Homosexuals in Oregon now have the right to enter into contractual relationships similar to heterosexual marriages. House Bill 2007, which grants homosexuals the right to enter in to domestic partnerships, was recently enacted into law.

However, domestic partnerships will only be recognized at the state level, according to Lee Badgett, re-search director at the Williams Institute, a think tank focused on sexual orientation policy and associated with the UCLA School of Law. Among other things, the law grants inheritance rights, state tax benefits and the authority to make decisions for an incapacitated partner, according to Ms. Badgett.

In all, the law grants about 500 rights and responsibilities associated with marriage, according to Caryann Fish, communications director for Basic Rights Oregon, the state’s largest homosexual advocacy group.

Ms. Fish said, “As a culture, if we’re worried about the breakdown of community and family, [when] we see people who are trying to make a real commitment to one another, the last thing we should be doing is getting in their way.”

Ms. Fish said the public response to HB 2007 has been “incredibly positive and supportive,” noting that her organization received many volunteers to help couples register for domestic partnerships.

The Williams Institute reported that over the next three years about half of the state’s homosexual community – approximately 4,500 people – will register for domestic partnerships.

By enacting HB 2007, Oregon joins 10 other states in providing pro-visions for homosexuals to enter into contractual relationships, but Ms. Badgett said the enactment will make no difference to states without such laws. “Most other states won’t even know that Oregon has done this,” she said.

Although homosexual advocates hail the passing of HB 2007 as a hard-won victory for equal rights, critics allege the legislation was improperly enacted.

Former Sen. Marylin Shannon, R-Ore., wrote that the passing of HB 2007 created “social upheaval.” In a commentary in The Oregonian (Feb. 10), she wrote that HB 2007 goes against the will of Oregonians, who are largely conservative.  Mutnomah and Lane counties are exceptions, she said.

The Alliance Defense Fund, a group that provides legal defense for religious organizations, has sued Oregon’s Secretary of State, Bill Bradbury, and several county clerks for illegally excluding signatures from a referendum to put the repeal of HB 2007 on the ballot (Lemons v. Bradbury).

The initiative, Referendum 303, was designed to allow Oregonians to vote on a repeal of the domestic part-nership law, HB 2007, which was passed in May 2007.

Fifty-five thousand, one hundred seventy-nine signatures were required to put the referendum on the 2008 ballot, and approximately 62,000 signatures were submitted (on Sept. 26, 2007), according to the Defense Fund’s lawsuit. However, only 55,174 signatures were counted, leaving the referendum five signatures short.

The lawsuit states that Oregon law mandates that the states inform citi-zens of when their signatures need verification, but that 254 people were not informed that their signatures were excluded.

On Dec. 28, 2007, U.S. District Judge Michael Mossman stayed the domestic partnerships bill from taking effect while the Defense Fund’s law-suit went forward. However, on Feb. 1, 2008, Judge Mossman decided to allow the law to take effect.

The Alliance Defense Fund is appealing the decision to the Ninth Circuit Court.

David Crowe, founder and director of Restore America, said the politicians who voted for HB 2007 “virtu-ally circumvented the will of the people.”

Restore America, which encourages Christians to register and vote, has been a key opponent of pro-homosexual laws.

“About 50 people thumbed their noses as the Oregon people. That’s what’s called tyranny,” Mr. Crowe said.

In her commentary, Mrs. Shannon wrote that HB 2007 violates the spirit of Measure 36, an amendment to Oregon’s constitution that defines marriage as between one man and one woman.

Trent Brown, a homosexual man with a partner of two years, said he respects the conventional understanding of marriage. “I understand that marriage is traditionally between a man and a woman,” he said.

He said that what is more important is that same-sex unions are accorded equal rights and responsibilities as heterosexual marriages. “As long as the same benefits are available, then that is OK with me,” he said.

Austin Nimocks, senior legal council of the Alliance Defamation Fund, said, “Whether or not you get to file a tax return with the government is really beside the point of what we think is important with regard to marriage, and that has to do with the optimal environment for raising children.”

However, Gerry Breshears, chair of biblical and theological studies at Western Seminary, said that he disagrees with opposing HB 2007 with a ballot measure.
“That puts us in a negative position, and it will only provide fodder for the media to point out the fundamentalist, negative spirit of Christians. If I go down and picket my neighbor, that’s not loving him,” he said.

Dr Breshears said Christians should instead “expose evil for what it is,” and provide positive examples of godly lifestyles and marriages.

Many advocates of traditional morality are in favor of opposing pro-homosexual laws, such as HB 2007, through ballot initiatives, according to Mrs. Shannon.
“I’m confident that they will stand up for traditional values,” she said of an informal coalition that last year fought to repeal Senate Bill 2, a controversial anti-discrimination law that is focused on creating greater job access for homosexuals.

Mrs. Shannon said she and members of last year’s informal coalition are in the initial stages of creating two ballot initiatives to repeal SB 2 and HB 2007.

“This time the rules have changed,” she said. People can download (and then sign) the petitions from the Secretary of State’s Web site, which should expedite the signature-gathering process.

The deadline for submitting signatures is July 3. She said, “I strongly believe that the will of the people should be honored.”