Supreme Court Gay Marriage

The Supreme Court refused Monday to hear an appeal of Oregon's 2014 gay marriage ruling.

(The Associated Press)

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear one last legal attempt by the National Organization for Marriage to overturn a federal judge's ruling allowing gays and lesbians to marry in Oregon.

The high court's action came nearly a year after U.S. District Judge Michael McShane of Eugene on May 19, 2014, struck down Oregon's voter-approved constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage.

"It's a good day," said Portland attorney Lake Perriguey, who brought one of the two lawsuits that led to McShane's ruling. "It's a distraction we don't have to worry about anymore."

Tom Johnson, a Portland attorney involved in the other lawsuit, said he was confident that the Supreme Court would deny the National Organization for Marriage's last-ditch legal appeal. But until the court ruled, there was "that tiny, little bit of uncertainty," he said.

John Eastman, the chairman of the National Organization for Marriage and an attorney for the group, said his group could still wind up playing a legal role in Oregon, depending on what the Supreme Court decides in a case involving the states of Michican, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.

The court will hold oral arguments on April 28 on whether those four states can ban same-sex marriage or whether gay and lesbian couples have a constitutional right to marry no matter which state they are in.

No one was granted the legal standing to appeal McShane's decision in Oregon. Unlike attorneys general in many states, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum also argued that Oregon's law unconstitutionally discriminated against gay and lesbian couples.

Because McShane's ruling wasn't appealed, it could could stand no matter how the Supreme Court rules in the cases out of Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. Some lawyers say the facts of the case in Oregon -- a state that by last year had granted gays equality in virtually all matters besides the right to marry --- could also protect McShane's decision

However, Eastman said that if the high court allows states to ban gay marriage, Rosenblum should seek to reverse McShane's decision. If she didn't do that, Eastman said his group or someone else in Oregon -- such as a county clerk who issues marriage licenses -- could seek to reverse McShane's ruling.

Thirty-six states and the District of Columbia now allow gay marriage, mostly following legal actions relying on the Supreme Court's 2013 ruling that it was unconstitutional for the federal government to refuse to recognize legally performed same-sex marriages. In addition, a federal judge this year struck down Alabama's ban and the U.S. Supreme Court allowed same-sex marriages to proceed there, but the Alabama Supreme Court has ordered local officials to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

The National Organization for Marriage, which has fought gay marriage in cases around the country, unsuccessfully sought to intervene in Oregon and has appealed every adverse ruling as far as it could go.

Last June, the Supreme Court in a one-sentence order refused to stay McShane's ruling.

In its latest action, the high court included the Oregon case -- listed as National Org. For Marriage v. Geiger, Deanna L., et al -- on a long list of petitions that it refused to hear.

-- Jeff Mapes

503-221-8209

@Jeffmapes