Oregon’s Gay Marriage Ban Struck Down

U.S. District Judge Michael McShane ruled that Oregon’a gay marriage ban violates the constitutional rights of gays.

“Jubilant couples who anticipated a favorable decision from the judge began the rush to officially wed at locations around the state… Oregon becomes the seventh state where a federal judge has struck down a gay marriage ban since the U.S. Supreme Court last year invalidated key sections of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.”

Oregon is the seventh state where a gay marriage ban has been struck down since parts of the Defense of Marriage Act were invalidated by a federal judge last year.

The plaintiffs in the Oregon case as well as the defendants, chiefly represented by Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, urged McShane to strike down Oregon’s ban. They said it violated equal protections for gay and lesbian couples.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a last-minute attempt by the National Organization for Marriage to halt McShane’s ruling. NOM, an anti-gay marriage group, said it wanted time to appeal McShane’s refusal to allow NOM to intervene in the case.

Rosenblum and the plaintiffs in the Oregon case urged the 9th Circuit to deny NOM’s motion for a stay.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.