NewsWrap for the week ending April 24, 2004 (As broadcast on This Way Out program #839, distributed 4-26-04) [Written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Graham Underhill, Fenceberry, Rex Wockner, and Greg Gordon] Anchored this week by Cindy Friedman and Rick Watts The U.S. state of Oregon must recognize Multnomah County's marriages of same-gender couples, a judge ruled this week. That makes 3,022 gay and lesbian couples the first in the US to have their marriages affirmed by a court. It's a remarkable victory for them, but one that's incomplete and apt to be short-lived. The state's expected to seek a suspension of Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Frank Bearden's order that Oregon register the marriages. Bearden's own decision recognized that the final judgment will come from the Oregon state Supreme Court -- or else from voters, should they choose to amend the state constitution. The ACLU -- the American Civil Liberties Union -- brought the case known as "Li versus Oregon" on behalf of several married and wish-to-be-married lesbian and gay couples. Judge Bearden agreed with their claim that denying the benefits of marriage to same-gender couples violates Oregon's constitutional guarantees of equal protection under the law. That was also the view of Multnomah County's legal counsel, which led the County Board to approve the licensing that began in March. It's also shared by Oregon's Attorney General and the legal advisor to the state legislature. Judge Bearden also ordered Multnomah County to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-gender couples for now. That's in order to give state lawmakers a chance to remedy the discrimination. But should they fail to act within 90 days of their next session, the County should resume licensing, he said. Just when that would be isn't clear. The Oregon legislature had been considering holding a special session in June to discuss tax reform. That may not happen because many lawmakers aren't ready to become embroiled in discussing marriage. The regular session will open a few months later. However, the state is expected to ask for a deferral of Bearden's deadline. Judge Bearden's ruling suggests that equality under the Oregon constitution could be achieved by civil unions as well as by marriage. The case is expected to be appealed, possibly directly to the Oregon Supreme Court rather than to the intermediate state Court of Appeals. Just as historic and yet just as limited was a California legislative panel's vote this week to open legal marriage to same-gender couples. It's believed to be the first vote ever in a U.S. state legislature to support equal marriage rights -- yet the bill may not advance much farther. The state Assembly Judiciary Committee voted 8-to-3 -- all Democrats in favor, all Republicans against -- to change California's definition of marriage from "one man and one woman" to "two persons". That bill, AB 1967, was introduced by openly gay Democratic Assemblymember from San Francisco Mark Leno. Just four years ago a substantial majority of voters approved a statewide ballot measure enshrining the one-man, one-woman definition -- but only for California's recognition of marriages performed in another state, according to Leno, not for those performed within its own borders. His bill's opponents believe the ballot initiative expressed the "will of the people" to restrict marriage exclusively to heterosexual couples. The bill moves next to another California Assembly committee, Appropriations, where it may not even get a hearing. Should it succeed there, it would face an uphill battle on the Assembly floor. Similar bills have also been introduced this year in New York, Rhode Island and Vermont. So far none has received committee approval, and enactment is not expected. Meanwhile, the California Supreme Court is reviewing the legality of San Francisco's recent licensed marriages for gay and lesbian couples. Massachusetts' top state court has already decreed that gays and lesbians will be legally marrying beginning in mid-May, and this week the state Senate rejected the Governor's last desperate bid to stop them. Republican Governor Mitt Romney wanted to ask the court to stay its ruling, which now puts same-gender marriages in place for at least two-and-a-half years. Democratic state Attorney General Thomas Reilly refused to pursue that action, which many believe would have no legal basis. So Romney tried a little-used provision by which the legislature could allow him to appoint a special counsel to do it. But the Senate this week refused to even consider the Governor's emergency bill, with Senate President Robert Travagline citing "more pressing matters". House Speaker Thomas Finneran has promised it will at least get a hearing there, but there's no sign the Senate position will change. Romney publicly doubted the legislature's sincerity in having given a first round of approval to a constitutional amendment to prohibit same-gender marriage, which would override the court's decision. The same proposed amendment would also create civil unions for gays and lesbians. To be enacted, it must again be approved by the next legislature, and then by the voters. This