Oregon Marriage Measure 36 (2004)

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The Oregon Ballot Measure 36 was on the November 2, 2004 ballot in Oregon as an initiated constitutional amendment, where it was approved. The measure banned same-sex marriages by only recognizing marriage between one man and one woman as valid. Almost ten years later, the measure was overturned on May 19, 2014.

Aftermath

U.S. District Court

Four gay and lesbian couples took the measure to court, and argued the state's marriage laws unconstitutionally discriminated against them and excluded them from a fundamental right to marriage. On May 19, 2014, Judge Michael McShane of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon overturned the marriage ban, making Oregon the seventh state to have such measures overturned by judges. Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum (D) had refused to defend it in court. Roseblum said that there were no legal arguments that could support it in light of the 2013 decisions regarding same-sex marriage by the U.S. Supreme Court. In the week prior to his decision, Judge McShane denied a request by the National Organization for Marriage to defend the law on behalf of its Oregon members. The National Organization for Marriage filed an emergency appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit asking for a stay of a ruling that prohibited it from defending the state’s ban. The appeal was quickly denied. Gay rights groups claimed to have enough signatures to force a statewide vote on gay marriage in November 2014, but also said that they would discard the signatures and drop the campaign if the court ruled in their favor by May 23.

U.S. Supreme Court

See also: Obergefell v. Hodges

On June 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marriage under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution in the case Obergefell v. Hodges. This ruling overturned all voter-approved constitutional bans on same-sex marriage.

Justice Anthony Kennedy authored the opinion and Justices Ruth Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan joined. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito each authored a dissent.

The concluding paragraph of the court's majority opinion read:

“	No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.	”
—Opinion of the Court in Obergefell v. Hodges

Election results

Oregon Measure 36 (2004)
otOverturned Case:Rummell and West v. Kitzhaber 6:2013cv02256
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		1,028,546	56.63%
No		787,556	43.37%

Election results via: Oregon Blue Book website, accessed December 16, 2013

Text of measure

Ballot title

The official ballot title for Measure 36 was:

“

Amends Constitution: Only Marriage Between One Man and One Woman Is Valid or Legally Recognized as Marriage RESULT OF "YES" VOTE: "Yes" vote adds to Oregon constitution declaration of policy that only marriage between one man and one woman is valid or legally recognized as marriage. RESULT OF "NO" VOTE: "No" vote retains existing constitution without a provision declaring that only marriage between one man and one woman is valid or legally recognized as marriage.

”

Summary

The official ballot summary for Measure 36 was:

“

Amends constitution. Oregon statutes currently provide that marriage is a civil contract entered into in person between individuals of the opposite sex, that is, between males and females at least 17 years of age who solemnize the marriage by declaring "they take each other to be husband and wife." The existing Oregon Constitution contains no provision governing marriage. Currently, the State of Oregon recognizes out-of-state marriages that are valid in the state where performed, unless the marriage violates a strong public policy of Oregon. Measure adds to Oregon Constitution a declaration that the policy of the State of Oregon and its political subdivisions is that "only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or legally recognized as a marriage."

”

Full text

The full text of the constitutional changes enacted by Measure 36 was:

“

The Constitution of the State of Oregon is amended as follows: It is the policy of Oregon, and its political subdivisions, that only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or legally recognized as a marriage.

”

Support

Supporters of the measure argued that traditional family values would be under attack as long as same-sex marriage was permitted. Some argued that children raised without a mother and a father would not be emotionally or physically "healthy," and that foster children would be more likely to be placed in same-sex households if homosexual marriage was "normalized."

While certain supporters pointed out that Measure 36 was not about "hate," but about promoting a common good for Oregon, others such as the Traditional Prejudices Coalition took a stronger stance, calling homosexuals a "perverted" part of society and stating that those who do not follow the Bible will "burn in hell."

Some of the other supporters included:

• State Representative Susan Morgan
• Stronger Families for Oregon
• Restore America
• Representative Wayne Krieger
• Parents Education Association
• Senator Roger Beyer
• Clark Brody Retired Superintendent, Oregon Department of Education
• Gary George, State Senator
• Defense of Marriage Coalition
• Family Research Council
• City Bible Church
• New Hope Community Church
• Cedar Mill Bible Church

Opposition

This measure was opposed by many people and organizations, including a number of churches and religious groups, who argued that Measure 36 wrongly allowed discrimination to be a part of the Oregon Constitution. Many pointed out that "love" should be the only deciding factor in whether a marriage is considered valid.

Some of those who opposed the measure include:

• American Friends Service Committee
• Community of Welcoming Congregations
• Planned Parenthood of the Columbia Willamette
• Central Pacific Conference of the United Church of Christ
• Religious Response Network
• The National Organization for Women, Corvallis Chapter
• National Association of Social Workers, Oregon Chapter
• Administrative Council of the University Park United Methodist Church
• Outright Libertarians
• State Rep. Kelley Wirth
• State Senator Vicki L. Walker
• The Session of Southminster Presbyterian Church

Campaign finance

$2,455,816 was spent by the "yes" campaign and $2,967,012 was spent by the "no" campaign.

Support

Larger donors to the pro-campaign were:

• Christian Copyright Licensing, Inc., $410,000.
• Focus on the Family, $138,364.
• Gateway Communications, $120,439.
• Neil Nedelisky, $101,000.

Opposition

Larger donors to the anti-campaign were:

• National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, $662,858.
• Human Rights Campaign, $312,778.
• Basic Rights Oregon, $184,243.
• Tim Gill, $150,000.
• Robert Wilson, $100,000.
• Bruce Bastian, $27,500.
• SEIU, a local, $10,962.
• Eric Lemelson, $10,000.

Related measures

Many historical marriage and family-related ballot measures regard the definition of legal marriage. The debate often revolved around whether marriage should be legally defined as the “union of one male and one female” or the “union of two persons [regardless of sex].” Voters chose to define marriage as between “one male and one female” in the following 30 states. The first constitutional prohibition was in 1998, and the latest one occurred in May 2012. All bans on same-sex marriage were overturned in the 2015 United States Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges.

• 1998: Alaska
• 2000: Nebraska
• 2002: Nevada
• 2004: Arkansas
• 2004: Georgia
• 2004: Kentucky
• 2004: Louisiana
• 2004: Michigan
• 2004: Mississippi
• 2004: Missouri
• 2004: Montana
• 2004: North Dakota
• 2004: Ohio
• 2004: Oklahoma
• 2004: Oregon
• 2004: Utah
• 2005: Kansas
• 2005: Texas
• 2006: Alabama
• 2006: Colorado
• 2006: Idaho
• 2006: South Carolina
• 2006: South Dakota
• 2006: Tennessee
• 2006: Virginia
• 2006: Wisconsin
• 2008: Arizona
• 2008: California
• 2008: Florida
• 2012: North Carolina

See also

• List of Oregon ballot measures
• Oregon 2004 ballot measures
• 2004 ballot measures

External links

Suggest a link

• 2004 Election Results
• 2004 Voter Guide General Election
• 2004 Ballot Measure Details