A quickie from Oregon politics that aren't related to the gays. House Majority Leader Dave Hunt issued a statement today in regards to Oregon Republican lawmakers spreading fear about the state of our economy and attempts to devalue the strong leadership from our newly Democratically controlled legislature. The press release is below. Majority Leader Dave Hunt was instrumental in passing Oregon's Domestic Partnership and Anti-Discrimination bills in 2007 and continues to lead progressive policy to make Oregon a better places for all her citizens.

You've got to admire the strong words and truth from the release.

Hunt Responds to Republicans: "The Sky is Not Falling"

“Oregon has fared well when compared with the economic troubles in the rest of the nation, so it is ironic that Republicans are suddenly so concerned about fiscal responsibility and the economic future of our state. Truth is, if it weren’t for the failed economic policies of the Bush Administration, and the loss of timber payments, piled on top of $4 gas and rising food prices, we might very well be the most secure place to live in the United States.

We’ve got almost a billion dollars in reserve, including over $450 million in the school stability fund. Our school funding is stable. We’ve got $340 million in the Rainy Day Account we Democrats created last session, and we’re poised to put another $139 million in there at the end of the biennium.

That’s stark contrast to years of Republican control of the Legislature, when session after session they refused to create a Rainy Day account and refused to support critical economic development legislation like last session’s transportation package which would have created jobs and helped businesses in Oregon without raising the gas tax.

Instead, Republicans have chosen to spread a message of fear, despite the fiscal restraint we showed last session and the efforts we made to promote jobs and economic development.

Our investments in renewable energy are spurring great growth, bringing good, green jobs to the state. We are poised to become a national leader in this sector and we’re making some additional investments in renewable energy this e-board session.

We have to invest in our future, and we have to act now to help Oregon's families who have been hurt by the Bush Administration's inability to manage the economy and its unwillingness to help working families.

That’s why we are also releasing $25 million in special purpose funds to add more at-risk children to early intervention programs like Head Start. We’re also putting $500,000 into aid for coastal communities hammered by floods and the salmon closure; we’re putting money into OSU to research why our bee population is declining, a grave threat to the $457 million fruit and berry industry that depends on pollination; and we’re continuing our efforts to eradicate sudden oak disease.

But even with these targeted investments, our E-Board fund will still have over $25 million when we finish here today.

We are also releasing money from the special purpose fund we set aside last year for salaries that have already been negotiated and inked. We held onto that money last February to make sure our economy didn’t worsen. Thankfully -- because of our smart planning – we are able to release those dollars and ensure that higher education and other state agencies don’t have to make cuts. We won’t be cutting college courses or releasing prisoners. It’s not going to happen.

Truth is, we’re a whole lot better off than most other states.

Republicans can run scared, but what they are really running from is their President’s failed economic policies and not the action of this legislature. We have been fiscally smart… and conservative. We’ve made the right investments and our economy is holding steady.

Frankly, while we know these are uncertain times for Oregon families, there’s no other place in the country I would rather be than right here in Oregon."

Labels: democrat, legislature, oregon, republican

And let me tell you, the anti-gay woods are a very dark and scary place.

So we've all heard now that Oregon's Tennessee's Arizona's... Let's try this again. Ech hem.

So we've all heard that out-of-state (though parading around as Oregonians) anti-gay groups have called it quits on attempts to repeal Oregon's Domestic Partnership and Anti-Discrimination laws. Obviously great news as no one was looking forward to another six million dollar ballot measure campaign, the bad news great news is that they're bringing it back for a 2010 ballot initiative. And to be clear, I would never welcome a ballot measure campaign, but given that repeated polling indicates that the majority of Oregonian's honestly don't give a shit about committed gay and lesbian couples getting domestic partnered and also indicates that Oregon's overwhelmingly support Oregon's anti-discrimination law, bring it on.

Because if Oregonian's care little about repealing our Domestic Partnership law now, in 2010 these out-of-state religious zealots will be viewed as an even more hostile threat to our society than even now. So bring it.

The Actual Bad News
The one thing that could come to bite us in the ass very soon is the Lemons v. Bradbury case. Pro-equality Oregonians won the first battle, but the Arizona based 'Alliance Defense Fund' has appealed and it will now be heard by a three judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Oral arguments will be heard in Portland on the morning of Tuesday, July 8. It's simply just another round in the legal battle, though if lost, could have serious consequences by putting at least of of these laws on the ballot in November 2008.

