County rocks in backwash of court ruling
For seven weeks last spring, the most powerful women on the sixth floor of the Multnomah Building were the county's patron saints of same-sex marriage. Feted at tearful wedding ceremonies. Lauded as civil rights advocates. Defiant in the face of criticism and consequence.
Wow, you would think these were the greatest women on earth rather than a group of scofflaws.
Against the backdrop of national debate about same-sex marriage, Linn, Naito, Cruz and Rojo de Steffey held private negotiations to decide what they should do in Multnomah County, where several thousand same-sex households were counted in the 2000 census.
The Fishwrapper screams of "secret" detentions, "secret" searches, and "secret" surveillance under the patriot act but when four county commissioners and special interest groups conspire to subvert the law, leaving one country commissioner and the general public in the dark it is called a "private" meeting.
Six months after the county issued its final same-sex marriage license, Oregon voters approved Measure 36, which amended the constitution to legally recognize marriage only between a man and a woman. In Multnomah County, 60 percent of voters rejected the amendment.
The statistic for Multnomah County was given however the Fishwrapper leaves out the statewide number of 57% of all of Oregon said that marriage is the union between one man and one woman. Again, this is a statewide law and election that decides this. No one cares what Multnomah County thinks.
The Fishwrapper's Kimberly Wilson (kimberlywilson@news.oregonian.com) writes a disgustingly biased piece. I don't need phrases like "portraits of disappointment" in my news, just the facts. Like the 57% that was omitted.
2 comments:
OK, let's get this out in the open. I FAVOR same-sex marriage. I think the decision rendered by Lin et. al. was the right one.
That said, I strongly agree that the process they chose to invoke said decision was horrificly flawed and it underminded the decision made.
IF they had included the excluded commissioner AND had held public hearings, then I would support the decision 100%. Unfortunately, they did neither of these things.
A lot of people seem willing to look the other way re process issues when the decision made favors their position. I am not one of those people. In order for the process to work, it must be followed or it makes a mockery out of the process itself.
Regardless of whether or not commissioner Roberts and the public was included in the "proccess" the Oregon Supreme Court said that a county does not have the authority to make decisions like this.
The power that Diane Linn and company "perceived" they had is as real and the "gender identity" that is "perceived" by transsexuals. It's just not reality.
I don't think you would be so supportive of a county that decided that all restrictions on firearms violated the second amenment and now everyone could carry concealed without a permit. The point is that a county does not get to decide what state laws to follow.
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