luly lb. 2004 • jU S t O liti 1 3
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O n the R ecord
Court orders state to register same-sex marriages
by Jim R ad o sta
he Oregon Court of Appeals Riled
July 9 that the state must register
the 3,000 marriages of same-sex
couples that took place earlier this
year in Portland.
Circuit Court Judge Frank Bearden ordered
the state April 20 to register the marriage licens
es issued in Multnomah County. The state had
requested that the portion of the niling requir
ing registration be stayed, but the appeals court
refused to grant a restraining order.
“These couples have already done what any
other couple seeking to marry has already done
to marry in the state of Oregon,” said Rebekah
Kassell, spokeswoman for Basic Rights Oregon.
“It’s only fair that the state register those mar
riages— and that they are afforded the same pro
tections and responsibilities of marriage that any
other Oregon couple is afforded.”
County Commissioner Lisa Naito praised
the decision. “It is one more step towards equal
privilege in granting
marriage licenses regard
less of gender,” she said.
Commissioner Sere
na Cmz called the niling
“another
important
court victory in the ad
vancement of civil
Serena Cruz
rights.... The state of
Oregon can no longer deny these couples access
to the privileges, rights and responsibilities that
are granted to straight couples.”
Cruz added: “The state should end the
uncertainty it has caused for the 6,000 people
who married in Multnomah County. There
have now been three court decisions ordering
the state to provide the full legal recognition
these couples deserve.”
Bush Blames Oregon
I
physical and emotional health....’ The president
[seems] oblivious to the fact that there’s no way
for him to say gay people should not be afforded
equal marriage rights without also meaning that
gay people and our relationships are inherently
inferior, subhuman. Yet, he asks that we discuss
this civilly and with respect.”
Smith Ignores HRC Ad
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J O IN O N L IN E AT W W W . F L E X C A R . C O M OR C A L L 8 7 7 . F L E X C A R
T
he Human Rights Campaign t(X)k out a full-
page advertisement July 13 in The Oregonian
discouraging U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore.,
from voting for the Federal Marriage Amendment.
The ad quoted from the paper’s July 11 edi
torial: “To his credit, [Smith] has exercised a
iTKxlerating influence on his own party on gay
rights. So it was disappointing to learn Friday
that Smith intends to vote with G O P re
actionaries in favor of a retrograde amendment
to the U .S. Constitution, banning gay
marriage.... Most Americans understand the
politics of distraction.... Smith should recon
sider his vote. A champion of gay rights has no
business aiding such a political prank.”
H RC urged supporters to call Smith’s office
in Washington, D.C. The nationwide ad cam
paign resulted in more than 200,000 messages to
Congress.
Apparently, Smith wasn’t listening. He
voted to move forward on a version of the
amendment that would have jeopardized state
civil unions and domestic partnerships.
Online ads also appeared on regional newspa
per sites in Oregon, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio
and California; on the Web sites for Mother Jones,
Utne, AItemet, Salon, Slate, The New York Times,
The Washington Post and CN N ; and on more than
20 progressive blogs. The campaign demanded
that the Senate stop wasting time on the amend
ment and f<x:us on priority issues like the deficit,
job loss, health care and terrorism. J H
n his weekly radio address July 10, President
Bush blamed Oregon and other states for his
support of the Federal Marriage Amendment.
“This difficult debate was forced upon our
country by a few activist judges and local officials
who have taken it on themselves to change the
meaning of marriage,” he said. “In Massachu
setts, four judges on the state’s highest court have
ordered the issuance of marriage licenses to
applicants of the same gender. In San Francisco,
city officials issued thousands of marriage licens
es to people of the same gender, contrary to the
California family code. Lawsuits in several states,
including New Jersey, Florida, Nebraska and
Oregon, are also attempting to overturn the tra
ditional definition of marriage by court order.”
Bush added, “All of us have a duty to con
duct this discussion with civility and decency
toward one another.” But, as the National Gay
and Lesbian Task Force pointed out, queers are
not the ones using disgusting and hateful
rhetoric in this debate.
"The president’s close buddies on the reli
gious right,” executive director Matt Foreman
said, “claim that extending equal marriage rights
to gay people will c I cxhti Western civilization,
overturn bans on polygamy and bestiality and, in
the words of the $125 million behemoth Focus
on the Family, result in families with ‘higher lev
els of poverty, welfare dependency, child abuse,
sexual abuse, substance abuse, premature and
promiscuous sexuality, early unwed pregnancy,
educational failure, juvenile delinquency, adult H R C ’s full-page ad in The Oregonian didn’t
criminality and suicide as well as lower levels of get through to Gordon Smith
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■
R ose C ity V eterinary H ospital
Sheryl Stewart and the remote broadcast team
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Hot dogs • Drinks • Cookies • Cotton Candy • Balloons
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