December 03, 2004

'Families First' Versus 'Equality For All'

Gearing Up For Oregon Supreme Court Marriage Arguments

As previously mentioned on any number of ocassions, the afternoon of December 15 will see the Oregon Supreme Court hear oral arguments in Li v. State of Oregon, the continuing legal battle that arose out of Multnomah County's decision earlier this year to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Whether we get to watch the session from within the Court itself or will be relegated with so many others to watching it via other means, our bus tickets to Salem are bought and paid for and one way or the other we will have a report on the arguments later that day.

In the meantime, there appear to be at least two camps of same-sex marriage supporters heading into Salem that day, with somewhat divergent agendas.

First, there are the plans of Basic Rights Oregon, which include a pre-arguments rally from 12:15 PM until 12:45 PM on the steps of the State Capitol with the theme of "Families First".

"Some have expressed a desire to gather at the Supreme Court itself," writes BRO on their webste, "but our attorneys have advised us that this could have a negative outcome on the case by appearing to the court as though we are trying to put political pressure on the court to reach a decision in our favor."

After that rally, BRO's camp will be marching to the Smith Auditorium at Willamette University to watch the proceedings via a live video feed. Afterward, BRO and the ACLU of Oregon will hold a post-arguments briefing at the Smith Auditorium.

Meanwhile, according to Marriage Matters, there will be an entirely separate rally which will be held at the Oregon Supreme Court itself, from noon until 3:00 PM.

"[C]ivil unions are not the answer to what has been laid at the feet of Oregon's LGBT community," writes the author of Marriage Matters. "They are both separate and unequal, contracts which do not afford all the rights, privileges and responsibilities of marriage, and which can be invalidated merely by traveling across the state's border."

While the BRO camp will be rallying under the slogan "Families First", this camp will be doing so under the slogan "Equality for All".

For some of the latest background on where the same-sex marriage situation here in Oregon currently stands, see this Associated Press article. As it and Marriage Matters point out, in case anyone forgot, as of yesterday the constitutional disparagement of Measure 36 went into effect and same-sex couples in Oregon officially are second-rate citizens as far as marriage is concerned.

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