NW Republican: Obviously in the Dark
Big surprise huh? We feel compelled to respond to the ridiculous post on NW Republican (second item in their post) that is riddled with inaccuracies. Let's review.
"In other ICKY news we have a new group in Oregon hosting a "Stick It To Minnis" event."
First of all, this 'new group', Basic Rights Oregon, has been around since 1988 and is Oregon's largest statewide GLBT advocacy group. Since Basic Rights Oregon came onto the scene they have successfully defeated a large number of anti-gay ballot initiatives that were brought on by the notoriously hateful, Oregon Citizens Alliance, which has disappeared in a cloud of scandal.
These are a bunch of radical homosexual activists that border on being Nazis. They are upset that the political process does not bring them what they want and by golly they want to oust speaker Minnis or burn the house down trying.
Now this is one of my favorites... "Radical homosexual activists that border on being Nazis". Quite a sharp tongue there -- don't you think? If I recall correctly the Nazis were responsible for the torture and murder of SIX MILLION Jews as well as 25,000 homosexuals. NW Republican's comments are hugely out of line and 'deplorable'.
As far as calling Basic Rights Oregon and their base 'radical homosexual activists'... If you think that the actions of Oregon's gays and lesbians have been radical as far as civil rights movements go - take History 101 if you want to learn about radical activists. This is NOTHING. How do you classify fighting for basic human rights and protections as radical? Give me a break.
These radical homosexual activists are so bad that even Senate President and lesbian senator Kate Brown (D) calls their behavior "deplorable."
Two problems here in your statement. First off, Senate President Peter Courtney never said what you claim he did above and Senate Majority Leader Kate Brown is not a lesbian. Also - Kate Brown's statement did not say that Basic Rights Oregon was 'deplorable' as you have portrayed it. The article said that the personal attacks were 'deplorable' - never citing where they came from.
Minnis is one of the nicest people you will EVER meet. I have been on opposing issues of her before however I have found nothing but total honesty and candor with her. She is just plain "Good People." And really does not deserve this.
Minnis is one of the nicest people? Wow. Why don't we ask the tens of thousands of gays and lesbians across our state how they feel about that. How they feel about having their rights and protections under the law as Minnis thwarted the democratic process. As them how they feel about being denied hundreds of rights. Ask them how they feel about their own children not being protected under the law. Then ask them this. How do they feel about Karen Minnis repeatedly blocking legislation that would have granted them most of those rights? How about changing the House Rules (one that had been in effect for over 140 years) in order to prevent a committee pull by not only the House Democrats - but as well as her own Republican caucus?
But then again that is what evil and ugly people do. They like to attack the good people of the world. That is nothing new and has been going on since the beginning of time.
Exactly. You are proving your own 'point'. You are lashing out at gay and lesbians who are simply trying to protect their families and end discrimination in Oregon. As a political power in the State of Oregon, it is their duty to get people in elected office that will fight against discrimination and hate. Karen Minnis perpetuates this hate and discrimination. Hence why she is named as a target that needs to be defeated in her re-election bid.
Lastly - As someone who railed against what happened in Multnomah County with gay marriages, she showed her true hypocritical ways. Interestingly enough, her actions during this past legislative session didn't square with Speaker Minnis' statements in the voters pamphlet submitted in favor of Measure 36.
"Process subverted. They didn't hold any public hearings. They didn't give any advanced warning. Their actions were arrogant and wrong. The Multnomah County Commission purposefully subverted the public process." - Speaker of the House Karen Minnis (Voter's Pamphlet, P 82)
"House Speaker Karen Minnis was the first state official to respond. She blasted the Multnomah County commission: 'I think they circumvented due process. They made a decision and went forward with it without any public hearings, without any review by the state legislature who sets state policy and without consulting the citizens of Oregon. Minnis said she expected the Oregon legislature to address the issue in its next session."OPB 3/3/04
To donate to Basic Rights Oregon - click here.
Posted by Gay Rights Watch
This entry was posted
on Monday, September 12, 2005 at 3:06 PM.
