God, hes left as on aur oun.
Take that, Massachusetts.
With a two-steps-forward-one-step-back ruling, Oregon has become the first state in the union to recognize same-sex marriages. —Multnomah County Court Judge Frank Bearden ruled as follows:
- because Oregon state law does not allow for same-sex marriages, Multnomah County must stop issuing same-sex marriage licenses;
- because Oregon state law in this regard clearly violates Oregon’s constitution, the legislature must remedy this blatant discrimination within 90 days of the start of the next session;
- because the social benefits of marriage are intangible, a state-sanctioned civil union that guaranteed all the legal benefits of marriage would be an acceptable remedy;
- if the legislature cannot remedy this blatant discrimination in 90 days, Multnomah County may resume issuing same-sex marriage licenses; but
- no matter what, the state is required to recognize those same-sex marriages already performed.
So Multnomah County must rejoin the rest of the country however temporarily in the 20th century. And there’s a lot of legal dancing to avoid remembering the inherent inequalities of separate-but-equal, whether it’s water fountains or familial compacts. And we’re still waiting for the Oregon Supreme Court to weigh in—there’s many a possible slip yet betwixt this cup and lip. But thousands of same-sex couples were just done right by the state. Congratulations! —You take ’em where you can get ’em. (Me, I got most of this from the One True b!X and Ampersand. While you’re at Alas, by the way, check out this hoot-worthy flip-flop from a foe of same-sex marriage, confronted with a possible legislative solution:
“This is something that should be decided in the courts before it ever comes here,” said Assemblyman Pat Bates, R-Laguna Niguel, who voted no.
(Massachusetts begins wedding same-sex couples on 16 May. Brimstone has yet to fall. Heterosexual marriage is as strong as it ever was. Civilization shows no signs of collapsing. —Over this issue, at least. Hey! Look! Somebody said “Shit!” on television!)
Gay Marriage: One Step Back, Two Steps Forward
I've been rather remiss in updating my Gay Marriage category lately; partly because nothing really significant was happening, and partly because my job so immerses me in it, I begin to stop noticing it at all. That said, I link...