Judge Strikes Down Oregon Ban on Same-Sex Marriage Recognition

You’d think a state with a
progressive reputation like Oregon would be all about the gay
marriage train, but that’s not the case. Actually, some counties
within the state did start issuing marriage licenses to gay couples
in 2004,
but then a ballot initiative passed prohibiting same-sex marriage
recognition in the state.

But another federal judge’s ruling today has, rather predictably
at this point, struck
down Oregon’s ban. Furthermore, government officials in Oregon
are not going to appeal the judge’s rulings, and the judge rejected
an effort by the National Organization for Marriage to intervene to
protect the law, meaning the battle’s apparently over in Oregon.
The order is effective immediately.

Chris Geidner at BuzzFeed notes that this is the 12th ruling
against gay marriage bans since the Supreme Court last year struck
down the part of the Defense of Marriage Act that allowed the
federal government to refuse to recognize same-sex unions in states
where they had been legalized. He also posted the ruling here.

Following up on other recent gay marriage news: In Arkansas, the
state’s Supreme Court has
instituted a stay on gay marriages there pending the state’s
appeal. A judge
struck down the state’s ban on May 9 and did not issue a stay.
As a result, there have been several hundred licenses handed out to
same-sex couples in Arkansas. That all ended on Friday (following
some additional complications over a separate law that forbid
clerks from handing out same-sex marriage licenses. The judge
struck that law down, too).

And in Utah, where the state is also appealing a federal judge
striking down their marriage ban, the state has ordered a halt on
issuing birth certificates for
same-sex parent adoptions. The state’s attorney general
contends that recognizing same-sex adoptions should also be put on
hold and the state should not recognize same-sex partners as legal
parents while the state appeals the marriage decision.