County treats all equally

by Feòrag

United States: An Oregon county has decided to stop issuing all marriage licences after it was threatened with legal action if it did not stop doing so to same-sex couples. The ban will remain until the Oregon Supreme Court has ruled on the constituionality of same-sex marriages. The County Commissioners said they had decided to treat everyone equally:

So to be fair, Dixon said, the three commissioners voted to stop issuing licenses to anyone until courts resolve the matter.

That treats everybody equally, he said. It was a question of treating everyone the same. It won't hurt anybody. They can still get licenses in other counties.

Fundies are not happy

Tim Nashif of the Defense of Marriage Coalition, which has been fighting same-sex marriages, blasted the Benton County decision.

It's just crazy, he said. I don't understand it. We're happy that they're not giving out licenses that violate the law, but how do they get to the point that they're not issuing licenses to anybody?

Nashif, whose group is involved in the Multnomah County court case, said if a heterosexual couple is prevented from getting a license in Benton County, we would be very open to representing their rights in a lawsuit.

But presumably, if marriage is a right and not a privilege, giving straight and gay people different rights goes against the Oregon constitution? Benton stops all marriage licensing - The Oregonian, 23rd March 2004.