Gay marriage in Oregon? Tribe says yes
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/08/coquille_tribe_will_sanction_s.html
by Bill Graves, The Oregonian
COOS BAY — Kitzen and Jeni Branting have been in a committed lesbian relationship since high school and plan to get legally married in Oregon next spring.
Yes, in Oregon.
True, voters amended the state Constitution constitution in 2004 to allow marriage only between only a man and a woman. And Congress outlawed gay marriage more than a decade ago.
But Kitzen Branting, 25, is a member of the Coquille Indian Tribe on the southern Oregon coast.
As a federally recognized sovereign nation, the tribe is not bound by the Oregon’s Constitution. The tribe recently adopted a law that recognizes same-sex marriage and extends to gay and lesbian partners, at least one of whom must be a Coquille, all tribal benefits of marriage.
