SATURDAY, IN WHICH I CELEBRATE THE END OF THE SPRING SEMESTER BY FLAGRANTLY INFRINGING UPON ALLEGEDLY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL
For the past few weeks, BoingBoing has run occasional articles about the Oregon legislature and its firmly held belief that the state’s laws are copyrighted.
While I like the wacky, pioneering spirit behind all that–can’t you just see them in their prospector duds, hopping around and shouting, Them’s our laws, dagnabbit!?–the claim is totally bogus. And because of that, and because I’m the kind of person who hates to be told “no”, I was going to post a chunk of Oregon’s legal code today. Yeah, I’m a badass.
Then I remembered that Oregon is one of the few states that offers domestic partnership to GLBT couples, which is, duh, really cool. So what to do: stick it to the Oregonian Man, or celebrate forward-thinking legislators who’ve acknowledged “lifestyle diversity”? I chose both. Enjoy this excerpt from the bill that went into effect as law two months ago:
…(3) Many gay and lesbian Oregonians have formed lasting,
committed, caring and faithful relationships with individuals of
the same sex, despite long-standing social and economic
discrimination. These couples live together, participate in their
communities together and often raise children and care for family
members together, just as do couples who are married under Oregon
law. Without the ability to obtain some form of legal status for
their relationships, same-sex couples face numerous obstacles and
hardships in attempting to secure rights, benefits and
responsibilities for themselves and their children. Many of the
rights, benefits and responsibilities that the families of
married couples take for granted cannot be obtained in any way
other than through state recognition of committed same-sex
partnerships.(4) This state has a strong interest in promoting stable and
lasting families, including the families of same-sex couples and
their children. All Oregon families should be provided with the
opportunity to obtain necessary legal protections and status and
the ability to achieve their fullest potential.(5) Sections 1 to 9 of this 2007 Act are intended to better
align Oregon law with the values embodied in the Constitution and
public policy of this state, and to further the state’s interest
in the promotion of stable and lasting families, by extending
benefits, protections and responsibilities to committed same-sex
partners and their children that are comparable to those provided
to married individuals and their children by the laws of this
state….
Take that, Oregon state legislature! We love you, kinda!
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