Tuesday,  May 20, 2014 • Vol. 16--No. 306 • 30 of 40

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• No. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum is one of seven top state prosecutors who have refused to defend same-sex marriage bans in court. Attorney generals in Virginia, Pennsylvania, California, Illinois, Nevada and Kentucky, all Democrats, have made the same decision. Virginia and Kentucky still appealed rulings. A county clerk who was sued in Virginia is fighting that ban, and Kentucky hired outside attorneys.
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• SINCE OREGON IS KNOWN AS A PROGRESSIVE STATE, WHY DIDN'T THIS HAPPEN SOONER?
• Liberal voters in Portland, Eugene and a few other college towns are balanced by more conservative voters in the rest of the state. When county officials in Portland began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in 2003, voters responded the next year by adding language to the state constitution defining marriage as a union only between a man and woman.
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• WHAT DO OPPONENTS SAY?
• Opposition remains stiff in many places, with critics pointing out that most states still prohibit gay marriage.
• The Oregon Family Council released a strongly worded statement Monday saying the state colluded with gay-rights groups to sidestep the will of voters, and a judge allowed it.
• "While tonight's newscast will feature tearful couples at staged PR activities in courthouses across the state, the real tears should be for the next generation as we witness our constitutional republic sink into a banana republic," spokeswoman Teresa Harke said.
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• DO OTHER STATES HAVE PENDING LAWSUITS?
• Yes. Of the states where same-sex marriage remains banned, lawsuits challenging those laws have been filed in all but three -- Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota.
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• WHAT'S NEXT?
• A ruling from a federal appeals court is expected soon, either from a panel in Denver reviewing rulings from Utah and Oklahoma or judges in Richmond, Virginia, reviewing Virginia's case. Many legal observers say they expect the U.S. Supreme Court to take a case at some point, but they acknowledge it's impossible to predict what the high court will do. The Supreme Court could also just wait and see how the

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