PORTLAND, Ore. — A federal judge blocked Oregon’s domestic partnership law for gays and lesbians from taking effect Jan. 1, saying opponents should have a chance to make their case for a statewide election on civil unions.
The surprise ruling came just days before gay couples would be eligible for most of the same legal benefits of marriage. Couples across Oregon had planned to show up at county offices to register as partners.
But U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman ruled that they will have to wait.
Mosman set a Feb. 1 date to hear a lawsuit by gay rights opponents challenging the state’s methods for verifying voter signatures. Opponents gathered signatures last summer to try to overturn civil unions on the November 2008 ballot but were rejected by state officials.
Elections officials determined that they fell 96 signatures short of the 55,179 needed for a referendum on a law passed by the Legislature.
Mosman said attorneys for opponents showed that the rights of voters may have been violated if their signatures were wrongly rejected.
The ruling doesn’t affect a companion state law that took effect Jan. 1 to ban discrimination against gays in work, housing and public places.
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