Multnomah County becomes the first in Oregon to license same-sex unions, joining an intense national debate

03/04/04

and DAVID AUSTIN

Multnomah County will begin granting marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples today, making it the first jurisdiction in Oregon to officially recognize that same-sex couples can marry.

Commissioner Serena Cruz said the county will make the announcement this morning.

"It's based on an opinion released by the county attorney," Cruz said. " A majority of the board supports changing the policy regarding the issuing of marriage licenses."

She declined to name the board members, but sources said Cruz acted along with county Chairwoman Diane Linn and commissioners Lisa Naito and Maria Rojo de Steffey.

Commissioner Lonnie Roberts assailed the plan, saying that his fellow board members "made a clandestine decision. That's not something that's healthy for government."

County officials have been discussing the move for more than a week. Cruz refused to release the legal opinion and declined to discuss any of its details. County Attorney Agnes Sowle said she would not comment on the opinion Tuesday.

The decision launches Multnomah County into the heart of a national debate about same-sex marriage. The county's decision comes a month after the Massachusetts Supreme Court said that state would have to allow gay marriages and San Francisco's decision to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. Several cities have followed San Francisco's lead.

At the same time, President Bush has declared his support for amending the U.S. Constitution to prohibit gay marriage, although a timeline has yet to emerge.

Oregon is one of 10 states without a law banning same-sex marriage.

Debate about gay rights has been raging in Oregon for nearly two decades, including several highly divisive initiative elections. In 1998, gay-rights advocates in the state won a significant legal victory in the Tanner decision. In that decision, the state Court of Appeals ruled that the Oregon Constitution requires the government to extend health benefits to the partners of gay employees.

In a footnote, the court said it was not ruling on the constitutionality of Oregon's marriage law, which defines marriage "in terms of a civil contract entered into by males and females who are thereby joined together as husband and wife."

Legal experts have long suspected that a challenge to Oregon's marriage law under Tanner could succeed.

Unavailable for comment

On Tuesday, Linn was traveling to Oregon from Washington, D.C., with Naito and couldn't be reached for comment. Her staff declined to discuss the policy change.

Rojo de Steffey did not return repeated phone calls Tuesday.

Dennis Mulvihill, Washington County's chief lobbyist, said he was meeting with Linn in Washington when she told him about the plan.

Mulvihill contacted Dan Olsen, Washington County's counsel, who requested copies of Multnomah County's legal analysis. But Olsen said he was told copies would not be distributed until today.

Olsen said he plans to review the analysis and share with his board whether he agrees with Multnomah County's decision. Washington County's long-standing policy allows marriage licenses to be issued only to couples of different genders, Olsen said.

One Multnomah County official confirmed that the county will begin granting the licenses immediately. "They were keeping it pretty close and were afraid of some kind of pre-emptive injunction," he said.

The county sheriff's office also was alerted to be on hand at the county's Southeast Portland headquarters for security.

Cruz said the issue was bound to hit the county at some point.

"Multnomah County -- like other communities across the state -- has been asking the question of whether or not this is something we can do," she said. "Personally, I support gay marriage, but this isn't a decision that I'm going to talk about in detail right now."

Discussions on the issue

According to sources, Linn, Naito, Cruz and Rojo de Steffey spent the past week discussing how to change county policy regarding same-sex marriages. They didn't meet as an official body but held discussions on the issue.

Those discussions didn't include Commissioner Roberts, who said he found out about the decision when he heard a news brief on a local radio station.

"I feel somewhat betrayed," Roberts said Tuesday night. "I have tried to work with every one of those people. I thought we had a good working relationship.

"Clandestine decisions are not a good thing. That's what they did. I'm really upset by all this."

Roberts said he opposes gay marriages and thinks state government should decide the issue. He said he would "obviously be outvoted on the board, but I still think we should've had a discussion."

"We've called marriage something that's between a man and a woman for centuries, and we should keep it that way," he said. "Apparently, the ladies on the board had another idea."

Laura Gunderson: 503-2945958; lauragunderson@news.oregonian.com David Austin: 503-294-5910; davidaustin@news.oregonian.com