Taking it slower on same-sex marriage

By The Oregonian Editorial Board

We're edging toward a tipping point on the legal protection of same-sex couples. According to the Williams Institute, a UCLA think tank, 42 percent of the U.S. population will soon live in a place with some form of legal protection for gay couples.

That's remarkable. Eighteen states, soon to be 19, offer some kind of legal recognition. In six states and the District of Columbia, gays and lesbians can marry. But in Oregon, those "save the date" postcards won't be going out anytime soon.

Key advocates at the nonprofit Basic Rights Oregon just put plans for a same-sex marriage ballot measure on hold. It's a courageous decision. In many ways it might have been easier to charge ahead - easier, that is, if the goal were simply to make a splash, win or lose. But their goal is to win.

And winning requires energy, money, political calculation and finesse. This time next fall, would a majority of voters really have been at the point where the rights of gays and lesbians to marry would seem self-evident?

It ought to be. But, based on polling and outreach, Basic Rights leaders concluded the answer was: "Maybe yes, maybe no." That's not good enough.

"We are committed to winning - not just fighting for - the freedom to marry," the organization's executive director, Jeana Frazzini, wrote Friday in Just Out newsmagazine. "While there is no convenient time to fight for our rights, choosing to walk into a losing battle is not a path to victory."

Read more at Oregon Live...