Oregon may be next state for marriage ballot battle

Three states made history Tuesday (Nov. 6) voting to approve marriage for same-sex couples, and a fourth repudiated an attempt to ban it.

Oregon, once known as a trailblazer for progressive causes, wasn’t among them. But that could change in 2014.

Local gay rights activists stand by a decision they made a year ago not to pursue a marriage ballot measure this year because the timing wasn’t right.

“This has unfolded exactly as it should,” Jeana Frazzini, executive director of Basic Rights Oregon, said Wednesday. Rather than seeing Tuesday’s cross-country support for gays and lesbians as a missed opportunity, Frazzini said the votes in Washington, Maine, Maryland and Minnesota help set the stage for 2014.

“I am more confident than ever that we will be the first state to overturn a constitutional ban on marriage” for same-sex couples, she said. Although no firm decision has been made, she said it is “likely” that her organization would spearhead a same-sex marriage ballot campaign in two years.