OregonLive reports that a Vermont lawmaker is urging Oregon to enact civil union legislation.

A former Vermont lawmaker who helped pass the nation's first civil union law urged Oregon lawmakers to grant gay and lesbian couples the same rights as straight couples.

But former Rep. Tom Little said supporting civil unions does hold political risks for some lawmakers.

Little said that some Vermont lawmakers lost their bids for re-election in 2000, but he added that re-election shouldn't be the focus for Oregon lawmakers if the civil unions bill comes to a vote.

"You have to be willing to take some pretty significant risks" to afford civil union rights and privileges to gays and lesbians, Little said.

The Vermont lawmaker came to Oregon Wednesday for the first hearing of Gov. Ted Kulongoski's bill to both create civil unions for same-sex couples and prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The Democratic governor's bill has bipartisan support in the Senate, but there is resistance in the Republican-controlled House. [Not exactly true about the Senate - more to come about this in a later posting]

The gay marriage debate in Oregon began just over a year ago, when Multnomah County began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Soon after, the county was ordered to stop, but not before 3,000 marriage licenses had been granted by the county.

Last fall, voters passed Measure 36, which defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman in Oregon's Constitution.

In April, the Oregon Supreme Court threw out the Multnomah County marriage licenses, saying it was not within the county's rights to issue them.

Kulongoski's bill would grant same-sex couples the same rights under civil unions that married couples get through marriage.

In response to civil unions, some Republicans have proposed a "reciprocal benefits" bill, which would grant a select list of rights — like hospital visitation — to any two adults who apply for them, including siblings and roommates.

Little said reciprocal benefits were also provided under the 2000 Vermont civil unions legislation, but that no one had filed for the benefits in the first two to three years that he tracked registration.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 04, 2005 at 4:04 PM. Want to discuss? Leave a comment below.