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BySenate Majority Leader Kate Brown (D) has a few words of criticism for BRO as well:
""It's time to move forward, but to do it carefully and thoughtfully," said Senate Majority Leader Kate Brown, D-Portland, who co-sponsored Senate Bill 1000, the civil unions measure, and played a key role in getting it passed in the Senate. Basic Rights has fence-mending to do, she said.
"Some of Basic Rights Oregon's legislative tactics weren't particularly effective," said Brown, who described the personal attacks on Minnis as "deplorable." (The Oregonian, 9/11/2005)
NW Republican's criticism is certainly over-the-top, but BRO is hearing it from both sides -- even their staunchest supporters.
By
Gosh Bryan, if you cannot count Kate Brown -- the Senator who introduced the legislation -- as a staunch supporter, who do you?
Coming from BRO, that comment is a little unsettling to hear.
b*kurth
By
I give her credit where credit is due. She got SB1000 passed through the Senate. It was an amazing day. I thank her for that. I just think that once we hit the wall named Karen Minnis - gays and lesbians of Oregon got screwed over and were left to drown. BRO handled it well and did all that they could do. People need to realize that they [BRO] do is always in our best interest. They is always going to be much more than the eye can see - and that is simply politics - AND this is soley my opinion expressed here.
So b*kurth, you act like you support at times - then you turn around and slam. What side are you really on?
By
Your question is one which is always asked by BRO whenever their tactics or strategy is questioned or criticized. Senator Kate Brown criticizes BRO, her loyalty is questioned.
I am for marriage equality, nothing less. If questioning BRO puts me on the side of the bigots who are against equality, well then - how does BRO maintain its base of support?
An example: Democratic leadership was questioned by members after losing to Bush in 2005. The Dems did not question which side their members were on, they asked for serious criticism and feedback on the issues as their fellow Democrats saw them and made changes. What they did not do is circle the wagons and label criticism as disloyalty and slamming.
It sounds like you are asking for blind faith and that just is not going to be a good fit for people in a democracy.
b*kurth
By
While we are all heaping praise on Kate Brown can anyone tell me why she held up Jessica's Law that would protect our kids from child molestors?
By
Politics are dirty. As an organization I think that BRO is trying to find balance between all out anarchy and going about things in a collected manner. It just seems as though no matter which direction they go in people are criticizing them for it. It also seems as though they can never please everyone at once. That is to be expected.
What would you like to see them do? As far as Minnis' tactics - do you think BRO should have sat back and said - 'oh ok, we understand - we give up Mrs. Minnis... we're sorry.' I mean -- give me a break. The base was pissed off for the most part. What are these 'personal attacks' anyways? Did I miss them? The only thing that I know about is the whole idea of Karen being the 'Queen of the House'. If you think that 'Stick it to Minnis' is an attack - wake up. She subverted due process and we got screwed. People are angry and as the largest statewide GLBT group here in Oregon - it is their job do help put a candidate who is in tune to our cause. It is not just Basic Rights Oregon - it's an entire coalition of organizations from across the state.
I am not questioning your loyalty to the cause. I applaud the fact that you are for full marriage equality. Aren't all of us? We just cannot expect for full equality in a matter of 1-2 years. Civil rights issues take time - we all know that. There are stepping stones we take. They are being taken... at least from my perspective - then again it is only my opinion.
By
Daniel - Stay on topic.
By
Whoa, that's quite a chip you have there Brian -- if that is your real name. :)
As for meeting up, given your tone I think I'll pass on that.
Brad Kurth
b*kurth
By
Very glad to see that he Kurths have figured this out :)
-Bryan H.
By
Wow - Bryan! You actually deleted your comments questioning Kate Brown's loyalty to Oregon's LGBT community making it look like I made my comments out of the blue!?
Then you edited your response to that comment to tone it down and add more BRO disclaimers.
What you did changed the conversation which took place between us, probably unfortunate given the topic on Karen Minnis not allowing the LGBT community to be heard.
Next time, how about just making a retraction or clarification?
b*kurth
(comment character count: 497, word count: 85 - please do not edit)
By
The comment that I changed of my own was quickly changed and put right back up within minutes. I never edited any of your comments as I do not have the power to do so without deleting it. You have the power to delete your own comments.
