Gay marriage may test Native American sovereignty

COOS BAY, Ore.-Kitzen and Jeni Branting have been in a committed lesbian relationship since high school and plan to get legally married in Oregon next spring. True, voters amended the state Constitution in 2004 to allow marriage only between only a man and a woman. And Congress outlawed gay marriage more than a decade ago. […]

COOS BAY, Ore.-Kitzen and Jeni Branting have been in a committed lesbian relationship since high school and plan to get legally married in Oregon next spring. True, voters amended the state 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. As a federally recognized sovereign nation, the tribe is not bound by the Oregon 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. Because the Coquilles have federal status, a marriage within the tribe would be federally recognized, Gilley says. And that would violate the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

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