Lemons v. Bradbury was brought on by the 'Alliance Defense Fund' late last year after attempts to put the DP and AD laws on the ballot. They failed at collecting enough signatures after making their way through the verification process. For more on Lemons v. Bradbury visit Basic Rights Oregon's site here.

That's all for now folks.

Labels: anti-discrimination, basic rights oregon, domestic partnership, oregon

Yeah, I said gayor of Portland. Portlandians overwhelmingly gave the thumbs up tonight to Sam Adams to be our next mayor.

Congrats Sam on a job well done! You made history tonight by becoming the first openly gay mayor of a top 40 city.

Labels: oregon, portland, sam adams

Beyond words. He has inspired a nation and he can and will change the face of this country for the better.

Barack was just here in Portland and spoke to a crowd of tens of thousands 75,000 at Waterfront Park. ABC news called it the largest political rally in the history of this cycle. Here's a picture (thanks to the Portland Mercury):



Here's a little video that continues to resonate with me. It's from the New Hampshire primary.

Labels: 2008 Presidential Election, barack obama, oregon, portland

We're with Kate Brown!

Kate Brown has been a tireless advocate for civil rights in Oregon - but aside from this fact, we are voting for Kate Brown for Oregon Secretary of State because her nearly two decades of experience and major accomplishments in the state. As the first female Senate Majority leader, we know Kate to be extremely fair, yet tough when she needs to be. Kate is by far the most qualified candidate for the job and we are proud to stand up with thousands of other Oregonians in voting for her.

Gay Rights Watch encourages all Oregonians to vote for Kate Brown for Secretary of State - and we're definitely not alone. Just take a look at her roster of endorsements. This is just the short list, view the full list here.

Oregon Education Association
SEIU Locals 503 and 49
Oregon League of Conservation Voters
Basic Rights Oregon
NARAL Pro-Choice Oregon PAC
Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Council
Working Families Party
EMILY's List
Victory Fund
Twenty-First Century Democrats
Working Families Party
Carpenters Local 1065
Oregon Small Business for Responsible Leadership

Newspaper Endorsements:
The Oregonian
The Statesman Journal
The East Oregonian
The Medford Mail Tribune
Just Out
Portland Mercury
El Hispanic News
The Skanner

Visit www.katebrownfororegon.com to learn more about her and why she is the most qualified and most respected candidate for Oregon Secretary of State.

Labels: 2008 elections, oregon

It's no surprise that we are crazy about the idea of having Sam Adams as Portland's mayor. His unique vision, his tackling of the big/controversial issues and his steadfast drive to create a more livable Portland - or as his campaign would say 'Let's Move Portland Forward'. That sums it up.

It's also hard to overlook the fact that Portland would make history, aside from his groundbreaking, progressive policy. Portland would be the first Top 40 city in history to have a gay mayor.

We'll be voting for Sam. We hope you join us. His latest commercial is below, although I would highly recommend also watching an earlier video we posted a while back. We've posted that one below as well.

Labels: oregon, portland, sam adams

On April 29, the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals granted plaintiffs' motion for expedited review in Lemons v. Bradbury, the lawsuit filed by out-of-state groups seeking to revive last year's failed referendum against Oregon's domestic partnership law by forcing elections officials to change the way they treat signatures on voter petitions. The original review schedule set by the Court likely would have resulted in a decision sometime next year, but Friday's order means the case could be decided as early as July.

Basic Rights Oregon has more information including updated Lemons v Bradbury timeline, court docs etc. That's here.

Related posts from Gay Rights Watch:

BREAKING: Basic Rights Oregon Files Motion to Intervene

Judge Mosman Grants BRO's Motion to Intervene in Lemons v Bradbury

Right Now In Oregon Federal Court Your Future is Being Decided

I'm Sorry. This is Bullshit, I Need to Vent.

OREGON WINS: DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIPS GO INTO EFFECT

Labels: anti gay, appeal, basic rights oregon, domestic partnership, federal court, lemons v bradbury, oregon

After failing on their first attempt to overturn Oregon's Anti-Discrimination and Domestic Partnership laws, Oregon's anti-gays (who actually live in Tennessee) have admitted possible failure. More importantly they are claiming a possible failure on IP 146 which is Oregon's Domestic Partnership law. This means that Oregon's Anti-Discrimination law would be the only one on the ballot come November if they can muster up the signatures for it.