week the Catholic Action League filed its own petition demanding that the Massachusetts high court delay the marriages until the public can vote on that amendment. The state Attorney General filed a brief in opposition declaring the group had no legal standing in the matter. Another group is hoping to use an obscure item in the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights to unseat the four justices who formed the majority in the Supreme Judicial Court's split decision. To succeed, they need to convince a majority of the legislature as well as the Governor and his Council. This process is known as the bill of address, and is distinct from impeachment. It was last used to remove a high court justice 200 years ago. One of the many details the state is trying to cope with in anticipation of same-gender marriages is whether to grant them to couples from outside the state. This week a bill was introduced to repeal a 1913 Massachusetts law that Romney and others believe prohibits the state from marrying non-resident gay and lesbian couples whose home states would not recognize their marriages. Oklahoma voters will get to decide this year whether to amend their state constitution against same-gender marriages. This week the state House followed the Senate in overwhelmingly approving the proposal to restrict marriage within the state exclusively to heterosexual couples, to deny legal recognition to any same-gender marriages another state might perform, and to create a misdemeanor offense for knowingly issuing a marriage license to a gay or lesbian couple. The Kentucky state legislature gave its final approval last week to putting before the voters a constitutional amendment against same-gender marriages, as the Mississippi state legislature did the week before. Georgia and Utah lawmakers had already approved amendments for their state ballots. Several other state legislatures are still working on similar measures, while in still more states petitions are circulating towards advancing anti-marriage amendments. Virginia state lawmakers emphatically insisted on a measure to deny recognition not only to marriages but to any kind of civil union or partnership agreements same-gender partners might bring in from other states. The measure was so broad that Governor Mark Warner feared it might interfere with business contracts and generate constitutional challenges, so he sent it back to the legislature with suggested amendments. This week both houses gave the original wording veto-proof two-thirds majorities. European developments stand in stark contrast. In France, Green Party Member of Parliament and Mayor of Bordeaux Noel Mamere announced he'll perform a civil marriage for a gay male couple in June. He was inspired by the recent actions of two U.S. mayors, and said that legal research had failed to find any explicit prohibition against marrying same-gender couples. Since 1999, French gays and lesbians have had the option of legally registering their relationships with Pacts of Civil Solidarity, which carry many of the legal benefits of marriage. Mamere believes that if the marriage is declared void in France, it will serve as a test case in the European Court of Human Rights. A bill to create registered partnerships was introduced this week in the Czech Parliament by nine members from four parties. That group included both the oldest and youngest members of the Chamber. They hope their bill, developed in conjunction with gay and lesbian groups, will fare better than its predecessors, even though the ruling coalition's Cabinet could not agree on a proposal the Government had drafted. The bill would provide for registration, dissolution including support payments, medical decision-making, and inheritance rights, but not for adoption. New Zealand's Family Court this week established that a boy has three legal parents -- the lesbian couple who bore and raised him and his partnered gay Au stralian sperm donor. It started as a friendly arrangement between the two couples for artificial insemination and limited visitation for the men. But the relationship deteriorated into a gruelling two-year legal battle over access and decision-making when the mothers moved back to New Zealand after the insemination. Following two High Court decisions in the case, the Family Court has declared that the mothers share custody and the father also has standing as a legal guardian. The court also significantly expanded the father's visitation rights beyond what the parents had originally contracted. It's considered a landmark case, although a bill to overhaul New Zealand's family laws is now in the Parliament. And finally... the day may not be far off when a lesbian couple can conceive a child together without sperm -- and not just a clone of one, but offspring with genetic material from both mothers. Japan's Tokyo University of Agriculture has produced two healthy adult mice with a mixture of genes from two females. As reported in the current edition of the distinguished journal "Nature", that's the first time this has been achieved in mammals. One offspring mouse named Kaguya has gone on to mate with a male the old-fashioned way and produced an apparently healthy litter of her own.