Same-sex marriages performed in Oregon

By The Associated Press and Seattle Times staff

	GREG WAHL-STEPHENS / AP Rebecca Kennedy, left, holding her 4-year-old daughter, Ava, is married to Mary Li, center, before Judge Betty Roberts in Portland.
	E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Related stories Facing criminal charges, N.Y. mayor will continue same-sex weddings Gay Republicans turn against Bush Other links Gay couples wed in Portland today

The governor joined others who question the legality of gay marriage, even as wedding ceremonies are sweeping the nation from San Francisco to New Mexico, Massachusetts and upstate New York.

But the governor's words did little to deter the long line of gay couples snaking their way around a Multnomah County building, ducking under rainbow-colored umbrellas as they waited to pick up marriage licenses.

"This means we finally get to enjoy what every other married couple takes for granted — it means we finally get to enter that world also," said Mary Li, a Multnomah County employee who was the first to legalize her commitment to her longtime partner.

"This is sacred ground," said Lori Buckwalter, 53, who chose to exchange vows with her partner of nine years on the steps of the building where they picked up their marriage license.

Multnomah County officials announced that 422 couples had been issued marriage licenses on Wednesday, with an estimated 90 percent of the licenses going to same-sex couples. Many of the couples went off to immediately exchange vows — at a Portland hotel and a city auditorium — in ceremonies organized by Basic Rights Oregon, a gay-rights organization.

At least one couple said they were going to a rhododendron garden to celebrate their union. Others doused each other in rice — and some in bird seeds — on the steps of the county building, announcing they had waited long enough.

	GREG WAHL-STEPHENS / AP Martha Spires, center and Brooke Gelfand, right, both of Portland, line up to apply for a marriage license outside the Multnomah County offices.

But the governor, Democrat Ted Kulongoski, questioned the legality of Multnomah County issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

He stressed that Oregon's marriage statute needs to be read within its historical context. The law was passed in 1863.

"At the time in history when the statute was written I think it is clear they were thinking about a man and a woman getting married," said Kulongoski, a former state Supreme Court justice and former state attorney general.

It's up to Attorney General Hardy Myers, said Kulongoski, to decide what, if any, enforcement action will be taken against Multnomah County, which is both Oregon's most populous and its most liberal county.

Myers' spokesman, Kevin Neely, said the attorney general is studying whether the state marriage statute or constitution allow same-sex marriage and will issue an opinion in a few days.

Four of Multnomah County's five commissioners don't share Kulongoski's reservations. They sought legal counsel — and received two legal opinions — both of which stated that Oregon's constitution does not permit the county to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.

"Multnomah County cannot deny marriage licenses to gay or lesbian couples," said Commissioner Lisa Naito. "We will not allow discrimination to continue when the constitution of the state of Oregon grants privileges equally to all citizens."

	GREG WAHL-STEPHENS / AP Bobbi Davis, left, and Heather Spotts joined other supporters of gay marriage, as couples began lining up outside the Multnomah County offices in Portland, Ore., last night.

The fifth county commissioner — Lonnie Roberts — was left out of the decision-making by his four colleagues. He learned of the move to issue licenses from a reporter Tuesday.

"The word I'd like to use is 'clandestine,"' he said of the process, which was at least a month in the making.

Kulongoski also had harsh words for the county's decision-making process.

"I think this idea of doing it in secret, not allowing any public comment, I think is just unacceptable in a democracy," he told reporters.

But County Chairwoman Diane Linn defended her decision, saying she did not call for a vote — she sought a legal opinion. When the opinion indicated the county was acting in an unconstitutional manner, she said her only option was to take immediate action to remedy the situation.

Only a handful of protesters were at the county office building where marriage licenses were handed out.

But they were vocal.

As well-wishers doused Lori Buckwalter and her partner in rice, a man wearing a sign with the words, "Repent Perverts," tried to storm their ceremony.

"Homosexuality is an abomination to God," cried out Grant Mercy, a self-described "street preacher."

Among those who picked up a marriage license was Christine Tanner, who won a landmark Oregon Court of Appeals ruling in 1998 requiring all state and local governments in Oregon to offer spousal benefits to an employee's same-sex partners.

"There are only so many big events in people's lives — birth, marriage and death," said Tanner, who wedded her partner of 19 years at their local church Wednesday. "It's a big deal."

As Oregon became the latest staging area in the gay-marriage fight, activists there applauded the decision, while their counterparts in the Puget Sound region expressed optimism that the movement will head north, despite high legal hurdles here.

"It's encouraging. County by county, state by state, we're getting people to see the light. It will happen in our lifetime," said Bill Dubay, who heads the Washington state gay-rights group Don't Amend and has been in a monogamous same-sex relationship for 31 years.

Elaine Kraft, spokeswoman for King County Executive Ron Sims, said the county isn't ready to follow Multnomah County's lead.

"Washington law is very clear," she said. "At this point, the county executive and prosecuting attorney will continue to uphold the state law."

Couples had already started making wedding plans as soon as they heard the news.

Traia Cleary and Mel Wensel, who got married in Vancouver, B.C., on Valentine's Day, planned to leave their Burien home overnight to get in line to get their license in Portland this morning.

"We want to get married in the states," said Cleary, who has been using Wensel's last name since their wedding in Vancouver.

Last night, Wensel saw the news on television and called out to Cleary, "Oh my God, honey, Portland's going to issue marriage licenses."

Cleary shouted back from the other room, "Oh my God, we have to do it."

Meanwhile, New York's attorney general joined the national debate, cautioning that current law prohibits same-sex weddings.

"I personally would like to see the law changed, but must respect the law as it now stands," Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said in a statement.

Both sides of the issue have been waiting for Spitzer's opinion since Friday, when the mayor of New Paltz, a college town 75 miles north of Manhattan, married 25 gay couples without licenses. Village Mayor Jason West now faces 19 criminal counts and could face jail time.

On Wednesday, John Shields, the mayor of Nyack, N.Y., said he would also start marrying same-sex couples and planned to seek a license himself to marry his boyfriend.

Also Wednesday, lawmakers in Washington, D.C., debated the issue, with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist urging Congress to adopt a constitutional ban.

"Same-sex marriage is likely to spread through all 50 states in the coming years," Frist said. "It is becoming increasingly clear that Congress must act."

In Massachusetts, same-sex marriages have the approval of the state's highest court — but the state-sanctioned marriages will not start until May.

New York and Oregon are among 12 states without laws clearly defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

Seattle Times staff reporters J. Patrick Coolican and Nguyen Huy Vu contributed to this story.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company