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Loading ...Oregon tribe legalizes gay marriage
08.21.2008 2:10pm EDT
(Portland, Oregon) An Oregon native American tribe has legalized same-sex marriage, but its gay weddings may only be recognized within its tribal borders and in California and Massachusetts.
The Coquille Indian Tribe, located on the southern Oregon coast, says that under the federal Indian act it is not bound by Oregon’s 2004 constitutional amendment limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples. But some legal analysts say that the tribe is likely bound by the federal Defense of Marriage Act which denies federal government recognition of gay marriage.That is not deterring the Coquilles.
Chief Ken Tanner tells The Oregonian newspaper that Native Americans are “sensitive to discrimination of any kind.”
“For our tribe, we want people to walk in the shoes of other people and learn to respect differences. Through that, we think we build a stronger community,” he said.
A lesbian couple already is planning a tribal wedding next May.
Jeni and Kitzen Branting will be married at the tribe’s plankhouse – a common gathering place for the Coquilles. They said that they are inviting between 100 and 150 people.
Kitzen Branting is a member of the tribe, while Jeni Branting is not.
The women say they don’t care if their marriage is not recognized much beyond the tribal border.
“For me, the important thing wasn’t about rights or the benefits,” Kitzen Branting told The Register-Guard newspaper.
“I just wanted the tribe to say ‘Yes, we recognize that you are just as important as any other tribe member, and we will treat you and your spouse as we treat all tribal members.’”
It is generally believed that the Coquilles are the first Native American tribe to legalize same-sex marriage.
In May 2004, a lesbian couple in Oklahoma applied for and was issued a marriage certificate by the Cherokee Nation. The couple wed shortly after that. The following year members of the tribal council went to court to fight challenge the legality of the marriage and in 2006 the Judicial Appeals Tribunal of the Cherokee Nation, the highest Cherokee court upheld the marriage, but the couple never registered their marriage.
Great!
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Even after all the terrible things done to our Native Americans brothers and sisters as our country grew. They still retained the ideal of being “sensitive to discrimination of any kind.” This is a lesson that all Americans should learn from them.
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I wish more tribes would do the same, truely indigenous people do not carry the stigmas and baggage that christianity brought over from europe.
They are brave and true blue!!
This is what it’s all about people! If only Chief Tanners’ words could spread like wildfire.
Chief Ken Tanner tells The Oregonian newspaper that Native Americans are “sensitive to discrimination of any kind.”
“For our tribe, we want people to walk in the shoes of other people and learn to respect differences. Through that, we think we can build a stronger community”.
Please help DEFEAT:
Proposition 8 in California
Proposition 102 in Arizona
Florida’s Amendment 2
Finally some really good news. We should all be proud to have such an enlightened peoples in America. Are you listening white man? Peace and Love….
I want to know if it is legal for an under-age lesbian couple to get married when both parents have a problem with gay/lesbian relationships. Even though you know what you’re doing and all the consequences, you know that you love someone, regardless of your ages and sex. So I would like to know if its possible, to get married, under-age, and be a lesbian couple that is?