A federal judge in Oregon struck down that state’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage Monday and an appeals court quickly rejected a request by supporters of the ban to block the order.
U.S. District Judge Michael McShane said Oregon’s ban unconstitutionally discriminates against gay couples and instructed the state not to enforce the law.
The backers of the ban went to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to ask that the court stay the order, in effect temporarily blocking gay marriages in Oregon until the appeals are resolved.
The circuit refused. Although the same 9th Circuit last week blocked an order in Idaho that struck down that state’s law, Oregon was different.
In Portland, the supporters of gay marriage said the Idaho governor sought the emergency stay for Idaho. But in Oregon, it was the National Organization for Marriage Inc., an anti-gay marriage group, that appealed for the right to intervene on behalf of the Oregon state government and pursue an appeal on the state’s behalf.
The 9th Circuit rejected the request in a one page-order Monday.
Dianna Geiger and Janine Nelson, two of the plaintiffs in the case, married in MultnomahCounty immediately following the ruling.
Case: Geiger v. Kitzhaber, No. 14-35427
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