Pretty major news. This morning, Basic Rights Oregon annouced that its Executive Director, Roey Thorpe, will be leaving her leadership position at BRO after 5 years, to work for the GLBT movement on a national scale with Freedom to Marry. Great news for the national movement, sad new for Oregon, though it sounds as if BRO has already started a national search for the 'dream candidate'. I look forward to hearing who Roey's replacement is. This could be fantastic for Oregon.

From BRO:

After five years at the helm of Basic Rights Oregon, Roey Thorpe announced plans today to leave her role as Executive Director effective June 30, 2006 to assume a new leadership position in the national movement to secure equal marriage rights for lesbian and gay couples and their families.

[...]

Evan Wolfson from Freedom to Marry said:

"Roey is the dream candidate to work with Freedom to Marry's growing coalition of gay and non-gay voices, leaders, and families," said Executive Director of Freedom to Marry, Evan Wolfson. "She has a national vision as well as hands-on experience working on the frontlines in the states, and will help us advance the marriage equality cause in every corner of the country. And, because Oregon remains a state on the forefront of our nationwide movement for equality, Freedom to Marry looks forward to a continued partnership with and commitment to Basic Rights Oregon."

Roey's Letter is here.
BRO's Press Release is here.

-Jenn Stewart

A new poll by the Gallup organization shows that as a proposed federal constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage heads to the full U.S. Senate for vote on June 6, Americans are closely divided on the proposal. Asked whether the Constitution should be amended to define marriage as a union only between a man and woman-a move that would preclude states from sanctioning same-sex marriages-50% of Americans say they would favor such an amendment, while 47% are opposed.

[...snip...]

So other findings from the polls show the following:
Gallup's annual Values and Beliefs survey, conducted May 8-11, 66% of Republicans favor a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as a heterosexual institution, while 55% of Democrats oppose one. Although only half of all Americans favor a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages, the same poll finds 58% are opposed to granting such marriages the same legal rights as traditional marriages.

According to Gallup, there has been no appreciable change over the past two years in Americans' attitudes about legal recognition for same-sex marriage. As noted, about three in five (58%) still oppose it. Just 39% believe marriages between gay or lesbian couples should be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages.

But the current level of support is significantly higher than was recorded a decade ago. In 1996, only 27% of Americans thought same-sex marriages deserved the same recognition as traditional marriages, while 68% were opposed.

From the Advocate

On another note a large group of interfaith clergy have gathered to defend the United States Constitution and fight the so-called "Marriage Protection Act", also called the "Federal Marriage Amendment". Read more about that here.

Basic Rights Oregon is reporting that Lon Mabon has brought not one, but two anti-GLBT ballot intitives to Oregon for the 2008 election season.

From BRO's Blog:

First the short of it. Lon Mabon is back and swinging. He has filed an initiative nearly the same as 2000's Measure 9. This time he takes it a step further by including transgender people--an inclusion that likely means they will lead the campaign with a brutal and nasty anti-trans message.

Now the additional details.
Freshly out of jail, Lon Mabon, is bringing his dirty politics to Oregon's forefront again. 2000's Measure 9 is back. Initiating yet another anti-GLBT constitutional amendment, Mabon is seeking to fight the "gay agenda" with his own shady overtly extremist agenda: a constitutional amendment stating, "the behaviors of homosexuality and bisexuality pose a serious health risk to Oregon's students "therefore "it is hereby established that sexual orientation shall not be taught in Oregon public schools in any manner or whatsoever that would express approval of, endorse or otherwise make morally acceptable the behaviors of homosexuality, bisexuality or transgendered conduct." And note, that this measure is not specific to elementary or secondary education, but also would affect higher education in Oregon.

Check it out over at the Basic Rights Oregon blog.

In an update to our previous post: The "Federal Marriage Amendment" which is being called the "Marriage Protection Act", passed out of Judiciary on a party-line vote. As anticipated, the committee moved the vote to a tiny room off the Senate floor that was closed to the public - and doesn't even have enough room for the senators to sit. As our source in DC stated, "Hell of a way to vote to amend the Constitution".

We need everyone to take action immediately. Here are two organizations that you can do it through:

Human Rights Campaign: Click here.

The ACLU: Click here.

-GS

Sources are telling me that the United States Senate just announced that the first vote today will be called at 10am. The Senate Judiciary markup of the Federal Marriage Amendment (aka "Marriage Protection Act") is currently scheduled immediately after the first vote is called. Note that votes do not always happen precisely on time.

