Senate in Oregon OKs gay unions
Cheryl Wetzstein, Washington Times
July 10, 2005

The Oregon Senate has passed a bill to create civil unions for homosexual couples, although the measure is not expected to pass the state House.

The bill, which would give homosexual couples many of the benefits of marriage, passed the Democrat-led Senate on Friday by a 19-10 vote.

The issue now goes to the Republican-led House. Members of that chamber have said civil unions violate the state's new constitutional marriage amendment. They have proposed an alternative "reciprocal benefits" system, which would allow any two adults who can't legally marry to sign up for certain rights and benefits.

Voters outlawed same-sex "marriage" in November, and homosexual rights groups have been working ever since to make Oregon the third state, behind Vermont and Connecticut, to enact civil unions for same-sex couples.

Advocates of same-sex "marriage" are also active in California.

On Tuesday, a California Senate committee is scheduled to consider a bill to make marriage language gender-neutral and allow same-sex couples to "marry."

In June, the Senate rejected the same bill by four votes.

However, Assemblyman Mark Leno, the lead sponsor, has revived the bill using the "gut and amend" tactic. In this process, Mr. Leno took AB 849 -- a bill about fishing research that passed the Assembly -- and "gutted" it by substituting the gender-neutral "marriage" language.

Same-sex "marriage" supporters, such as Equality California, are hoping the Senate committee and eventually the full Senate will pass the revised same-sex "marriage" bill.

But traditional-values groups such as the Campaign for Children and Families are ramping up opposition.

"Mark Leno, be careful what you wish for," said Randy Thomasson, president of the campaign. He said Mr. Leno's nonstop efforts to legalize same-sex "marriage" in California will galvanize a petition drive to put the question of same-sex "marriage" to voters next year. The petition drive is set to begin later this month.

Several weeks ago, Mr. Thomasson and his conservative allies were dealt a setback by the California Supreme Court.

In January, California's sweeping new domestic partnership law, AB 205, went into effect, giving registered homosexual couples most of the rights of married couples.

Conservative groups challenged the law, saying it violated Proposition 22, a voter-passed law that says only marriages between a man and a woman are valid in California. AB 205 is "gay marriage by another name," the plaintiffs argued.

Homosexual rights groups and their allies responded that Proposition 22 does not forbid domestic partnerships and that domestic partnerships are not, in fact, marriages.

California courts upheld the domestic partnership law and on June 29, the state's high court unanimously declined to take the case, leaving AB 205 in effect.