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A federal judge halted a law, which gives same-sex couples many of the benefits as married couples, from taking effect on Jan. 1.
U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman granted the injunction on Friday at the request of Alliance Defense Fund, which is asking the courts to first review a petition effort seeking to overturn the law.
The Christian legal group filed a lawsuit on behalf of several Oregonians after the Secretary of State and clerks’ offices in 12 different counties ruled in October that they had failed to collect enough valid signatures for a referendum that would allow voters to decide the “civil unions” issue. Many state residents, however, showed up in person to revalidate their signatures.
The suit, filed on Dec. 3, contends that there was no legitimate reason why signatures were not accepted as valid.
In court Friday, Austin R. Nimocks, ADF's senior legal counsel, said the state's review process was flawed, disenfranchising citizens who had signed petitions.
"Our country is founded on the basic principle of government of the people, by the people and for the people," Nimocks said in a statement prior to the hearing. "It is un-American that Oregon citizens are being denied the right to have their vote count on this matter."
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The new law would have granted gays and lesbians who wish to enter into "domestic partnerships" many of the privileges of marriage, including inheritance rights, child-rearing and custody, joint state tax filings, joint health, auto and homeowners insurance policies, visitation rights at hospitals and others.
But the measure will be put on hold at least until Feb. 1, the date of the scheduled hearing for the lawsuit Lemons v. Bradbury.
Meanwhile, gay rights advocates expressed disappointment over the judge's decision to halt the law.
The ruling does not affect another state law going into effect next week that bans discrimination against gay residents in work, housing and public places.
Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed the "domestic partnerships" bill into law in May. Given that the term "civil unions" was not used in the bill, the legislation has no ceremony requirement but the submission of a paper application.
Opponents of the legislation argued that it was an attempt to use semantics to bypass the state's law banning gay “marriage” by creating the same-sex union under "a different name."
Eight states have approved spousal rights either in civil unions or domestic partnerships for same-sex couples, including Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Maine, California, Washington and Hawaii. Massachusetts is the only state that recognizes gay “marriage.”