The committee will meet in the Capitol President's Room, which is right off the Senate floor. It is not accessible to the public and is very small. There are not even enough seats for the Senators to sit. I'm told there will be Senators who object to proceeding under this scenario. Unclear if Senator Specter will insist on the markup.

Take Action Now! If you read this, do not stop at simply being informed. Be outraged and take action immediately. Don't know how? Use the link below to send a a message to your Senators... don't worry you don't even need to write anything if you don't want to. It's already taken care of thanks to the Human Rights Campaign.

Click here to take action!

-GS

Last night as election results came in, and as I sipped my vodka tonic I couldn't help but be elated about many of the races around Oregon.

The good news first.

First of all, a huge win for the GLBT community. Tina Kotek won in House District 44. Kotek, an openly gay candidate, was in the race with two others. Kotek received over 50% of the vote. Way to go Tina!

Second. Oregon Supreme Court Position 6. Virginia Linder... way to go! She didn't get over 50% to get her elected, but she will be in a run-off with Roberts. We really need to get behind Linder for the general election. Congrats Virginia!

Now the disappointing news... for myself.

Diane Linn. I had a feeling this would happen, though I didn't want it to. Diane created a ripple across Oregon. That ripple spread throughout the United States. She made history. She stood up for basic fairness and civil rights in a way that no elected official has ever done here in Oregon.

Diane, you were so graceful on the news last night. Your words were beautiful. Thank you for everything you have done for our community. You will forever have a place in my mind.

In other news...
Teddy K. won the Democratic nomination for Oregon Governor. Not a surprise. I'm not thrilled, but he is the best shot we have and now we need to rally behind him for the general.

That's all for now. Maybe a bit more later on.

-GS

Oh Oregon. I have to say that I am a bit disappointed with such the low turnout thus far. Check out these numbers. The more liberal counties have some of the lowest turnout in Oregon. Let's turn in our ballots! As unimportant as this election may seem in your mind, it is very important to the future of our state.

Below are drop box locations:

Statewide Drop-Off locations

Drop Box Locations in Multnomah County

Some examples of voter turnout:
Multnomah: 21%
Washington: 25%
Benton: 18% (umm - where are the college students?)
Baker: 29% (scary as it is very conservative)
Clatsop: 31% (yikes)

Get it together. Multnomah County, we have Multnomah 380,715 registered voters, yet only 81,693 voters have turned in their ballots. Come on people! Let our voice be heard!

-GS

Oh Mary. I don't exactly have the kindest words for you, but I will instead let others discuss your new book for me.

"I'm not sure I understand why Miss Cheney became a Republican political operative. After all, the party isn't exactly welcoming people like her--87% of all Republicans want to stone her to death and 92% want her to just shut up while they watch her make-out with another woman."

"I'd rather go hunting with her dad than read anything Mary Cheney writes. Seriously."

"If you are on any kind of antidepressants, I strongly urge you to avoid this book. It will leave you feeling drained and demoralized. Approach with caution."

"If you're thinking about buying Mary Cheney's book and expect it to be the sequel to her mother's blistering rootin' tootin' wild-west girl-on-girl lovin' 'Sisters,' I'm here to tell you, this is not 'Sisters: Reloaded!' If 'Sisters' were the original 'Star Trek,' Mary's book is not 'Star Trek: The Next Generation.' It's not 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.' It's not 'Star Trek: Voyager.' It's not even 'Star Trek: Enterprise.' It more closely resembles a Saturday Night Live 'Star Trek' skit in which the crew experiences turbulance near a black hole and half the crew are bouncing to the left, half the crew are bouncing to the right, and Mr. Sulu is staring straight ahead, seemingly unaffected, daydreaming of a 'Night to Remember' with Mr. Chekhov."

And finally...

Please Mary, your book is as bad as your hairstyle. Jeez, you even look like a republican. You are as genuine as one of your father's speeches. Do mankind a favor, quit writing and take up knitting like a good little republican lesbian.

Reviews from Amazon.com. Want to support the Republican party? Then buy this book. Otherwise for the love of God... don't.

Basically avoid this book.

-GS

In response to an article Wednesday in which Vice President Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter is quoted as calling Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) a "son of a bitch" for mentioning her sexuality in the presidential debates, Kerry's office fired off a retort to RAW STORY.

Kerry spokesman David Wade said Mary Cheney had "flacked for the most anti-gay administration in history."

