Close to home I’m proud to announce that opponents of gay-rights laws have abandoned their repeal effort. From The Oregonian:
[The network of conservatives and church groups] are targeting two laws passed by the 2007 Legislature. One law banned discrimination against gays in work, housing and public places such as restaurants.
The other created domestic partnerships, civil union-like contracts that give government recognition and most of the state benefits and responsibilities of marriage to same-sex couples.
The domestic partnership law went into effect Feb. 4, and so far 2,065 same-sex couples, from every county in the state, have registered for partnerships. About 70 percent of the couples are women, and nearly half live in Multnomah County.
Our laws appear to be safe for now although the fight continues and we still have a state ban on calling our unions marriages. Our neighbors to the south, however, recently decided that it went against their state constitution to ban gay marriage and they have just begun issuing marriage licenses as of yesterday. What a great Pride present!
I especially love to hear from one of the first couples to wed yesterday, the octogenarian activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, followed by the eloquent words of the adorable San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom (video from the AP).
And though this is certainly a time for celebration the threat of backlash still looms large. From the AP:
… in a few months, Californians will go to the ballot box to vote on an initiative that would overturn the high court ruling and again ban gay marriage.
On Monday, three lawmakers and a small group of other same-sex opponents gathered outside the Capitol to criticize the Supreme Court decision. They urged voters to approve the ballot measure.
“This is an opportunity to take back a little bit of dignity … for kids, for all of us in California,” Republican Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa said. “It really disturbs me that the will of the people was overridden by four members of the Supreme Court.”
I’m praying for you California in my own offbeat spiritual way. And, of course, congratulations.
