US: NOM’s bid to halt Oregon same-sex marriages rejected by Supreme Court

The National Organisation for Marriage’s bid to halt same-sex marriages in Oregon has been rejected by the Supreme Court.

The group had filed to stay Judge Michael McShane’s decision last month to strike down the state’s same-sex marriage ban, while they seek permission to appeal the ruling.

Both the state’s Governor and Attorney General refused to defend the marriage ban, and marriages were allowed to begin in the state when neither of them sought to appeal McShane’s ruling.

On Wednesday, the court declined to issue a stay on same-sex marriages in the state while the appeals court considers NOM’s request to be allowed to appeal.

The anti-gay group National Organisation for Marriage had previously filed a last-ditch effort to defend the state’s marriage ban days before the trial began, but their request was thrown out when they admitted they could not find anyone with standing to back their intervention.

Oregon was the eighteenth state to introduce same-sex marriage, and Portland couple Deanna Geiger and Janine Nelson were the first to marry.

Since marriage was legalised, hundreds of couples have married, and permission to appeal is highly unlikely to be granted given NOM’s lack of legal standing.

Last month, a campaign in favour of a ballot to allow a ‘religious freedom’ exemption to anti-discrimination laws in Oregon was dropped.

NOM’s president Brian Brown yesterday sent an email “begging” the group’s members to attend their rally in Washington later this month.

• Nov 29 2023

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