"Seems like a suspicious lecture from a political operative who flacked for the most anti-gay administration in history and allowed Karl Rove to divide America for political gain," Wade said. "She'd be more credible if she pushed dad's administration to support hate crimes legislation and equal rights for gay Americans."

AMEN.

For the original story from yesterday about Cheney's comments, click here.

-Sandvoss

Prior to going in to the WW's story on Minnis, I want to preface this by saying one thing. If we take out a number of Oregon Republicans in this year's election, none of this will matter. Other Republicans will not be vying to be Speaker of the Oregon House as they will have to take the House Minority leader position.

Ballots are out. Turn them in ASAP! The final day to get them in the hands of your county elections office is Tuesday May 16th. Right - 6 days left.

OK, now the WW's story:

Even House Speaker Karen Minnis' sharpest critics from outside the Republican Party credit her for running an extraordinarily efficient ship the past two legislative sessions.

But now the same efficiency that's made her perhaps Oregon's most effective elected official may be undermining her reign from within the GOP.

One House Republican is working to defeat a key member of Minnis' team for a top leadership post. And another, speaking on background for fear of retribution, says at least four members of the caucus are quietly seeking support for leadership runs.

"The troops are getting restless," says that second GOP member. "The speaker will not be the speaker next term."

Whether that coup will come to pass is uncertain.

What is certain is what's ticking off several House Republicans: They think the prepackaged one-day special session April 20 that had Minnis' fingerprints all over it benefited her and Democrats far more than them.

OK OK OK. So my favorite part is when a second GOP member said, "The speaker will not be the speaker next term".

Read Nigel's entire article here.

So I have many problems with little Miss Mary Cheney. MANY. Here is just another example of the distorted reality in which this self-loathing "Republican lesbian" (in quotes because I'm still not positive that they truly exist).

Little Miss Mary Cheney called Kerry a 'son of a bitch' for using gays for political gain, but not a word about George Bush or dear old dad doing the same. And by 'same' I mean 1000 times worse and on such a scale I'm not even sure that we can compare the two.

From AmericaBlog:

Welcome to Mary Cheney's million-dollar closet. It's still a bit stuffy in here as a lot of things haven't been totally cleared out.

For someone who has been "out" for a decade, Mary still shows major signs of just-coming-out syndrome. It's what Jeff Gannon is going through, and what many if not most gays go through (especially conservative ones) when they first come to terms with being gay. They start being publicly gay, sometimes say good things, but more often than not their internalized homophobia comes slipping out.

A newbie's coming out experience is usually indicated by one or more of the following utterances:

I'm not one of those "activists." (I.e., I don't do anything to defend my rights, so I belittle people who do in order to make myself feel better.)

Sure I'm gay, but it's not all I am, I'm other things too. (I.e., I'm still a bit embarrassed about who I am and about the fact that I'm not an activist).

Why can't gay people be more "normal," like me? (Normal means hiding out in the suburbs.)

I'm not a single-issue voter. (I.e., I still vote Republican and the only issue I DON'T take account when voting is "me.")

Republicans don't really hate gay people, they just "have" to vote the way they do for politics. (I.e., I still vote Republican.)

Democrats, sure they vote FOR gay people, but they're not perfect either. (I.e., I know Republicans trash gays 90% of the time and the Dems help gays 90% of the time, but I still need to justify why I vote for a party that hates me.)

With that in mind, check out what Mary had to say about Kerry and Edwards. Regardless of what you think of how Kerry and Edwards handled the "Mary is gay" thing during the debate, it's Mary's analysis of the situation that is so telling:

"What was offensive was that [Kerry] was obviously trying to use me and my sexual orientation for his own political gain."

Of course, the reason Kerry and Edwards mentioned Mary's gayness is because George Bush decided to use gays as a, if not "the," political issue of the 2004 elections. How did Mary react to Bush using her sexual orientation for his own political gain?

In her interview with Diane Sawyer, Cheney said of Bush: "I think he's a very good man On these issues, he hasn't caught up."

Now you have a much larger window into Mary's mind, and closet. In her own personal Stockholm Syndrome, the gay-bashers who started the fight are good people who just haven't "caught up" yet. The gay-defenders fighting back are "sons of bitches," "slime," and need to "go fuck" themselves

[...]

Sitting in the studio audience when Edwards mentioned her sexual orientation, Cheney said she looked at the vice-presidential candidate and mouthed the words"Go Fuck Yourself'' a phrase her father had earlier employed against Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy.

Oh Miss Cheney. You've got some real self-work to do. I highly encourage you to read the entire story over at AmericaBlog. It is well worth the click.

