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.