Lines formed Wednesday outside a county administration building in Portland, Ore., after the community became the latest to jump into the wedding business for same-sex couples. In Detroit, same-sex couples were denied licenses during a protest.

Marriage licenses will be issued in Portland starting Wednesday.

The Multnomah County chairwoman said she got a favorable legal ruling from the county attorney and says the other county commissioners support the idea.

Among those waiting to be married was Chris Tanner. She said she's doing it for her two children. Tanner was camped out on a lawn chair waiting for the doors to open.

In Detroit, six same-sex couples were turned down for a marriage license.

Instead of licenses, they were offered copies of the state law that outlaws same-sex marriage.

The couples were among about 60 gays, lesbians and supporters who rallied in Detroit. They protested President George W. Bush's support of a constitutional amendment outlawing same-sex marriages and Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's televised statements opposing gay marriage.

A spokesman for a Detroit-area gay rights group said the applicants didn't really expect to get marriage licenses. But he said the demonstration showed how real people are being "marginalized and demonized" in the debate.

"We are taxpaying citizens. We're your neighbors. We're your friends. We're your co-workers and we want the simple right of getting married to the person we made a lifetime commitment to -- no damage done to anybody else," said Susan Horowitz, co-publisher of Between of Lines, Michigan's weekly newspaper for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community.

Meanwhile, another mayor in New York said that he'll start performing weddings even though the mayor of New Paltz, N.Y., is now facing criminal charges for performing same-sex weddings.

John Shields, of Nyack, told The Associated Press he'll start officiating at weddings of homosexual couples, possibly this week.

Shields is also planning a same-sex wedding for himself and his partner. He's planning to join other gay New Yorkers in visiting municipal clerks offices on Friday for marriage licenses.

Meanwhile, New Paltz Mayor Jason West continues to insist that he's not breaking the law. He told a morning news show that it's the state Health Department that's breaking the law by refusing to give marriage licenses to same-sex couples -- since the state constitution guarantees equal protection for all.

He also said he'll go ahead with two dozen more of those weddings this weekend.

West, 26, is to be arraigned Wednesday night. But he said he's confident the judge will agree there is nothing in New York's constitution barring same-sex marriage.

West presided at more than two dozen gay weddings last Friday. The state Health Department said that violates the domestic relations law, which makes it a crime to marry people who don't have a license.

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Senate Eyes Judges

Congress will wade Wednesday into the debate over gay marriage, taking the first steps in what's sure to be a divisive election-year battle as a second town in New York prepares to marry homosexual couples.

The Senate Judiciary Constitution subcommittee will focus on whether judges are overstepping their bounds and eroding traditional marriage.

Foes of same-sex marriage point to Massachusetts, where the state's high court ruled in November that gay couples have a constitutional right to marry. A further opinion said that the state should start offering marriage licenses as early as this spring.

The state's legislature attempted to propose a constitutional amendment to clarify the situation, but could not reach an agreement; it could not go into affect until 2006.

Gay rights supporters are fighting back, framing the issue as America's next civil rights battle.

Legal experts on both sides of the issue are expected to testify at the Senate panel's hearing.

Bush has called on Congress to quickly pass an amendment prohibiting gay marriages. He cited, among other things, "activist judges" for pushing him to make the move to provide clarity.

Chicago's County Won't Issue Licenses

The wedding march won't be playing anytime soon for gay couples in greater Chicago.

The clerk of Cook County said that even though he supports gay marriage, a state law passed in 1996 prohibits it. David Orr said the law is unconstitutional and discriminatory, but that he won't break it.

Orr was plunged into the national debate last month when Chicago Mayor Richard Daley announced he supported same-sex weddings.

Some gay activists, like Keeanga Taylor of Chicago's Equal Marriage Now, say those who claim to favor gay marriages -- but don't take action -- are on the same side as the people she called "homophobes and bigots."