GAY FAMILY DONATES $100,000 CHALLENGE GRANT TO FUND THE MARRIAGE EQUALITY WORK    
By Sheri A. Lunn  
On May 16, 2004, the night before the historic Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling granting equal marriage rights to same-sex couples is scheduled to go into effect, numerous households across the country will host parties in support of the marriage equality work of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.


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Oregon Eyes New Marriage Delay
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
(Salem, Oregon)  Lawyers in the Oregon Attorney General's office are examining ways to delay a judge's ruling that the state must register the weddings of those same-sex couples already married in the state and get the case moved to the Oregon Supreme Court. 

High on the list of possibilities is an appeal for a stay in the execution of the ruling.

Earlier this week, a judge ruled that the state was acting illegally in refusing to register the marriages of more than 3,000 gay and lesbian couples who have married in the Portland area. But, Judge Frank Bearden ordered that no more marriage licenses be issued to gay couples until the courts and the legislature determine how to proceed.

A spokesperson for Attorney General Hardy Myers said that the ruling could cause confusion if the marriages are registered and then the state or the courts reject marriage for civil unions.