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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (May 7, 2004)
jU S t O U t f lT T ì U T T O m n e w s ACLU attorney Kenneth Y. Choe spoke on behalf of the gay and lesbian couples challeng ing the ban. He said the 1998 Tanner decision ruled that discrimination against same-sex cou ples was unconstitutional in terms of benefits for state employees. “The exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage also discriminates against individuals based on their gender,” Choe added. “Whether an individual can marry his or her partner depends on whether he or she is male or female.” The states attorney, Stephen K. Bushong, argued that there are different ways to achieve the benefits of marriage denied gay and lesbian couples and that the Legislature is the proper place to detennine how and under what name access to those benefits might be achieved. Clark, representing social conservative groups, said that the framers of the Oregon C on stitution never envisioned same-sex marriage in 1857 and that their original intent should be honored. Marriage is for procreation, he asserted: “By definition, every heterosexual marriage— at least theoretically— has the biological capability of producing children.” He urged the court not to engage in “a massive social experiment.” “Does that mean that everybody who gets married and after five years doesn’t have a child, they are going to get their marriage license revoked.7” joked plaintiff Dr. Stephen Knox dur ing the hearing. Under current state law and policies, Choe said later in his rebuttal, “all couples who bring children into their families are expressly afford ed the same rights and benefits” regardless of whether they come through traditional pro creation, artificial means or adoption. What the plaintiffs seek is a logical extension of coverage of basic rights that have been extended to women and minorities since the Oregon Constitution was written. Choe said the separate-but-equal alternative that Bushong suggested would not work. Multnomah County Attorney Agnes Sowle said the county was only carrying out its admin istrative functions as required by the Oregon Constitution in issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. She lit into the state, charging: “It’s obvious that the state is primarily interested in getting the county to stop issuing the marriage licenses.... The state asks, really, for no more than court- ordered discrimination.... They are really asking for an injunction.. .without proving all of the ele ments that are required in Oregon to prove before an injunction is entitled to be issued.” At a joint news conference after the hearing, Fidanque said: “What we heard from [the oppo nents] is that Oregon should turn back the ckx:k to 1857 and that literally every right in history— which was granted to white men and refused to women, to racial minorities, to ethnic minori ties— should have to be fought for in the realm of majoritarian politics. We do not believe that is the meaning of the Oregon Bill of Rights. The whole purpose of the Bill of Rights is to place some fundamental freedom outside of the realm of how the majority may feel about that particu lar right in a given context at a given time.” Choe added, “What the Defense of Marriage Coalition has argued is that the judicial branch has no role in guaranteeing the rights of minori ties in our society.” But, he noted, the judiciary “sticks up for minorities when the majoritarian process tramples on their rights.” Dr. Eric Warshaw, Knox’s spouse, said, “One of the important things that we teach our [three adopted] kids is that discrimination is wrong, no matter what form it comes in, and we as a fami ly were discriminated against, and that’s why we decided to stand up and be here.” Lead plaintiff Mary Li explained: “Our rela tionship is about the hope and faith and belief in our rights as a family. 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