Magical Realist
Valued Senior Member
"A federal judge overturned Oregon's ban on gay marriage Monday, and jubilant couples began exchanging vows within the hour.
U.S. District Judge Michael McShane, in a historic decision issued at noon, declared the ban unconstitutional and ordered it lifted immediately.
"It's a win," Jeana Frazzini, executive director of Basic Rights Oregon, announced to a standing-room-only crowd gathered at Oregon United for Marriage offices in Northeast Portland. The room erupted in cheers and tears of joy. Ben West and Paul Rummell, plaintiffs in the case, shared a kiss.
At the Multnomah County building in Southeast Portland, couples had already lined up for licenses, some holding pink roses handed out by a county employee. Many refreshed their cellphones to spot the news, then exclaimed in joy as it arrived. Someone shouted "Equality!" and passing motorists honked in support.
Plaintiffs Deanna Geiger and Janine Nelson became the first couple to marry in Multnomah County, exchanging vows in the county building's lobby before leaving under a shower of rose petals.
Oregon is the 18th state to legalize gay marriage, doing so 10 years and one day after the first state, Massachusetts. Legal proceedings are pending in all the rest.
McShane's decision struck down a constitutional amendment, passed by Oregon voters in 2004, defining marriage as between one man and one woman.
It also marked another in a stunningly rapid string of victories for proponents of same-sex marriage. Oregon is the seventh state where a federal judge has struck down a gay marriage ban since the U.S. Supreme Court last year dismantled key parts of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
After the Oregon gay marriage ban was struck down at noon today, wedding ceremonies began at the Melody Ballroom in SE Portland.
McShane, who is openly gay, used strikingly personal language in his opinion, recalling a game from his own childhood called "smear the queer" and lamenting a culture that encouraged "cruelty, violence, and self-loathing."
The judge, 53, acknowledged fears that opening the door to gay marriage could lead to "a slippery slope that will have no moral boundaries."
But he concluded: "To those who truly harbor such fears, I can only say this: Let us look less to the sky to see what might fall; rather, let us look to each other ... and rise."
Oregon's case started late last year when four Portland gay and lesbian couples filed federal lawsuits seeking to overturn Oregon's ban. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum declined to defend the ban, calling it indefensible in light of the Supreme Court decision.
That left Oregon -- unlike states such as Idaho, Utah, Michigan, Virginia, Oklahoma and Texas -- with no one to appeal the federal judge's decision.
McShane last week rebuffed an attempt by the National Organization for Marriage to intervene in the case. Monday morning, NOM failed to persuade the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to block McShane's ruling.
In his opinion Monday, McShane said gay and lesbian families and their children were harmed by Oregon's ban in many ways, including adoption rights, tax laws and spousal benefits granted by employers.
McShane said that preserving the traditional definition of marriage was not a strong enough argument for the law to stand. Otherwise, he wrote, tradition could be used as a "rubber stamp condoning discrimination against longstanding, traditionally oppressed minority classes everywhere.
McShane, one of nine gay judges on the federal bench, said during a hearing last week that he could rule without bias and that he had no personal or political interest in the issue of same-sex marriage.
Reaction to the ruling was swift, with public officials and Oregon businesses such as Nike expressing support.
"Today's historic ruling means that all Oregonians will have the legal right to marry the person they love," House Speaker Tina Kotek said in a statement. "After a 10-year engagement, my partner Aimee (Wilson) and I are thrilled to join the many other Oregon couples getting married this year."
Opponents, though, called the ruling unfair. "Hundreds of thousands of Oregonians have been ignored in this entire process," said Teresa Harke, spokeswoman for the Oregon Family Council."--http://www.oregonlive.com/mapes/index.ssf/2014/05/oregon_gay_marriage_weddings_q.html
U.S. District Judge Michael McShane, in a historic decision issued at noon, declared the ban unconstitutional and ordered it lifted immediately.
"It's a win," Jeana Frazzini, executive director of Basic Rights Oregon, announced to a standing-room-only crowd gathered at Oregon United for Marriage offices in Northeast Portland. The room erupted in cheers and tears of joy. Ben West and Paul Rummell, plaintiffs in the case, shared a kiss.
At the Multnomah County building in Southeast Portland, couples had already lined up for licenses, some holding pink roses handed out by a county employee. Many refreshed their cellphones to spot the news, then exclaimed in joy as it arrived. Someone shouted "Equality!" and passing motorists honked in support.
Plaintiffs Deanna Geiger and Janine Nelson became the first couple to marry in Multnomah County, exchanging vows in the county building's lobby before leaving under a shower of rose petals.
Oregon is the 18th state to legalize gay marriage, doing so 10 years and one day after the first state, Massachusetts. Legal proceedings are pending in all the rest.
McShane's decision struck down a constitutional amendment, passed by Oregon voters in 2004, defining marriage as between one man and one woman.
It also marked another in a stunningly rapid string of victories for proponents of same-sex marriage. Oregon is the seventh state where a federal judge has struck down a gay marriage ban since the U.S. Supreme Court last year dismantled key parts of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
After the Oregon gay marriage ban was struck down at noon today, wedding ceremonies began at the Melody Ballroom in SE Portland.
McShane, who is openly gay, used strikingly personal language in his opinion, recalling a game from his own childhood called "smear the queer" and lamenting a culture that encouraged "cruelty, violence, and self-loathing."
The judge, 53, acknowledged fears that opening the door to gay marriage could lead to "a slippery slope that will have no moral boundaries."
But he concluded: "To those who truly harbor such fears, I can only say this: Let us look less to the sky to see what might fall; rather, let us look to each other ... and rise."
Oregon's case started late last year when four Portland gay and lesbian couples filed federal lawsuits seeking to overturn Oregon's ban. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum declined to defend the ban, calling it indefensible in light of the Supreme Court decision.
That left Oregon -- unlike states such as Idaho, Utah, Michigan, Virginia, Oklahoma and Texas -- with no one to appeal the federal judge's decision.
McShane last week rebuffed an attempt by the National Organization for Marriage to intervene in the case. Monday morning, NOM failed to persuade the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to block McShane's ruling.
In his opinion Monday, McShane said gay and lesbian families and their children were harmed by Oregon's ban in many ways, including adoption rights, tax laws and spousal benefits granted by employers.
McShane said that preserving the traditional definition of marriage was not a strong enough argument for the law to stand. Otherwise, he wrote, tradition could be used as a "rubber stamp condoning discrimination against longstanding, traditionally oppressed minority classes everywhere.
McShane, one of nine gay judges on the federal bench, said during a hearing last week that he could rule without bias and that he had no personal or political interest in the issue of same-sex marriage.
Reaction to the ruling was swift, with public officials and Oregon businesses such as Nike expressing support.
"Today's historic ruling means that all Oregonians will have the legal right to marry the person they love," House Speaker Tina Kotek said in a statement. "After a 10-year engagement, my partner Aimee (Wilson) and I are thrilled to join the many other Oregon couples getting married this year."
Opponents, though, called the ruling unfair. "Hundreds of thousands of Oregonians have been ignored in this entire process," said Teresa Harke, spokeswoman for the Oregon Family Council."--http://www.oregonlive.com/mapes/index.ssf/2014/05/oregon_gay_marriage_weddings_q.html
