Oregon judge to decide gay marriage suit | Seattle P-I

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Oregon judge to decide gay marriage suit

By WILLIAM MCCALL
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

PORTLAND, Ore. -- After listening to legal arguments Friday over whether Multnomah County can conduct same-sex weddings, a county circuit judge said he will issue a ruling next week. It will be the first major ruling in the case, but not the last. Both sides want the Oregon Supreme Court to quickly take up the issue.

Judge Frank Bearden said he was "very grateful I'll just be an asterisk in some other decision along the line."

Multnomah County, which includes Portland, on March 3 began issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.

Kelly Clark, a former Republican state legislator who is the attorney for the Defense of Marriage Coalition, said Friday that the state and its voters have the right to define marriage as the traditional union of a man and a woman.

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