Oregon's constitution bans same-sex marriage, but the Oregon Department of Justice has opined that same-sex marriages from other states must be recognized by Oregon governmental officials, The Portland Business Journal reports. The DOJ said that withholding benefits from same-sex spouses who legally wed out-of-state would violate equal protection principles and would be consistent with the policy of recognizing "valid out-of-state marriages that could not be performed in Oregon, including common-law unions," the publication also reports. Just like other states, lawsuits have been filed to challenge Oregon's ban on same-sex marriage.