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Oregon Prohibit Laws Discriminating Based on Pregnancy Outcome, Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation, or Sex and Repeal Same-Sex Marriage Ban Initiative (2026)

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Oregon Prohibit Laws Discriminating Based on Pregnancy Outcome, Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation, or Sex and Repeal Same-Sex Marriage Ban Initiative
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Election date
November 3, 2026
Topic
Constitutional rights and Abortion
Status
Cleared for signature gathering
Type
Constitutional amendment		Origin
Citizens

The Oregon Prohibit Laws Discriminating Based on Pregnancy Outcome, Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation, or Sex and Repeal Same-Sex Marriage Ban Initiative may appear on the ballot in Oregon as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 3, 2026.

The measure would further define the state's constitutional rights provision that prohibits laws that discriminate based on account of sex to include laws and policies that discriminate based on pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, health decisions, gender identity, sexual orientation and marriage, and sex. It would also repeal the ban on same-sex marriage adopted in 2004.[1]

Text of measure

Full text

  • The full text of the measure is available here.

Background

State-level Equal Rights Amendments

As of May 2025, 30 state constitutions had provisions that guaranteed equal rights either in their original text or added later as an amendment. The formulation of the provisions varied from state to state. The last state to adopt an equal rights provision in its state constitution was New York in 2024 when voters passed Proposal 1.

The map below highlights which states have equal rights provisions in their state constitutions.[2]

Related measures

See also: History of same-sex marriage ballot measures

Between 1998 and 2012, voters in 30 states approved ballot measures that defined marriage as between one male and one female or otherwise prohibited same-sex marriage. The U.S. Supreme Court invalidated bans on same-sex marriage in the case Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015.


In 2020, Nevada became the first state to repeal its same-sex marriage ban from its constitution. Along with repealing the 2002 amendment outlawing same-sex marriage, the approved amendment recognized marriage as between couples regardless of gender and stated that religious organizations and clergypersons have the right to refuse to solemnize a marriage. The state legislature referred the measure to the November 2020 ballot, where it was approved with 62.43% of the vote.

Measures to repeal state constitutional same-sex marriage bans in 2024

The following table provides a list of measures to repeal same-sex marriage bans from states' constitutions in 2024:

State Type Title Description Result Yes Votes No Votes
CA

LRCA

Proposition 3 Repeal Proposition 8 and establish a right to marry

Approveda

9,477,435 (63%)

5,658,187 (37%)

CO

LRCA

Amendment J Remove the provision of the state constitution that says "Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state"

Approveda

1,982,200 (64%)

1,099,228 (36%)

HI

LRCA

Remove Legislature Authority to Limit Marriage to Opposite-Sex Couples Amendment Remove provision of the constitution saying that "the legislature shall have the power to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples"

Approveda

268,038 (56%)

211,142 (44%)


Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Oregon

The state process

An initiated constitutional amendment is a citizen-initiated ballot measure that amends a state's constitution. Eighteen (18) states allow citizens to initiate constitutional amendments.

In Oregon, the number of signatures required for an initiated constitutional amendment is equal to 8% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. A simple majority vote is required for voter approval unless the initiative proposes changing vote requirements, then the initiative must be approved by the same supermajority requirement as proposed by the measure. The requirements to get an initiated constitutional amendment certified for the 2026 ballot:

Details about this initiative

  • The initiative was filed on June 24, 2024.[3]
  • The initiative was cleared for signature gathering on January 7, 2025.

See also

  • Ballot measure lawsuits
  • Ballot measure readability
  • Ballot measure polls
  • Ballot measure signature costs

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Oregon Secretary of State, "Measure 2026-033 full text," accessed November 11, 2024
  2. ↑ Brennan Center for Justice, "State-Level Equal Rights Amendments," accessed February 3, 2023
  3. ↑ Oregon Secretary of State, "2026 initiatives," accessed November 11, 2024
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