So for the record--I deleted one comment not too long after putting it up. I in no way wanted to make it look like you were making them 'out of the blue'. I did question Kate's loyalty to the GLBT community. I do think that our legislation should and could have passed with more help from our allies. I did what I could during the session and--just making a guess you did nothing during the session as you do not want civil unions and will be happy with nothing less than full marriage equality. I want full marriage equality as well--though at this point we need to take steps in order to get there.
You on the other hand have this need to stir shit up. In your posts over the past few days you constantly criticize BRO, no matter what they do. They can never do right in your eyes--can they? If they could--what would they need to do?
Why are people blaming the organization that is working the hardest to fight discrimination rather than the people who are fighting to keep discrimination legal--or worse people that know it's wrong but do nothing to change it. I do however think that it is important to ask questions when things were not successful--though to you civil unions and for that matter a statewide anti-discrimination policy weren't important. Is that correct? You are for full marriage equality only, therefore if we were able to get civil unions in this state, you would be pissed off, even though they would be a great starting point for protecting real Oregon families. How selfish of you.
If you want to hold out for the right to marry and NOT work for incremental change, I support your right to do that. There are different approaches. Maybe you have the means to do that--steady employment, partner benefits, financial security, access to legal contracts. But that is not everyone. While you maintain your "marriage or nothing" ideal--thousands of LBGT Oregonians and their will suffer as a result of a lack of legal protections and a majority of them understand that civil unions, while unequal, get us closer to full marriage equality.
I don't think civil unions are enough in the long run, but I also don't think you can fault BRO for working to gain the most protection possible under the law while we battle it out for 10 or 20 years for marriage--yes, it could take THAT long.
Unhappy with the fact that discrimination is legal in Oregon? Don't blame BRO. Find a real enemy of justice to bash.
-Bryan
By
If you see my comments on this issue as 'BRO bashing' let me be the first to apologize - that was not my intention.
You infer quite a lot about me here though, without knowing my views, I hope you can see how I might take exception to that.
As for civil unions in Oregon, fine. If BRO wants to go for CU's what do I care? I am a member of the Dem Party and HRC, and I don't necessarily agree with them on everything but I still support them - I don't think the two are exclusive. But they don't question my loyalty, where mine has been here, as was Sen. Kate Brown's (D).
I don't think that's quite fair, but I won't question your loyalty either - we're all in the same boat here, we want to be treated equally and fairly; nothing more and nothing less.
b*kurth
By
Ok. Your response was tame. Thank you. In a way you are right.
Although it wasn't my intention, nor did I directly question your loyalty, that is really the point of this whole discussion. That we can disagree with one another about approach, strategy, etc. without questioning the loyalty, integrity and determination of one another to achieve equality. We can give one another the benefit of the doubt. Don't you think?
The problem is not that people question or criticize BRO, it is that often the very people doing that have not been involved in the very fights they claim to know better about and blame or criticism is too quickly cast on the GLBT organization for the fact that discrimination remains legal in Oregon rather than the people who can change that fact and choose not too--GLBT people who don't engage in the political process, elected officials who look the other way, progressives who "believe in the cause" but do nothing to further it. Rather than "blaming the victim" and pointing the finger at one another, we point them collectively at the real opposition. That doesn't mean that all groups or individuals always have to walk along the same path, pursue the same strategy or agree--because that just won't happen. We're way too diverse of a community. But it does mean that we can do that with respect for our respective places in the movement. We could be a huge force if that really happened. Make sense?
I can only offer my perspective as a supporter and volunteer of the organization. It's simply how I see things from down here.
The best,
Bryan
By
Wow, I think that everyone is really off topic here.
Did you all forget what is happening at this very moment just south of the border? California is on the verge of making history for all of us...but they need help. It seems like all of you could be spending your time a lot more wisely.
I'm not saying that this isn't a conversation worth having. I am saying it can wait a couple of weeks.
WE ARE ALL ON THE SAME SIDE RIGHT?
:)
By
Yes they are and yes we could. Recent coverage in the past few days:
Governor Ahhhhnold, We're Calling Bullshit.
Schwarzenegger: Unaware Who Elects California Legislature
Wanna get married? Let's go to California!
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