PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) -- In a new twist in the battle over same-sex marriage roiling the United States, a county in Oregon has banned all marriages -- gay and heterosexual -- until the state decides who can and who cannot wed.
The last marriage licenses were handed out in Benton County at 4 p.m. local time (7:00 p.m. EST) Tuesday. As of Wednesday, officials in the county of 79,000 people will begin telling couples applying for licenses to go elsewhere until the gay marriage debate is settled.
"It may seem odd," Benton County Commissioner Linda Modrell told Reuters in a telephone interview, but "we need to treat everyone in our county equally."
State Attorney General Hardy Myers said in a statement that he was "very pleased" with Benton County's decision. "It is my sincere hope that the legal process will provide clarity for each of Oregon's counties."
The three County commissioners had originally decided to start handing out gay marriage licenses this week but on Monday reversed that decision amid a growing firestorm of lawsuits across the country, and decided instead to put a temporary halt to all marriages.
Rebekah Kassell, a spokeswoman for Basic Rights Oregon, a pro-gay marriage group, told Reuters; "It is certainly a different way for county commissioners to respect their constitutional obligation to apply the law equally to everyone.
"We appreciate that they are willing to say they are not going to participate in discrimination."
Tim Nashif, the spokesman for the Defense of Marriage Coalition, said; "Oregon not only has the only county in the nation issuing illegal (same-sex) marriage licenses, we probably have the only county in the nation refusing to issue marriage licenses at all."
"We are happy Benton County is not going to violate the law by issuing illegal marriage licenses, but we are perplexed as to why they would not issue legal licenses," he added.
Benton County, whose county seat is Corvallis, is home to Oregon State University and is seen as a bastion of liberalism.
Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union said it would file a lawsuit Wednesday against Oregon or an unnamed state entity over the state's failure to register the more than 2,550 marriage licenses issued by Portland's Multnomah County to gay couples since March 3.
Multnomah County, the state's most populous, is the only jurisdiction in the United States that continues to issue same-sex marriage licenses. Local governments from San Francisco to New Paltz, New York, have halted the practice amid lawsuits and protests.
Beautiful and to the point...
Posted by sarcasticmuppet (Member # 5035) on :
I could have sworn I saw this before...
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
It's actually Corvallis and not the whole of Benton County that's the bastion of liberalism. I love my wacky hometown!
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
sarcasticmuppet, I already started a thread about this, but it got derailed immediately. Maybe people will start talking about the idea of banning all marriage to avoid discrimination now...
Posted by sarcasticmuppet (Member # 5035) on :
Just making sure. I didn't see the thread again, so I thought I must be going nuts.
Posted by HRE (Member # 6263) on :
Sorry, Shigosei, I didn't mean to steal your thunder.
I love this. I can die happy tonight.
"You can't do that! It is our religious right to be able to marry!!!"
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I still say the commissioners are vulnerable to a writ of mandamus ordering them to carry out their ministerial duties.
Dagonee
Posted by Book (Member # 5500) on :
I honestly thought this was going to be an Onion link.
Posted by Architraz Warden (Member # 4285) on :
Is it bad that my first thought was that if I were living in that country, and had my marriage license turned down, I'd sue the county for the Tax benefits I'd lose for not being able to file jointly?
Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :
Good thing Bob and dkw weren't in Oregon, eh?
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
It's a twenty-minute drive to Albany, the seat of Linn county. People can still get licenses there, and the ceremony can still be performed in Benton County. Seems that it's more of an inconvenience than anything else. I doubt any marriages will have to be postponed. This is a symbolic act.
I think I read somewhere that there aren't any laws compelling counties to issue licenses, so I don't think they are vulnerable to any legal action, though there will certainly be lawsuits.
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
quote: "You can't do that! It is our religious right to be able to marry!!!"
Oh, please. If a religious person wants to be married by their pastor in the sight of God, do you really think Oregon is going to stop them? I think this is better than letting everyone marry. Now, people who believe marriage is a religious institution can prove it, by getting married anyway. So they don't have a license. They might lose some money around tax time, and I admit that it would be more difficult to "live together" than be legally married, but I would be willing to pay that price, if it really came down to having all legal marriage banned.
Posted by Eduardo_Sauron (Member # 5827) on :
I'm just curious. Here in Brazil, if you live with someone else(it does not matter the gender, not since last year) as a couple for at least three years (if I am not wrong) you have all the rights of a married union. It is not the same in the U.S.?
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Actually, the OREGON REVISED STATUTES contain a requirement that the County Clerk issue licenses:
quote:106.077. Issuance of marriage license by county clerk; waiting period; exception.
(1) When the county clerk has received the written application for the marriage license from both applicants, and all other legal requirements for issuance of the marriage license have been met, the county clerk shall issue a marriage license which shall become effective three days after the date on which the application was signed by the applicants. The county clerk shall indicate on the license the date on which the license becomes effective. A license shall be valid for 60 days after the effective date.
The interesting thing is that it's not totally clear from a strictly textual analysis of state law that SSM are banned:
quote:106.010. Marriage as civil contract; age of parties.
Marriage is a civil contract entered into in person by males at least 17 years of age and females at least 17 years of age, who are otherwise capable, and solemnized in accordance with ORS 106.150.
Given the responsibility of officials to interpret laws in a manner consistent with the state constitution, they would have better legal support for issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples than for not carrying out the statutorily mandated ministerial duty.
Dagonee
Posted by Christy (Member # 4397) on :
Common Law Marriage is determined by the state here, and I believe only applies to a man and wife.