(Portland, Oregon) A Federal Appeals Court on Thursday turned down a proposed ballot measure that would end Oregon’s domestic partner law.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury did not err when he determined a conservative group had failed to gather enough signatures to place a repeal on the November ballot.

“The judges clearly understood the issues at stake in this case when they rejected the plaintiffs’ demands for special treatment,” said Oregon attorney Margaret Olney, who assisted the State’s attorneys in their defense.

“The Court is saying unequivocally: you can’t change the rules just because you don’t like the outcome.”

The domestic partner law allows same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples unable to marry to form legally recognized partnerships. It was passed by the legislature in 2007.

Socially conservative groups immediately challenged the partnership law in court, alleging it violated Oregon’s constitution which bars same-sex marriage.

In February, a federal judge ruled the law was not unconstitutional and it went into effect. The groups then began a petition drive to have the law placed on the ballot.

After the petitions were submitted, Bradbury calculated there were not enough valid signatures for the measure to be placed before voters.

A lower court agreed with Bradbury’s decision and the group appealed to the 9th Circuit. The three judge panel in its Thursday ruling upholds the lower court ruling.

“This decision is a victory for commitment. It is a victory for love,” said Jeana Frazzini, executive director of Basic Rights Oregon.

“Most Oregonians agree that committed couples should have the legal recognition they need to take care of each other. And now two courts have rejected our opponents’ demands for special treatment.”

Under the partnership law, couples who register are guaranteed the right to visit partners in hospital and make medical decisions, file joint state tax returns, and have joint health insurance plans or take sick leave to care for their partners.

Some 2,500 same-sex couples have registered for domestic partnerships since the law took effect.

The law was passed after a legal battle for gay marriage failed.

The issue of same-sex marriage in the state arose in March 2004 when Multnomah County began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Soon after, the county was ordered to stop, but not before 3,000 marriage licenses had been granted.

The constitutional amendment, known as Measure 36, was passed that November.

In 2005 the state Supreme Court ruled the amendment legal and efforts to enact the domestic partner registry began.

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Billboard Campaign Highlights Gay Neighbors
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

Posted: August

14, 2008 - 10:00 am ET
(Milwaukee, Wisconsin) A Milwaukee group is showing people that gay and lesbian headed families are all around them with an aggressive billboard and bus shelter ad campaign beginning next Monday.

The “Gay Neighbor” campaign features LGBT families drawn from the Milwaukee area and was unveiled this week at a news conference.

The ads, from the Cream City Foundation, all bear the slogan “Family. It’s all about LOVE!” and direct people to a Web site that offers more information on the issues facing same-sex couples and their children.

In 2006, Wisconsin voters approved a constitutional amendment limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples. Since then LGBT activist groups have been focusing on efforts to get bills granting recognition of domestic partnerships passed in the legislature.

Marketing expert Denise Crawley said the photos used in the campaign were selected following intensive focus groups.

“We tried single people, we tried couples by themselves. None of those sorts of images worked as well as presenting people in the sense of family,” Crawley told Milwaukee Public Radio.

The ads feature with young children and teens pictured with their gay and lesbian parents, and LGBT kids with their mothers and fathers.

“We also heard from people that they thought that gay people don’t have families, certainly thought they don’t have children. Don’t even think to ask about a significant other, about their mother, about their sister.”

Several of the families represented in the campaign were present at the news conference, but were identified only by their first names.

One of the couples, Kristie and Karen, said that it was difficult to decide whether to expose their children in the ads.

“The last thing a parent wants to do is to put their child in harms way and, while I don’t feel like we’re necessarily doing that, it’s a little nerve-wracking. And there were days I did feel sick to my stomach about it and we talked about that a lot. But, we felt like the cause was worthwhile and we need to do it,” Karen said

“My true feeling was, I came back to the code, you have to be a part of the change you want to see in the world and there was no other way to do it. And I think our families and our kids know, that it’s a worthwhile cause.”

Crawley said that in addition to educating the straight population she hopes the ads encourage more gay people to come out.

“The fact that there are still hate crimes and there are still unfair laws, there are so many people who are still closeted,” she said.

“There are plenty of people who still have people come into their homes and have dinner parties and people don’t know that they’re gay. And we’re not going to be able to make inroads into more fair laws and opportunities if more people don’t realize how many gay neighbors they have.”

The foundation did not say how much it cost to produce the ads, but noted that received funding from the Joseph R. Pabst LGBT Infrastructure Fund and that Clear Channel had donated a large number of billboards.