A Native American
tribe in Oregon will counter the surrounding state's
laws by recognizing same-sex marriages, The [Portland]Oregonian reported Wednesday.
A Native American
tribe in Oregon will counter the surrounding state's
laws by recognizing same-sex marriages, The
[Portland] Oregonian reported Wednesday.
The Coquille
Indian Tribe, located on the southern Oregon coast, is a
federally sovereign nation, placing it outside Oregon's
constitutional jurisdiction. For a
same-sex marriage to be recognized, at least one
of the partners must be a Coquille. The tribe's recognition
of gay marriages would violate the federal Defense of
Marriage Act, which prohibits federal government
recognition of same-sex marriages, according to
Brian Gilley, an author and anthropology professor at the
University of Vermont. The federal government could
challenge the Coquille law, testing the limits of
tribal independence and sovereignty.
Many Native
American tribes have allowed same-sex relationships
historically, Gilley said. However, he told TheOregonian, the Coquilles are probably the first
tribe in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage.
After a lesbian couple married under an ambiguous Cherokee
law in 2005, the tribe banned same-sex marriages,
followed by the Navajos, the nation's largest tribe.
(The Advocate)
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