Oregon Civil Unions Bill Officially Dead

[davidinalameda]

http://www.365gay.com/newscon05/08/080505oregon.htm

The Oregon Legislature ended its second-longest session ever at 6:20 a.m. Friday, allowing a bill that would have provided civil unions for same-sex couples to die without coming to a vote.

The bill would have created a civil unions registry and grant same-sex couples many of the rights available to married couples including inheritance benefits, pensions, property rights when a partner dies, and the right to make medical decisions for a partner.

The legislation also would have included gays and lesbians in Oregon's nondiscrimination act.

[swag]

1. You have probably seen the analysis in the Mercury and the Willy Week

about how the push for SB 1000 was just fucked up by our legislators, who were later just played like boogers by House Speaker Karen Minnis.

The Dems need to get their fucking parliamentary shit together for the next session. This session was an embarrassment.

Very sad. SB 1000 had the votes to pass, but was left to smother under Minnis' fat ass.

[kbm8795]

2. I'm not an Oregonian, but I have the feeling

that Minnis and her tactics won't play too well with the voters come the next election.

She showed her butt too many times on this, particularly since the constitutional amendment passed by voters deliberately was worded so that civil unions can be created.

And I wish SOMEONE would start making it clear to the public that many of the special benefits that only "married" people received were not designed as marriage perks - they were reflections of the state's need to regulate proper health and disposal of bodies.

This is where I think we always drop the damned ball. . .by not pointing out that the Right believes the State has much more power to regulate marriage than has ever been allowed. It seems to me that it has been rather clear for decades that governments are limited in that they must show a NEED to provide special treatment only to married couples. . .and Minnis and her lot should be fried with this information.

No one, for example, wrote a hospital visitation statute simply to establish another "perk" for marriage. These people need to get way over themselves and their fantasized self-importance.