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Out of state attorneys press anti-gay lawsuit

Out of state attorneys press anti-gay lawsuit

Out of state attorneys working with Tennessee-based anti-gay activist David Crowe to sue Oregon’s Secretary of State over a failed petition drive have filed a motion seeking to block the implementation of Oregon’s domestic partnership law on January 1, 2008.

”Basic Rights Oregon continues to believe that this case is without merit,” said Basic Rights Oregon spokesperson Karynn Fish. “Although we are not a named party to the lawsuit, we have retained counsel and will take every opportunity afforded us to ensure a positive resolution to the case.”

The motion, which complains in part of the “tens of thousands” of signatories to the failed referendum who will supposedly suffer “substantial and irreparable harm” if the domestic partnership law goes into effect, relies heavily upon a theory that a signature on a petition is equivalent to a vote.

Fish said this interpretation is simply not accurate. “Signatures on petitions are under the control of ballot measure campaigns and their signature gatherers, not elections officials,” Fish said. “Can you imagine entrusting something as important as your vote to a stranger on the street?”

The eleventh hour motion – filed more than two months after the Oregon Secretary of State announced that Crowe’s campaign had failed to gather the minimum number of valid signatures required to force a referendum on the law, will not even be heard by a federal judge until December 28.

Basic Rights Oregon is expected to make further announcements about the status of the case as things unfold later this week and through the end of the year.