Supporters of gay marriage in Oregon
buoyed by Tuesday's returns say they might return the issue to the
ballot box in 2014.
Voters in Maryland, Maine and
Washington state on election night approved marriage equality, and
Minnesotans rejected an effort to ban it.
Activists in Oregon decided last year
to sit out 2012, saying the timing was not right.
Jeana Frazzini, executive director of
Basic Rights Oregon, the state's largest gay rights advocate, said
Wednesday that the historic wins would help Oregon in two years.
“This has unfolded exactly as it
should,” she told The
Oregonian. “I am more confident than ever that we will be
the first state to overturn a constitutional ban on marriage” for
gay couples.
Frazzini also told the paper that her
group is “likely” to back a 2014 campaign to repeal the state's
2004 voter-approved constitutional amendment defining marriage as a
heterosexual union.
But the effort might wait a little
longer if activists take pollster Tim Hibbits' advice.
“They will definitely do better in a
high turnout election, because it would bring out younger voters who
are more comfortable with gay marriage,” he said. “They would
have a chance in 2014, but it's a much dicier proposition for them
because of the turnout mix.”
Since 2007, Oregon has recognized gay
couples with domestic partnerships.