Oregon Voids Same-Sex Licenses

Supporters and opponents of gay marriage are reacting to the Oregon Supreme Court's decision to nullify thousands of same-sex marriage licenses that had been issued in one county last year.

The state supreme court ruled that Multnomah County had no right to issue the nearly 3,000 licensees.

Eric Warshaw says he and his partner are "devastated." His marriage was the first between two males in Multnomah County.

However, the head of the Oregon Family Council and the Defense of Marriage Coalition says it's a "travesty" is that Multnomah County commissioners "took the law into their own hands."

Tim Nashif says the couples shouldn't have assumed anything about the validity of their marriages until the state Supreme Court ruled.

The court said while the county can question the constitutionality of laws governing marriage, they are a matter of statewide concern so the county had no authority to issue licenses to gay couples.

The ruling was simply a matter of jurisdiction between state and local authority, CBS News Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen.

"From this ruling you gather that the Oregon court would not have permitted these licenses to stand even if the voters of the state hadn't passed a constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage after the case was filed," Cohen said.

The court noted that last November, Oregonians approved a constitutional amendment that limits marriages to a man and a woman. The court also said that long before that vote, state law had set the same limitations on marriages since Oregon became a state.

"Today, marriage in Oregon — an institution once limited to opposite-sex couples only by statute — now is so limited by the state Constitution as well," the court ruling said.

The court left the door open for state legislators to craft an alternative to gay marriages, such as civil unions.

"We conclude that Oregon law currently places the regulation of marriage exclusively within the province of the state's legislative power," the court said.

Nashif, head of the Oregon Family Council and the Defense of Marriage Coalition, said, "We're pretty thrilled and pretty relieved at the opinion."

Members of the Legislature have been awaiting the ruling to give them guidance on how to proceed on the issue, and just Wednesday, Gov. Ted Kulongoski said he will push for a law allowing gay couples to form civil unions.

For now, proponents of same-sex marriage theoretically can try to appeal this ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, Cohen said.

"But there is absolutely no reason to think that the Justices will be interested or willing to hear the appeal at this time," he said. "Its much more likely that the issue will have to brew in state courts around the country for years and years before it percolates up to the High Court."

Marte Sheehan, who married Linda Duchek last March, said she was disappointed with the ruling but had hopes the Legislature would pass a bill allowing civil unions.

"I believe that ultimately the Legislature will do the right thing," she said.

Multnomah County, which includes much of Portland and is the state's most populous county, began issuing marriages to gay couples last April, arguing that not doing so violated the state Constitution. A judge ordered the practice to cease about six weeks later, but not before nearly 3,000 same-sex couples had wed.

Legal Analyst Cohen says Thursday's ruling makes it even more likely that the U.S. Supreme Court will eventually get involved in the same-sex marriage fight.

"This is precisely why the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately is going to have to get involved in this debate," Cohen said. "Courts in different states, like Oregon and Massachusetts, have and will come to different conclusions about essentially the same issue, a conflict that ultimately will touch upon federal constitutional issues."

Vermont is the first and still the only state to offer civil unions to gays, passing a law in 2000. Massachusetts has allowed gay marriage since last May. Both those changes came about after court rulings. In Connecticut, the state House passed legislation Wednesday that would make it the second state to establish same-sex civil unions

Multnomah County's move last year was one of a flurry of similar ones after San Francisco started issuing same-sex marriage licenses on Feb. 12, 2004. San Francisco's spree of gay weddings also was shut down by the courts, though a related constitutional challenge brought by gay rights activists is still pending.

"Two West Coast liberal states now, both California and Oregon, have both said that local governments don't have authority to take the law into their own hands," said Kelly Clark, the attorney for the Defense of Marriage Coalition. "It certainly sends a signal to the rest of the country."