regon county bans all marriage

Tuesday, March 23, 2004 Posted: 11:58 PM EST (0458 GMT)

Benton County Commissioners discuss their decision to stop the county from issuing marriage liscenses to anyone.

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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.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/West/03/23/marriage.ban.reut/index.html

thanks a lot gays, now not only can you not get married but no one else can either, nice work :rolleyes:

No it’s the heterosexuals, who are so keen on saying no to homosexual marriage.

That county (SINCE I LIVE IN OREGON), allowed Gay Marriage, and Straight Marriage, and the Straights made such a fuss about it, they had to call both off…So the state could decide what to actually do about this marriage issue, since the largest county in Oregon is “ok’ing” it.

So in reality it was the straights that caused the downfall of marriage in this county.

LMAO, you are so bass ackwards its hilarious. I am the reason no one can get married in oregon, whatever.

No it was the straight's in OREGON, actually. But you were trying to blame it on the gays in oregon, in saying,

"thanks a lot gays, now not only can you not get married but no one else can either"

I'm telling you it wasn't the Gays in Oregon, but the Straights. I live here, buddy...don't mess

WTF? are you insane? so straight people who have been getting married to each other for centurys are the reason they cant get married now? you dont make sense, you are jsut trying another one of your stupid tricks. why dont you give up? no one is going to believe that hetoerosexual married couples are to blame for their inablility to get married anymore, that just sounds so stupid! why even insult us with your moronic drivel overdose?

The straights are going to take it to the judges, and they protest, and were like we are going to send it to the courts, if you let this happen!

So the homosexuals, who were getting married, were not causing any “trouble” until the Straights decided it would be best to take it to the courts. So then the homophobes (wow, I’m gonna get hell for that one), lost…in the court.

Then after that, this county started issuing licenses, and then the hetro’s wanted to put it on the Oregon ballot, and so then this county stopped all licenses until the vote happened. So in reality, the straights pushed it, to now make a state-wide vote...after they lost in the courts.

So actually, if it wasn't for them, everyone could get married, and it would be all happy ;)

:hitout: I wish we had a commissioner with as much guts
as the one in Oregon

I love Oregon

:p

Originally posted by Overdose
I love Oregon

:p I'm thinking of moving there since
I believe thats where poeple think clearly

Only move to Portland and surrounding cities, for everywhere else in Oregon is rural white trash like. The educated, people, live in the surrounding area’s of Portland, mostly the West side of Oregon…and the East is for the most part nuts.

Portland is the best city in the world, that I’ve been to at least.

Originally posted by Overdose
Only move to Portland and surrounding cities, for everywhere else in Oregon is rural white trash like. The educated, people, live in the surrounding area’s of Portland, mostly the West side of Oregon…and the East is for the most part nuts.


I'm always amazed at how many people on the far left are complete snobs . . .

By the way, my dad was born in the rural white trash part of Oregon.:hitout:

Originally posted by LionelHutz
I'm always amazed at how many people on the far left are complete snobs . . .

By the way, my dad was born in the rural white trash part of Oregon.:hitout:

it comes with the territory. I'm an elitist liberal and proud :D

key word: "most part"

Read next time

limosine liberals. I grew up poor in a rundown house without a heater and many times without hot water. I never had any government assistance, and I lived in a wealthy liberal town, where all the kids wore 60 dollar jeans. I got my cloths at kmart and 2nd hand stores, I got my fair share of crap. to hear these limosine liberals preach to me about tough times is almost maddening, but its more funny. I went into the military, got out, went to college, became an earth scientist and now have a great life. my parents instilled in my self determination and perseverance, not to blame others and hold my hand out. sorry for the rant, but the topic of self righteous rich boys preaching to the liberal mantra is to much to take.

Cry me a river, build a bridge and get the fuck over it.

We all have issues

To say I’m rich is just annoying.

You don’t even know me…so don’t take offense to what I said Trav…for you are making accusations that are simply not true.

Trav: yes, I come from a middle class background, no, I've never had to go without heat in my house. but you know what? I'm proud of my heritage, which just happens to be a bunch of liberal intellectuals. it's who my family is, it's who I'm going to end up being, and I learned ethics and morals that are just as good as yours.

Trav ever heard, I'm not rich my parents are...

Get it?

Originally posted by Overdose
key word: "most part"

Read next time

I can read, thank you. The number of people you insult and look down upon isn't the important part - what makes you a snob is that you do it at all. Especially since the liberal mantra is that these are people that need to be helped because they're being abused by evil conservatives. "Don't worry you stupid redneck moron - I respect you and the republicans don't!"

Hey Lionel, what part of Oregon?

Originally posted by LionelHutz
I can read, thank you. The number of people you insult and look down upon isn't the important part - what makes you a snob is that you do it at all. Especially since the liberal mantra is that these are people that need to be helped because they're being abused by evil conservatives. "Don't worry you stupid redneck moron - I respect you and the republicans don't!"

Well said :)

Originally posted by LionelHutz
I can read, thank you. The number of people you insult and look down upon isn't the important part - what makes you a snob is that you do it at all. Especially since the liberal mantra is that these are people that need to be helped because they're being abused by evil conservatives. "Don't worry you stupid redneck moron - I respect you and the republicans don't!" Somehow Lionel, i dont think your meaning will hit the mark you intended. I couldnt agree with you more however.

Originally posted by LionelHutz
I can read, thank you. The number of people you insult and look down upon isn't the important part - what makes you a snob is that you do it at all. Especially since the liberal mantra is that these are people that need to be helped because they're being abused by evil conservatives. "Don't worry you stupid redneck moron - I respect you and the republicans don't!"

Ah, way to isolate that hypocrisy!

Originally posted by Pepper
Hey Lionel, what part of Oregon?

Lacomb. My mom grew up in Portland, so I guess she wasn't a redneck. Most of my extended family lives in Portland or Roseburg, although all of my immediate family lives in the midwest. Beautiful country out there!

I think your family is an excellent example of how rural and city people can potentially co-exist peacefully. :) (I don't know how well your parents got along so I won't make any assumptions.

I find many parts of Oregon to be beautiful, from the desert basin in the SE to the rocky shores of the coast. It's hard to find a good vegi dish outside of Portland City limits, but I have always found the people to be pretty nice. Beaverton scares me a little, but it's more a reflection of the strip malls and shopping centers, then the actual people.

I think there has always been a division between the rural and urban living. Fortunately I see many organizations trying to make inroads to bridge that gap.

I'm going to make it back out to Portland one of these days. Haven't been there since the mid-80s.