Oregon To Recognize The Out-Of-State Marriages Of Gay Couples

Oregon will recognize the out-of-state marriages of gay and lesbian couples.

According to Portland alternative Willamette Week, state Chief Operating Officer Michael Jordan ordered agencies to begin recognizing such unions.

“Oregon agencies must recognize all out-of-state marriages for the purposes of administering state programs,” Jordan wrote in a memo to all state agencies on Wednesday. “That includes legal, same sex marriages performed in other states and countries.”

Jordan based his decision on a legal opinion from the Oregon Department of Justice.

Gay couples can marry in neighboring states Washington and California and nearby Canada.

Marriage equality supporters have mounted a referendum campaign and filed a lawsuit to legalize gay nuptials in Oregon.

(Related: Portland Trail Blazers support effort to legalize gay marriage in Oregon.)

The federal government began recognizing the legal marriages of gay and lesbian couples after the U.S. Supreme Court knocked down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in June.