In Oregon Gay Marriage Supporters with a Measured Approach
Oregon United For Marriage, the group formed to put a same-sex marriage initiative on the November ballot, had planned to formally decide Monday whether to drop the measure in light of the May 19 federal court ruling allowing gays and lesbians to marry in Oregon.
But that's been put on hold while the group watches to see how the U.S. Supreme Court handles a request by the National Organization for Marriage for an emergency stay of the ruling by U.S. District Judge Michael McShane.
Justice Anthony Kennedy, who handles emergency actions for the region including Oregon, has asked all of the parties in the case to give him briefs on the NOM request by 10 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time.
As is typical, Kennedy hasn't said when he will rule on NOM's motion. And it’s possible he could pass it to the full court for a decision.
Peter Zuckerman, a spokesman for Oregon United for Marriage, said his group remains confident that the court will reject the request from NOM, which was filed last Tuesday. But, he added, leaders of his group "are not going to make a decision [on the initiative] until they know what the court is going to do."
“We have the signatures" to qualify for the ballot, Zuckerman added, "and we'll turn them in if that's what we need to do to win."
The group has said it has collected 160,000 signatures; 116,284 valid signatures are needed to qualify the proposed constitutional amendment for the ballot. The group has said it would like to avoid the cost and divisiveness of a statewide campaign this year if possible.
Oregon United for Marriage, which held a party at Portland's Montgomery Park on Saturday to celebrate the start of gay marriages in the state, said it would offer officiants to anyone who wants to get married at the event. Zuckerman said Friday that the group had not heard of a large number of people worried that they need to get married now for fear the Supreme Court might issue a stay.
Lawyers familiar with the case say they expect Kennedy, or the full court, to act quickly, probably within the week. It took the court just six days after an appeal was filed to grant a stay halting same-sex marriages in Utah.
Here's some additional background on the latest legal proceedings in Oregon's same-sex marriage case:
- How the National Organization for Marriage, repeatedly rebuffed in its effort to intervene in the Oregon case, wound up at the Supreme Court.
- The motion that NOM filed with Justice Kennedy.
- Judge McShane's May 19 decision, which struck down Oregon's voter-approved constitutional amendment limiting marriage to one man and one woman.
— Jeff Mapes
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