Source: The Oregonian, Corvallis Gazette-Times, and KTVZ
Hundreds crammed into a Portland community center and spilled onto the rainy street Wednesday evening for a candlelight vigil to lament a court ruling that blocks Oregon's civil unions law.
Among them were Bev Balliett and Ruth Szilagyi, both 58 and of Portland, who have been in a committed relationship for more than 30 years. They had hoped to make their relationship official Wednesday through the law, which gives same-sex couples most of the state benefits of marriage.
"After 30 years, it just seems so ludicrous that we can't be acknowledged," Balliett said during the vigil at the Q Center, a gay community center in Southeast Portland.
Basic Rights Oregon, the state's largest gay rights group, organized candlelight vigils in seven cities, including Corvallis and Pendleton. The group estimated attendance of more than 500 people in Portland, 300 in Eugene, 150 in Ashland, 120 in Bend and 70 in Salem.
In Corvallis, home to Oregon State University, more than 200 people braved rain and chilly streets, marching from the First United Methodist Church to the Benton County Courthouse.
The wet weather failed to dampen hope among marchers that the many couples who had planned to register Wednesday and make their partnerships legal wouldn't have to wait long.
Leah Lesuer-Mandernack and her partner, Rachel Houtman, share a Philomath house and the ownership of some beloved pets. They have been together more than four years and had planned on making the trip to the Benton County Courthouse on Wednesday morning to register as domestic partners. Instead, they participated in the march and candlelight vigil.
"For me, it's about bringing visibility to the community and putting a face to the GLBT community," Lesuer-Mandernack said. She has found that people she knows who initially objected to providing legal protection to same-sex couples changed their minds when they realized she was in a same-sex relationship.
"I think it's really easy to discriminate against a faceless minority," she said. "Once you put a face to that, it makes a difference."
The domestic partnership law, which was to take effect Wednesday, was blocked for at least a month by a federal judge Friday to give opponents a chance to make their case for referring it to voters.
Community leaders, elected officials, same-sex couples and supporters spoke at the vigils.
The ruling was a "brutal blow" to Oregon's battle for gay rights state House Speaker Jeff Merkley (D-Portland) said at the Portland rally. Merkley is a candidate for U.S. Senate.
Mike Lovely had planned to be first in line at Deschutes County offices Wednesday to register with his male partner for a domestic partnership. Instead, he joined the outside evening vigil in downtown Bend.
"I'm extremely upset," said Lovely, who has been pushing for legal recognition of same-sex relationships for years. "I'm going to be 70 in April. Things have got to move a little faster."
People at the Bend vigil lit candles and had a moment of silence, he said. Basic Rights invited residents to light a candle for "one of the hundreds of other Oregon families who will be harmed by the delay in the domestic partnership law."
"The ultimate message is that we want the families to get the protection they deserve," said Tammy Tewalt of Basic Rights Oregon said at the Bend rally.
Becky Groves attended the Bend rally, telling a reporter for KTVZ that she is happily married to her husband, whose faith doesn't believe in same-sex partnerships. But Groves also explained that she was told by her son a few years back that he was gay.
She says she and her husband embraced his announcement with open arms.
Grover said her husband "firmly believes (their son) was born gay and firmly supports his right to not be discriminated against."
"We don't have the same security that Oregonians everywhere have," Maria Webster told KATU-TV in Portland.
For Webster and her partner Kate Dilworth, the timing is terrible. With a baby girl making her arrival in three weeks, they had planned to be among the first to register.
"Both of our families, all of our friends, the people we work with - everybody recognizes us both as parents," said Dilworth. "It's just not legally going to be a fact."
"(We're) angry, very sad and extremely frustrated," said Webster. "We were very much looking forward to this."
In Corvallis, Tara Puckett brought her 16-year-old daughter, Katie Myers, to participate in the rally.
"It makes me angry that people feel that giving equal rights takes away from their own rights," Puckett said. "Equal rights are a family value."
Carrying rainbow umbrellas and trying to keep their candles lit, the crowd eventually made its way to the courthouse steps, where Benton County Commissioner Annabelle Jaramillo and State Rep. Sara Gelser, D-Corvallis, spoke to the crowd.
"We've come together to reaffirm that caring, committed couples need to be in legally recognized relationships so they can care for each other, especially in emergencies, and have all the rights that families in Oregon do," Jaramillo said.
"Congratulations to those of you that would have celebrated those domestic partnerships today," Gelser said. "I look forward to celebrating with you when we can finally, legally finalize what you already know to be the truth."
Full article: No civil unions, only civil protests - OregonLive.com
Couples protest partnership ruling | Corvallis Gazette-Times
Delay in gay rights law prompts Bend vigil | KTVZ
Same-sex couples hold vigils over delay of new law | KATU