Tag Archives: Oregon

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum tonight filed a response brief in the same-sex marriage case, declaring, “The state defendants in this case recognize that the ban on same-sex marriage serves no rational purpose and harms Oregon citizens. This case presents that rare case in which there simply is no legal argument to be made in support of a state law.” …

Details. (Tipped by JMG reader Blair)

US Attorney General Eric Holder spoke today to the National Association of Attorneys General.  Here is an excerpt from his speech as provided by the White House: The essential duty to which all of us – as attorneys general – have been sworn: not just to win cases, but to see that justice is done. This is the cause that …

Clip recap: The race to the Supreme Court intensifies, with multiple new lawsuits and an expedited schedule. Oregon won’t defend its marriage ban in court, and a marriage lawsuit in Virginia might have reached a premature end. Plus polling from Louisiana shows progress, but it’s been slow.

“Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum is shamefully abandoning her constitutional duty to defend the marriage amendment overwhelmingly enacted by the people of Oregon. She swore an oath of office that she would enforce all the laws, not just those she personally agrees with. The people are entitled to a vigorous defense of the laws they enact, and the marriage amendment is …

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum announced today that she will not defend the state against the marriage equality lawsuit filed in federal court in October. Rosenblum said that she will continue to enforce the gay marriage ban until the court rules, but adds that the ban “cannot withstand a federal constitutional challenge under any standard of review.” Here’s a reminder …

Clip description: Virginia’s marriage ban is unconstitutional, with a strongly-worded victory in AFER’s case. And that’s just the start of multiple marriage wins from coast to coast this week. We have good news coming out of Kentucky, Indiana, and Nevada, plus several new lawsuits, hearings, and favorable polls.

Via Oregon Live: State labor investigators have determined a Gresham bakery violated the civil rights of a same-sex couple when it refused to make a cake for the women’s wedding. The Bureau of Labor and Industries said Friday that it has wrapped up its investigation into Sweet Cakes by Melissa. Spokesman Charlie Burr said investigators found substantial evidence the bakery …

From Oregon Public Radio: Eric Marcoux and Eugene Woodworth have been together since they the day they met in Chicago in 1953. “I am here today to be legally married to Eugene Woodworth, with whom I have had an intimate deeply committed relationship for a little over sixty years,” Marcoux says. Marcoux is 83 years old and Woodworth is 85. …

“I told God, if he’s going to save me from death from this and he doesn’t send me a boyfriend, I’m going to call a party foul.” – Portland resident Tom Comstock, after pieces of lumber speared the cabin of his SUV when he was rear-ended during rush hour traffic. Emergency room doctors gave him a tetanus shot and told …

An anti-gay Christian group has filed an Oregon ballot measure that would make it legal for businesses to refuse to provide wedding services to gay people on the grounds of religious belief. The initiative comes after Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian launched a well-publicized investigation against a Gresham bakery that refused to provide a cake for a marriage between two …

Sporting goods giant Nike, which is headquartered in Oregon, has created a political action committee in order to contribute $280K to the campaign to place a repeal of the state’s marriage ban on the 2014 ballot.  The PAC, called the Nike Equality PAC, plans to focus its efforts on collecting donations from Nike employees and Nike-affiliated companies. The news was …

Willamette Week reports: The state of Oregon will now recognize the marriages of same-sex couples who legally wed out of state. In a memo sent to all state agencies today, state Chief Operating Officer Michael Jordan says any gay couple who wed in a state where same-sex marriage is legal will now be eligible for the same benefits as any …

Freedom To Marry can add a 20th state to its map of marriage lawsuits. Yesterday a federal suit was filed in Oregon. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Eugene by Portland attorneys Lake Perriguey and Lea Ann Easton on behalf of two gay couples, seeks to have 2004’s Measure 36 ruled unconstitutional. It names Gov. John Kitzhaber and …

The mocking is heavy on right wing sites. Damn hippies!

Gay activists used “mafia-style tactics to shut them down.”

The Oregon bakery that is the subject of an anti-gay discrimination complaint has closed. According to the “Sweet Cakes by Melissa” Facebook page, “This will be our last weekend at the shop; we are moving our business to an in-home bakery…” On Aug. 14, Oregon’s state Bureau of Labor and Industries reported its investigation to determine if Sweet Cakes’ actions …

An Oregon man is being held on charges of manslaughter and possession of a machine gun after an accidental shooting at his apartment. An Oregon man told police he was using his assault rifle as a crutch to help him get up from a couch at a friend’s apartment when it fired a burst through the ceiling and killed a …

The New York Times is wondering what Ken Mehlman’s legacy will be regarding LGBT rights. Mr. Mehlman, 46, remains the hyper-intense, guarded strategist he was in his Bush days, with the same habit of looking past people instead of meeting their eyes. He shuns most interviews and still deflects personal questions, as he did back when rumors about his sexuality …

Oregon’s Williamette Week called the two local bakeries that have made national news for refusing to make gay wedding cakes.  Unshockingly, the businesses had no problem creating deliciousness for non-gay sinners. Last week five WW reporters called these two bakeries anonymously to get price quotes for other occasions frowned upon by some Christians. Surprisingly, the people who answered the phone …