An Oregon judge is being investigated
amid allegations he refused to marry gay and lesbian couples on
religious grounds.
According to the AP, Marion County
Judge Vance Day is facing an investigation by the Commission on
Judicial Fitness and Disability.
A federal judge struck down Oregon's
gay marriage ban in May of last year.
Patrick Korten, a spokesman for Day,
said that at first Day instructed his staff to refer gay couples
looking to marry to other judges, then last fall, he stopped marrying
couples altogether.
“He made a decision nearly a year ago
to stop doing weddings altogether, and the principal factor that he
weighed was the pressure that one would face to perform a same-sex
wedding, which he had a conflict with his religious beliefs,”
Korten told the AP.
Several allegations have been leveled
against Day, a Republican, but his refusal to marry gay couples is
“the weightiest,” Korten said.
The Oregon Government Ethics Commission
recently approved Day's request to create a fund to pay for his legal
defense.