And please. For the sake of humanity, do NOT buy her book.

(Palm Beach, Florida) Palm Beach County's school board is under fire for blocking access to the Web sites of LGBT rights groups while allowing sites advocating the so-called ex-gay movement to go unfiltered.

Among the gay sites deemed inappropriate for students is one belonging to a local gay youth advocacy group.

Other banned sites include the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Gay-Straight Alliance Network and Out & Equal Workplace Advocates.

Yet sites belonging to the American Family Association, Focus on the Family, the Traditional Values Coalition and the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality can all be viewed.

All of those sites denounce homosexuality and advocate that gays can be turned straight.

The banned sites are included in Web sites that promote violence, racism and pornography.

The school district defends the blocking. It say that it is only following federal government guidelines. Its computer security manager, Bob LaRocca, says the filtering software being used comply with the Child Online Protection Act and the Children Internet Protection Act.

At the request of the Palm Beach Human Rights Council the American Civil Liberties Union is reviewing the school district's policy.

"If their blocking software prevents kids, particularly middle and high school kids, from having access to information about gay rights and public health issues, but on the other hand allow access to religious group Web sites that are hostile to gay and lesbian legal rights and public health, that constitutes censorship," James Green, an ACLU lawyer told the Palm Beach Post.

From 365gay.com

And those pesky uber-Christian coworkers, who also claim to be the biological son of God have lost.

From Cleveland.com :

A federal appeals court has delivered a major victory to the gay-rights movement by ruling that Ohio officials can discipline public employees who discriminate, even if the workers say they are following religious beliefs.

The decision by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati is an important legal development because it means employers can enforce workplace policies that forbid bias based on sexual orientation.

Had the ruling gone the other way, those workplace policies could have been in jeopardy. It appears to be the first case of its kind from Ohio and it may yet be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The case involves a lengthy dispute between a Protestant prison chaplain and his bosses in the state prison system. They clashed over the chaplain's refusal to let an openly homosexual inmate direct a penitentiary choir in 2002.

William Akridge, a Baptist minister, welcomed gay inmates to his worship services but would not allow homosexuals to become leaders in the nondenominational events.

A prisoner filed a discrimination complaint against Akridge, saying he had been a Christian for 22 years and the church he attended before he was locked up "would not tolerate bigotry."

Prison officials upheld his complaint.

Read entire story here.

Rosie O'Donnell is set to make her return to daytime television after the announcement that she will be taking over Meredith Vieira's post on "The View". Vieira will be leaving to replace Katie Couric on NBC's "Today".

From NYT

After emerging teary-eyed from a screening on March 28 of an HBO documentary about a cruise for gay parents and their families, Barbara Walters made a beeline for the film's star, Rosie O'Donnell.

Ms. Walters told her longtime friend Ms. O'Donnell how much she had admired the film, and then, as Ms. Walters later recalled, whispered a question in Ms. O'Donnell's ear: "Would you ever consider coming back to television and being on 'The View'?"

AND

But as they stood outside the screening room at HBO headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, Ms. O'Donnell did not hesitate to give an answer. "For you, I would do anything," she recalled telling Ms. Walters. "Call my agent."

A deal - in which Ms. O'Donnell agreed to join "The View" for at least a year, not only as a co-host but also in Ms. Vieira's role as moderator - was struck in very short order, both women said. And just as Ms. Couric and Ms. Vieira are likely to make a profound impact on their new programs by virtue of their mere presence, so too is Ms. O'Donnell expected to alter the tone and chemistry of "The View." Since its inception in August 1997, the cast of on-air principals - Ms. Walters, Ms. Vieira, Star Jones Reynolds and Joy Behar - had remained intact, other than an occasional substitution in the slot set aside for a more junior co-host, currently Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

AND

Asked on Friday whether she was concerned that Ms. O'Donnell's arrival could prove unsettling to Ms. Jones Reynolds, Ms. Walters said, "The only concern would be Star's."

Posted by Ace

About a week and a half ago Basic Rights Oregon launched its Vote Equality campaign. Vote Smart. Vote Out. Vote Equality, it has a nice ring to it and the site looks to be a fantastic resource for those of us in Oregon who want to shift the power dynamic back into the hands of legislators who will actually get the work done that is more than three decades overdue.

It looks as if they have about 35 endorsements ranging from statewide candidates, many legislative candidates and a few local green lights. I assume that once the general rolls around they'll have a bigger roster of candidates.

Visit VoteEquality.com