Gay Couples Start Tying the Knot in Oregon

[Johnny Stew]

(I hope my fellow Ledgies aren't getting tired of hearing/reading about this topic, but this is something I feel very strongly about. We're making progress, but we have a long way to go because there's still a lot of opposition... so it's important to stay aware, and not grow apathetic.)

Gay Couples Start Tying Knot in Oregon
By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI, Associated Press Writer

PORTLAND, Ore. - Gay and lesbian couples started tying the knot in Portland on Wednesday after the county issued same-sex marriage licenses, joining the rapidly spreading national movement in San Francisco and upstate New York.

Meanwhile, New York's attorney general joined the national debate, saying current state law prohibits same-sex weddings and that mayors should not preside over them. But he said he would leave it to the courts to decide if the law is constitutional. In Washington, D.C., lawmakers debated the issue, with Republican senators such as Majority Leader Bill Frist asking Congress to embrace a constitutional amendment banning them.

"Same sex marriage is likely to spread through all 50 states in the coming years," Frist said. "It is becoming increasingly clear that Congress must act."

In Oregon, about 50 people lined up for a sudden chance to wed after a Multnomah County commissioner said she would begin issuing the licenses to same-sex couples.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski said at a news conference after the ceremonies began that he supports civil unions for gay people but believes current state law does not allow gay marriages.

The Democrat said that although it is Oregon Attorney General Hardy Meyers' job to issue a legal opinion, "I think when you read it and consider the times when it was written they were thinking of a man and a woman getting married."

Earlier, an ebullient Mary Li held up the very first certificate — showing her and her partner's name under the Oregon seal.

"I can't describe how great it feels," Li said. She and her partner Rebecca Kennedy were also the first to be married, by a county judge.

Gay-bar owners handed out free glasses of champagne and many couples carried bouquets of roses.

In New York, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said in a statement, "I personally would like to see the law changed, but must respect the law as it now stands."

Both sides of the polarizing issue had been waiting for Spitzer's opinion since Friday, when the mayor of New Paltz, a college town 75 miles north of Manhattan, married 25 same-sex couples without licenses. Village Mayor Jason West has been charged with 19 criminal counts and could face jail time.

"The local district attorney has the authority and responsibility to enforce the law," Spitzer said.

On Wednesday, Nyack, N.Y., Mayor John Shields said he also would start marrying gay couples and planned to seek a license himself to marry his same-sex partner.

Spitzer said New York's law contains references to "bride and groom" and "husband and wife" and does not authorize same-sex marriage. Gov. George Pataki has also said that performing gay marriages is illegal, a position he affirmed on Wednesday.

"Marriage under New York State law is and has been for over 200 years between a man and a woman. And we have to uphold that law," he said.

Shields and West said they would go ahead with their plans.

"What do you do when you're faced with injustice?" Shields said. "What did the women do in the suffrage movement? They marched. They were arrested. They did what they had to do to get their rights.

West married 25 gay couples on Friday, making New Paltz another flash point in the national debate over gay marriage. More than 3,400 couples have been married in San Francisco; West now has about 1,200 couples on a waiting list.

In Massachusetts, same-sex marriages have the approval of the state's highest court — but the state-sanctioned marriages will not start until May.

New York and Oregon are among 12 states without laws defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Oregon state law defines marriage as a "civil contract entered into in person by males at least 17 years of age and females at least 17 years of age."

On Tuesday, Multnomah County Chair Diane Linn directed the county to begin issuing same-sex wedding licenses after consulting with the county attorney. Three of the other four commissioners affirmed her decision Wednesday.

"We will not allow discrimination to continue when the Constitution of the state of Oregon grants privileges equally to all citizens," Naito said.

Portland has long been viewed as a bastion of liberalism, but opposition from Oregon's Republican leadership was swift.

"I'm very upset that this travesty is taking place in Oregon. It definitely is an insult to the voters and to the people," said Kevin Mannix, chairman of the Oregon Republican Party, who called for the attorney general to put a halt to the marriages immediately.

Two protesters yelled at the couples across a yellow police tape as officers kept watch.

Among those in line early Wednesday was Christine Tanner, who won a landmark Oregon Court of Appeals ruling in 1998 requiring all state and local governments to offer spousal benefits to the same-sex domestic partners of their employees.

"There are only so many big events in people's lives — birth, marriage and death," said Tanner, who waited to wed her partner of 19 years. "It's a big deal. For us, this is symbolic."

In New York, West, 26, was to be in court Wednesday night to answer charges that he married 19 couples knowing they did not have marriage licenses, a violation of the state's domestic relations law. He planned to plead innocent.

If convicted, West could face from a $25 to $500 fine or jail time. Ulster County District Attorney Donald Williams said a jail term wasn't being contemplated at this point.

[dissention]

Originally posted by Johnny Stew
I hope my fellow Ledgies aren't getting tired of hearing/reading about this topic

'Round these parts of the Ledge board, I don't think we ever get tired of reading/discussing political issues. Ever thread turns into politics eventually.

[strandinthewind]

To paraphrase Bill Maher "Its too late to put a finger in this dyke"

[gldstwmn]

God bless them.

