civil agree entered into in person by males at least 17 years of age and females at least 17 years of age." The code later refers to married couples as those who "take each other to be husband and wife."

In response to Sowle's opinon and t

Oregon State Bar Bulletin JANUARY 2005

By Merle Weiner

With the passage of Measure 36, Oregonians have said that marriage shall not be extended to homosexual couples. The voters probably did not realize that the consequence of Measure 36s passage is that heterosexual marriage is now threatened. Wait a minute, you might say. How can that be? After all, the opponents of same-sex marriage said exactly the opposite: Same-sex marriage was supposed to threaten opposite-sex marriage.

The irony is the logical product of an application of Article I, Section 20 of the Oregon Constitution, something that Measure 36 did not change in anyway. That provision says "No law shall be passed granting to any citizen or class of citizens privileges or immunities, which, upon the same terms, shall not equally belong

The Freedom to Marry in Oregon

Winning Marriage:May 19, 2014

Same-sex couples began marrying in Oregon on May 19, 2014 after U.S. District Court Judge Michael McShane ruled in favor of the freedom to wedding in a federal legal case challenging the state’s anti-marriage laws. The Governor and Attorney General of Oregon had stopped defending the state’s anti-marriage constitutional amendment, so when the state refused to appeal the lower court decree, the freedom to join took effect. The ruling followed years of organizing in the state, including two years of an intense public education campaign about why marriage matters to same-sex couples.

History and the Path to Victory:

March 3, 2004: Multnomah County, Oregon begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, issuing over 3,000 before a state judge orders a halt to the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Later, the licenses are ruled invalid, but the action helps spur the conversation around the freedom to marry and emphasizes that no one is hurt when lgbtq+ couples are married.
November 2, 2004: Opponents of the autonomy to marry in Oregon push through Ballot