Queers that are into the idea of legally partnering around the state are already celebrating today as a victory. The US 9th Circuit denied the appeal headed by Philip Lemons (of the far-right conservative Alliance Defense Fund), meaning domestic partnerships won’t be voted on this November. They are here to stay.
From The Oregonian:
A federal appeals court Thursday refused to an attempt to force a vote on Oregon’s domestic partnership law.
Opponents of domestic partnerships collected signatures for a referendum, but elections officials said they came short.
They sued, saying valid signatures were not counted.
A federal judge disagreed, and the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that decision.
Opponents of domestic partnerships can still try to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, but have little time.
And from Just Out:
In an unusually quick ruling, the 3-judge 9th District Court found that the plaintiffs – petition signer Phillip Lemons and his lawyers, the far-right conservative Alliance Defense Fund – did not have their equal protection and due process rights violated by not being allow to “contest,” in person, their signatures on a Referendum initiative last fall which sought to send Oregon’s Family Fairness Act to the ballot. The Family Fairness Act provides a panoply of rights and responsibilities to same sex couples in the state, and the organizers behind that referendum failed to gather the required signatures to send the new law to the ballot this November.
