Dozens of Benton County couples register as domestic partners

One same-sex couple broke out in song Monday at the Benton County Courthouse in celebration of their chance to register as domestic partners under a new Oregon law.

“We’re going to the courthouse, and we’re gonna get partnered,” Pat Johnson and Dorothy Price sang, holding hands as they waited for their paperwork to be filed.

Twenty-nine couples filed domestic partnership paperwork in Benton County Monday. In Linn County, six couples had registered as of 4 p.m. Monday.

Many couples had planned to do so on Jan. 2, the day the law was originally to have taken effect. But in late December a judge’s injunction delayed the start of domestic partnership registration. The injunction was lifted on Friday.

Johnson and Price met at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Corvallis. The women have been together five years. They had a marriage ceremony at the church Jan. 26, but they were eager to have their union legally recognized by the state.

“(It means that) we’re legal and that we will be accepted,” Johnson said.

“And recognized,” Price added.

Enacted by the 2007 Legislature, Oregon’s domestic partnership law granted same-sex couples some of the same automatic protections afforded married couples, such as filing joint tax returns, inheritance rights, child custody and ability to act on behalf of an incapacitated partner.

However, the conservative Allied Defense Fund filed for an injunction in late December, contending that state elections officials excluded too many valid signatures on petitions seeking to put the civil union law before voters. The referendum fell 96 signatures short of the 55,179 it needed to qualify for the ballot.

Last Friday, U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman lifted the injunction.

Monday was the first day that same-sex couples who paid a $60 fee could register as legally recognized domestic partnerships.

According to courthouse staff, the registration process was going smoothly.

Couples had to wait little or no time to fill out their registry applications, and Benton County Elections Supervisor Jill Van Buren. said several part-time elections staff were helping out.

Lauren Ohlgren and Virginia Stockwell were watching the news on the domestic partnership registry with interest and anxiety. As they waited for word on Mosman’s ruling Friday afternoon, Ohlgren said, she was anticipating another delay.

“My stomach was getting sick,” she said. “I though, ‘It’s going to happen again.’”

When she heard that Mosman had lifted his injunction, she was thrilled.

“I’ve been excited all weekend,” she said.

Stockwell said this change is long overdue.

“I just turned 50, and now I (finally) have the right to do this.”

A number of friends from their church accompanied Johnson and Price to the courthouse, taking photos and exchanging hugs as the couple moved from one office to the other to file their paperwork.

“We’re all excited that they could come and do it today,” said Monine Stebbins, who stood just outside the records office and watched Price and Johnson sign paperwork.

“They are our true family,” Price said of the assembled crowd. “Look at them. They’re just love and support.”

The couple planned on spending some time with their friends Monday morning before Price had to return to work at Corvallis Montessori.

“We’re very grateful for all the people all over the state who worked to help make this happen,” Price said.

Gayle Jackson and her partner of 20 years, who asked not to be named, drove in from Lebanon to register at the Benton County Courthouse. The women both work for the U.S. Postal Service in Corvallis.

They had received a marriage license from Multnomah County when the county briefly issued same-sex licenses in 2006, but those licenses were later invalidated by the state.

“I want to see if it really happens this time,” Jackson said as she filled out the domestic partnership registration on a courthouse computer.

One of the many legal rights same-sex couples will now receive through the law is the right to make medical decisions for each other in the case of incapacitation, which Jackson said is very important.

“She knows my wishes better than anybody,” Jackson said.

For those couples who register as domestic partners and then decide to split up, the process is the same as for couples wishing to disolve a marriage, said Benton County clerk James Morales.

“It goes through the court system,” he said.

PODCAST: To hear an interview with domestic partners Dorothy Price and Pat Johnson, see www.gazettetimes.com/gt-to-go/podcasts/