[sparky]

Originally posted by strandinthewind


To paraphrase Bill Maher "Its too late to put a finger in this dyke"

Leave it to you, Strand ! That got a big hoot out of me.

I am surprised it took my homies in Oregon this long.

[strandinthewind]

Originally posted by sparky
Leave it to you, Strand ! That got a big hoot out of me.

I am surprised it took my homies in Oregon this long.

I, too, was hysterical when he said it to the smartly dressed woman from the Concerned Women of America or some other similarly intolerant organization. Then, after they were done with the satellite feed, Ian McClellan (sp.?) remarked in a pithey English manner something like "How can such a smartly dressed woman be so vile" That, too, had me in hysterics!!!

[gldstwmn]

Originally posted by strandinthewind
I, too, was hysterical when he said it to the smartly dressed woman from the Concerned Women of America or some other similarly intolerant organization. Then, after they were done with the satellite feed, Ian McClellan (sp.?) remarked in a pithey English manner something like "How can such a smartly dressed woman be so vile" That, too, had me in hysterics!!!

That broad was crazy. She acted perfectly normal at first, then all of a sudden just started spewing her hate and Maher just cut her off. It was one of the more priceless moments on that show.

[strandinthewind]

Originally posted by gldstwmn
That broad was crazy. She acted perfectly normal at first, then all of a sudden just started spewing her hate and Maher just cut her off. It was one of the more priceless moments on that show.

and then Bill went on about how the moral rights' guys like to be with and/or watch two girls together. Mrs. uptight responded by telling Bill that she did not want to know how he knew that. Bill retorted "If you were a different kind of CHICK - I'd tell ya"
She was, like i have found her ilk to be, presting weemingly rationale arguments at first and then when those arguments are struck down as intolerant, a violation of church and state, etc., she invoked that wrath of God that she was sure to be forthcoming because "who are we to think we can be as hedonistic as ancient Rome and not suffer the same consequences!" Correct me if I am wrong, but Rome fell long after Constantine adopted Christianity as the official religion and the enforcement of that religion in strange lands against the foreigners' wills, not two guys going at it in martial bliss, helped lead to Rome's downfall

[CarneVaca]

This is the single most important civil rights issue to come along in a while. In a way, I wish they would debate it more in Congress, because this might just be one of those issues that if given enough legs might start to make the populace pay attention to the nonsense in Washington. The drawback to that would be the potential for an increase in reactionary hate crimes.

Let the fools in Washington hang themselves with this one. You see, despite what the polls may say about the split in the American people about this issue (and I believe most folks would oppose an amendment to ban gay marriages) the fact is just about everyone has a gay friend, relative or acquaintance. And when you humanize the issue by thinking of that loved one, it becomes very hard to hold the position that they should be treated differently under the law.

Maher was right, it is too late to put a finger in this dyke. One of the best quotes I've heard in a while.

[Livia]

To paraphrase Bill Maher again: "What's the big deal about same sex marriages? People have been doing it forever. You get married, and it's the saaame sex."

Jay Leno stole that one a few days later....

[WELSH WITCH]

From the country where gay marriage is LEGAL! Thumbs up to the states that allow it to happen.


Dimphy

[strandinthewind]

SEATTLE — Seattle's mayor said Sunday the city will begin recognizing the marriages of gay employees who tie the knot elsewhere, although it will not conduct its own same-sex weddings.



Mayor Greg Nickels was to sign an executive order Monday giving same-sex spouses of city employees all the benefits of heterosexual spouses, including health insurance.

He also planned to send a proposal to the City Council that would extend that recognition to employees of city contractors and protect the rights of all same-sex married couples in Seattle (search).

"The basic message is one of fairness, and that is that people who are willing to make a commitment to one another, who love one another, and who are willing to take on the responsibilities of marriage ought to be able to, regardless of their gender," Nickels told the Associated Press.

Rick Forcier, head of the state Christian Coalition (search), called Nickels' plan "anarchy."

"We have to have uniform laws," Forcier said. "People cannot be recognized as married in one jurisdiction and not in another. ... He's pretending to recognize counterfeit licenses that will have no value."

Seattle has offered domestic partnership benefits (search) to its employees since 1989, but the process requires workers to fill out extensive paperwork. Under the new order, married same-sex couples will be able to skip that process, officials said.

Nickels said he cannot follow the lead of mayors in San Francisco and New Paltz, N.Y., by allowing same-sex weddings because counties, not cities, have the authority to issue marriage licenses in Washington.

More than 3,600 same-sex marriages were performed in San Francisco over the last three weeks, and hundreds of gay couples were granted wedding licenses last week in Portland, Ore. The marriages are being challenged in court.

King County Executive Ron Sims, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, said the law prevents him from issuing same-sex marriage licenses. Washington is one of 38 states that define marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

Sims' spokeswoman Elaine Kraft said the executive had no comment on Nickels' announcement Sunday.

The ordinance Nickels was to send to the City Council on Monday defines "spouse" as a husband or wife in a same-sex or opposite-sex marriage.

If approved, the ordinance would protect gay married couples from discrimination in employment, housing, parks and other city facilities. It also would require contractors doing business with the city to recognize gay marriages among their own employees.