Tagged: Same Sex Marriage

Business is bustling at the Richland florist who faces a lawsuit over same-sex marriage. The shop's owner says she was standing up for her Christian values when she refused to sell flowers for a gay couple’s wedding. Now, the case has become a focal point of intense debate on social media across the globe.

On Arlene’s Flower’s Facebook page, right alongside advertisements for corsages and boutonnieres, there are hundreds of posts for and against same-sex marriage. Now there’s even a Boycott Arlene’s Flowers Facebook page. It has more than 500 likes.

SALEM, Ore. – As the U.S. Supreme Court debates same-sex marriage Tuesday, activists on both sides of the issue in Oregon are working behind the scenes to craft language for a 2014 ballot initiative. Opponents claim the current wording would have unintended political consequences.

Here's the ballot measure phrase that gay marriage opponents have seized upon: "The state of Oregon and its political subdivisions shall issue marriage licenses to all couples."

SALEM, Ore. – The top state prosecutors in Oregon and Washington have filed briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage. The high court is expected to take up the cases later this month.

The first case involves an effort to strike down California's Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage. The second case involves efforts to overturn the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

Washington legalizes same-sex marriage next month at a time when the geography of the Northwest’s gay and lesbian population is changing. Their numbers are still largest in metropolitan areas. But if you look for the biggest increases – that trend is happening in small towns and rural areas. In Idaho more gay and lesbian couples are making a choice that was once unthinkable in rural areas -- they’re living openly.

Opponents of gay marriage in Washington vow to run a civil campaign to repeal the state’s new marriage equality law. Preserve Marriage Washington Wednesday submitted twice the voter signatures it needs to qualify for the November ballot.

The group’s Joseph Backholm says he wants a campaign about issues, not people.