Braving rain and chilly streets, more than 200 people marched from the First United Methodist Church to the Benton County Courthouse on Wednesday evening to protest a judge’s decision to delay registration of domestic partnerships for same-sex couples in Oregon.
The wet weather failed to dampen hope among marchers that the many couples who had planned to register Wednesday and make their partnerships legal wouldn’t have to wait long.
Leah Lesuer-Mandernack and her partner, Rachel Houtman, share a Philomath house and the ownership of some beloved pets. They have been together more than four years and had planned on making the trip to the Benton County Courthouse on Wednesday morning to register as domestic partners. Instead, they participated in the march and candlelight vigil.
“For me, it’s about bringing visibility to the community and putting a face to the GLBT community,” Lesuer-Mandernack said. She has found that people she knows who initially objected to providing legal protection to same-sex couples changed their minds when they realized she was in a same-sex relationship.
“I think it’s really easy to discriminate against a faceless minority,” she said. “Once you put a face to that, it makes a difference.”
Oregon’s domestic partnership law, passed by the Legislature in 2007, was supposed to take effect on Jan. 1. Because of the New Year’s Day holiday on Tuesday, Wednesday would have been the first opportunity for same-sex couples to actually register as domestic partners. But last Friday, U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman ruled that opponents of the law have a right to prove that some signatures on petitions gathered in an effort to force a statewide vote on the matter were unfairly invalidated, leaving the petition drive just short. Mosman ordered a Feb. 1 hearing, putting the new law on hold.
Elaine McFarlane of Corvallis was marching because of her son, Brett, who has been with his partner, Paul, for 13 years. The couple married in Portland when Multnomah County briefly made marriage licenses available to same-sex couples, but those licenses were later nullified. Now, the delay is yet another blow.
“I was devastated,” McFarlane said when she heard a judge had temporarily blocked the implementation of the new domestic partnership law. She said watching her son struggle to gain recognition and legal protection of his relationship has been eye-opening.
“It’s been hard seeing that the love they have for each other, the same as our youngest son and his wife, not getting the same kinds of protection,” she said. “Even with the new domestic partnership law, the equality is still not there. But things have improved since Brett first came out.”
Tara Puckett brought her 16-year-old daughter, Katie Myers, to participate in the rally.
“It makes me angry that people feel that giving equal rights takes away from their own rights,” Puckett said. “Equal rights are a family value.”
Carrying rainbow umbrellas and trying to keep their candles lit, the crowd eventually made its way to the courthouse steps, where Benton County Commissioner Annabelle Jaramillo and State Rep. Sara Gelser, D-Corvallis, spoke to the crowd.
“We’ve come together to reaffirm that caring, committed couples need to be in legally recognized relationships so they can care for each other, especially in emergencies, and have all the rights that families in Oregon do,” Jaramillo said.
“Congratulations to those of you that would have celebrated those domestic partnerships today,” Gelser said. “I look forward to celebrating with you when we can finally, legally finalize what you already know to be the truth.”
Story posted January 3, 2008