Before gay marriage in Oregon, state constitution must be amended

PORTLAND, Ore. – With the political makeup in Washington's statehouse in favor of same-sex marriage, the state had little trouble getting a gay-marriage bill passed. But in Oregon, lawmakers don’t have the same authority as Washington lawmakers, because in Oregon they are prohibited from pursuing such a change in the law.

The reason goes back eight years to 2004 when Multnomah County began marrying same-sex couples. In response, Oregonians voted to amend the state constitution, declaring Oregon would recognize only marriages between a man and a woman. Ever since then, the Oregon state Legislature has not been legally able to work on the issue.

For Oregon to follow Washington's lead, the entire state has to vote to undo that constitutional amendment.

"We need to know that we’ve moved enough of the public in terms of their growing acceptance and awareness of what it means to extend the freedom to marry," Jeana Frazzini of Basic Rights Oregon said when asked why her group hasn't pursued a statewide vote for marriage equality. "It was clear looking at the landscape in the fall that we needed more time to have the conversation. That voters – the numbers just weren't there in terms of support for a 2012 ballot measure campaign."

She said internal polling shows Oregon is split on same-sex marriage and her group doesn't want to spend between $5 million and $10 million to run a statewide campaign without a better indication that it'll win.

Right now, Basic Rights Oregon is eyeing a ballot measure campaign in 2014 but the group isn't locked into that.

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire is expected to sign that state's same-sex marriage bill into law next Monday.

Traditional marriage advocates in Washington are vowing to challenge the same-sex marriage law this fall.

The Oregon Family Council, which supports traditional marriage, said it thinks Washington and Oregon have similar voting populations. They expect Washington state will follow other states that have defeated same-sex marriage efforts.