A sad day

I am aghast. The Oregon Supreme Court completely invalidated the marriage licenses that Multnomah and Benton Counties issued last year. As best I can tell, the Court categorically rejected every single aspect of the plaintiffs' case.

The decision was written by the Honorable W. Michael Gillette:

In summary, we conclude as follows. First, since the effective date of Measure 36, marriage in Oregon has been limited under the Oregon Constitution to opposite-sex couples. Second, Oregon statutory law in existence before the effective date of Measure 36 also limited, and continues to limit, the right to obtain marriage licenses to opposite-sex couples. Third, marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples in Multnomah County before that date were issued without authority and were void at the time that they were issued, and we therefore need not consider the independent effect, if any, of Measure 36 on those marriage licenses. In short, none of plaintiffs' claims properly before the court is well taken. Finally, the abstract question whether ORS chapter 106 confers marriage benefits in violation of Article I, section 20, of the Oregon Constitution is not properly before the court.

The judgment of the circuit court is reversed, and the case is remanded to the circuit court with instructions to dismiss the action.

I am disgusted and appalled. I really don't know what to say beyond the fact that I am thoroughly ashamed to live in a state and in a nation that institutionalizes hateful discrimination and Constitutionally deprives some of its citizens basic civil rights - the very same rights my wife and I enjoy only because I have a Y chromosome and she does not.

I'm sure I'll have more to say later, but I need to think about it a bit before I can form a coherent opinion.