Judge Upholds Oregon Gay Marriage Ban

OREGON - A Marion County judge this morning upheld the constitutionality of a ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage.
Basic Rights Oregon, a gay-rights group, claimed that Measure 36 illegally revised the Oregon Constitution and violated the rule that initiatives contain only one amendment.
In a five-page decision, Circuit Judge Joseph C. Guimond rejected both challenges.
"It's straight-forward and common sensible," said Kelly Clark, attorney for the Defense of Marriage Coalition. "We might differ slightly with the judge on some of the reasoning . . . but he reached the correct result."
Guimond based part of his decision on a 1995 Oregon Court of Appeals ruling, which determined that a similar proposed same-sex marriage ban "would not result in the kind of fundamental change in the constitution that would constitute a revision."
The proposed 1995 initiative failed to qualify for the ballot.
Guimond also ruled that Measure 36, approved by voters in 2004, complied with a section of the constitution that prohibits initiatives from containing more than one amendment that are not closely related. Guimond did agree with Basic Rights that Measure 36 affected more than one section of the constitution, but the changes "are closely related, in that they are the same in each case -- each portion of the constitution is amended to take away from same-sex couples the right to have a civil marriage even if that marriage is recognized by another jurisdiction."
Roey Thorpe, executive director of Basic Rights Oregon, was disappointed by the news but already looking to a possible future challenge.
"We continue to believe that Measure 36 was illegally enacted," she said, "and while we respect the judge's decision, in his decision he concluded that he was bound by a previous decision by the Court of Appeals. So we will be asking the Court of Appeals to take another look."
The ruling was the latest victory for the Defense of Marriage Coalition, as well as the latest setback to gay-rights groups.
In March 2004, Multnomah County began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples after determining that the state constitution demanded equal treatment for gays and lesbians.
Gay-rights groups later won a court ruling that supported the position taken by Multnomah County.
The Defense of Marriage Coalition gathered enough signatures to qualify Measure 36, which passed overwhelmingly in the November election.
Afterward, the Oregon Supreme Court said Measure 36 trumped the earlier ruling as well as Multnomah County's decision.
Gay-rights groups attempted to persuade the Oregon Legislature to enact civil unions legislation for gays and lesbians. Although the bill passed the Democratic-controlled Senate, it died in the Republican-controlled House without a vote.
from The Oregonian