UPDATE: Oregon House OKs Domestic Partnerships
Christopher Rizo - All Headline News Staff Writer
Salem, OR (AHN) - The Oregon House of Representatives voted 34-26 today to give same-sex couples many of the rights now afforded only to those who are legally married.
If approved by the state Senate and signed by the governor, House Bill 2007 would put same-sex couples on the same legal footing as married couples when it comes to estate planning and medical decision-making, but stops short of civil union laws on the books in Vermont and Connecticut.
After spirited debate, three House Republicans joined all 31 Democrats in supporting the bill; 26 Republicans voted against it.
While Democrats have argued that extending protections to Oregon's gay and lesbian couples is a matter of fairness, Republicans contend that legally recognizing same-sex couples is not the civil rights issue some proponents of the bill have framed it to be.
"I have met former homosexuals; I have not met former Blacks or Hispanics," said Rep. Sal Esquivel, R-Medford. "I don't believe what you chose to do makes you a minority."
Gov. Ted Kulongoski, a Democrat, has said he will sign the bill into law.
Many House Republicans say they would have been more inclined to support the bill if the law had extended so-called "reciprocal benefits" to couples who cannot legally marry, regardless of their sexual orientation, such as unmarried sisters. Under such a system, as is in Hawaii, registered pairs have limited protections under the law, including hospital visitation rights and the ability to make medical decisions on behalf of an incapacitated partner.
"I don't care what they call it, as long as it's identical to marriage because anything less than identical would be second-class," said Leslie A. Stone, chair of the Abdill-Ellis Lambda Community Center, which serves the gay and lesbian community in Ashland.
Among other things, the legislation would require registered same-sex couples be Oregon residents. Couples would simply enter into a contract recorded with the state to be recognized.
A similar bill passed the state Senate in 2005, but former House Speaker Karen Minnis, R-Wood Village, after a protracted debate in the Senate, refused to allow a House vote on the measure, believing that it would thwart the will of Oregon voters, who have voted to ban same-sex marriage.
This year, observers on both sides of the issue agree that with the political dynamic as it is in the state, with Democrats in control of the Legislature, Oregon could very well become the fourth state in the nation to approve domestic partner legislation for same-sex couples, joining California, Washington and Maine.
Only one state, Massachusetts, allows gays to marry; Connecticut, New Jersey and Vermont have civil unions. Hawaii uniquely has a reciprocal benefits law.
Opposed to the bill is the Oregon Family Council, the muscle behind Measure 36, which voters in 2004 overwhelmingly approved to limit marriage constitutionally to a union only between one man and one woman.
Spokesman Nick Graham said the Oregon Family Council opposes legislation to amend Oregon's marriage laws to give "special protections" to gays and lesbians.
"We do not believe that sexual orientation should qualify as a minority class under Oregon law," he said.
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