08:49 PM PST on Wednesday, March 3, 2004

Compiled by kgw.com Staff

Portland Mayor Vera Katz added her voice to the many supporting gay marriages in Multnomah County on Wednesday, calling it a covenant of love between two people -- regardless of their gender.

Portland Mayor Vera Katz. (kgw.com Graphic)

In a prepared statement, Katz said she had no involvement in the county's decision to issue same-sex marriage licenses. But Katz added she strongly supports same-sex marriages.

She described the faces of the newly wedded couples as ones beaming with love and said "we have nothing to fear from this expansion of marriage. Rather, there is much to love."

Below is the complete text of Katz's statement released Wednesday by the mayor's office:

"The Mayor of Portland has no official role to play in the issuance of marriage licenses in the State of Oregon. That is a county function.

But I am someone who, throughout my public career, has championed the dignity of all people, including gay men and lesbian women.

Human dignity requires that we be who we are, and that we be accepted for who we are. All of us should have the right to live in the light of day. We know that throughout history there have been gay and lesbian couples. This is not something new.

What is new is that over the past fifty years, we have become more enlightened as a society. Old barriers around the issues of race, ethnicity, or gender have crumbled. It was only in 1967, for example, that the Supreme Court struck down laws that prohibited interracial marriage. It is now time that the barrier to the right of two consenting adults to marry also comes down.

Surveys show most Americans support the concept of civil unions. Even

President Bush implied recently that states should be free to sanction civil unions.

It is now a widely held belief that every adult ought to have the right to determine who is the beneficiary of their insurance, who has the right to visit them in a hospital, or who should be in the position to make end-of-life decisions.

But civil unions are not enough. It still implies second-class citizenship.

The right to marry conveys full citizenship. At the federal level alone, there are more than one thousand benefits that married couples enjoy, which those in a civil union could not access.

But to talk only of financial benefits and rights misses a larger point.

Marriage is far more than a business arrangement. It is a covenant of love, the promise of two people who pledge to remain faithful to each other for a lifetime.

Marriage is the place where we create a home for children - and gay men and lesbian women have children and throughout history have had children. Those children have the right to be raised within the loving confines of a marriage, not within an ambiguously named civil union.

In a world where we worry that promiscuity is rampant, why would we not embrace those who are pledging fidelity?

In a world racked with instability, why would we not embrace those who seek permanence?

In a world where we worry about a lack of commitment, why would we not embrace those building a lifetime of devotion?

The action taken today is not an attempt to circumvent the will of the people. The people will have their voice on this issue, and I believe they will make a compassionate and reasoned judgment.

What is done today is to put a human face - the face of our sons and daughters, our friends and neighbors -- on the issue of same-gender marriage.

These faces, beaming as they promise to love, honor and cherish the one person they have chosen to spend their lives with, show that we have nothing to fear from this expansion of marriage. Rather, there is much to love."

-- Portland Mayor Vera Katz