I have to question their logic. Have they not done polling? Quite obviously they haven't - as multiple polls indicate a record number of Oregonians support this anti-discrimination law.

For more background on the whole debacle, see our post from yesterday (here & here). I highly recommend reading it as it explains all the background details.

In an email to supporters, David Crowe from "Restore America" said the following:

Initiative 144 is legally flawed and apparently beyond use. Now corrected, it has been refiled by Marylin Shannon, as Initiative 146.

The process described above is underway on 146, and it may well be too late to get to the people for signature and then to the Elections Division by the deadline, which is July 3rd.

The likelihood is that we will have just enough time to get enough signatures for 145 on the ballot, but not 146.

Again, they need about 83,000 signatures to qualify - meaning they need to shoot for well over 100,000 to actually make it unless they have an incredibly clean list without many mistakes.

If they do make it even just an attempt to repeal the anti-discrimination law then I predict a very nasty campaign from their side, the likes of which we haven't seen since the days of Lon Mabon. At the same time I do wonder how they will finance their anti-gay crusade. It could easily cost millions if history is correct. Back in 2004 Basic Rights Oregon spent roughly 3 million dollars to fight Measure 36 and the opposition group is struggling to even get $25,000 and they are almost 7k in the hole.

Oy vey. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday folks.

Labels: anti-discrimination, anti-gay, domestic partnership, oregon

Could it be? Shall we plan celebration parties already? Well not quite yet - but on the heels of Basic Rights Oregon appealing (to the Oregon Supreme Court) the language of two initiatives (IP 144 & IP 145) that would aim to repeal Oregon's newly enacted Domestic Partnership and Anti-Discrimination laws, and the possibility of the same thing happening to the third filed by anti-gays... they may be up shit creek.

Yesterday we talked about the group "Concerned Oregonians" who actually happens to be led by David Crowe who now resides in Tennessee. Make of that what you will. In any case - their desperate pleas for tens of thousands of dollars, even if answered, would still leave their anti-gay crusade in limbo. And funny enough currently it looks as though they are in debt.

Giving credit where credit is due.
Basic Rights Oregon has proven once again that it will relentlessly fight these initiative attempts to strip families of their basic rights as citizens of this state. Thanks BRO! (ech hem - donate here)

Credit should also be given to everyday Oregonians. Oregonian's don't see this as a Measure 36 - and rightly so. They see this simply for what it is, workplace protections against blatant discrimination and as I said above, the ability to legally provide and care for your family.

No victory dance yet folks.
Again, lets not get our hope up too high. But come July when anti-gay forces must turn in over 83,000 valid signatures to qualify and they can't do it - I'll be the first cracking open that bottle of bubbly.

Counting down the days.
Just think, each and every day that this bigoted attempt to strip Oregon families and individuals of their basic human rights is delayed, that's just another day these folks cannot gather signatures.

Related:
Appeal to Oregon Supreme Court Sparks Delay in Anti-Gay Plans

Labels: anti-discrimination, basic rights oregon, domestic partnership, oregon, supreme court

Basic Rights Oregon delivered today. They're taking the fight to the Oregon Supreme Court. Just Out is reporting that BRO may in fact be holding up the anti-gay initiatives by appealing to the OSC.

Via JustOut:

Basic Rights Oregon's legal representation - Margaret Olney, of Smith, Diamond and Olney, representing BRO's Jeana Frazzini and Frank Dixon - have just filed appeals to the state Supreme Court regarding Attorney General Hardy Myers' certified ballot titles for Initiatives 144 and 145, initiatives designed to repeal the Oregon Family Fairness Act and the Oregon Equality Act, respectively, according to documents obtained from the Secretary of State Elections Divisions Office.

According to state Elections Division compliance specialist Summer Davis, the Supreme Court could take "up to several months" to deliver an opinion on the appeals," depending on what other items "are on the Court's plate," though state law charges the Court to address the appeals "in an expeditious manner," although, she added: "Expeditious is not defined."

This could prove to be a major setback for Concerned Oregonians, the umbrella group organizing behind the repeal initiatives. In a recent email to supporters, the organization had said it was anticipating having petitions "printed and delivered to distribution sites hopefully by April 26th," though the current Supreme Court appeals could set their efforts back at least several weeks' time, if not longer - as petitions cannot be circulated until the Supreme Court's final judgment is delivered. Locations of potential petition distribution sites and self-described "collection goals" are posted on the Concerned Oregonians website.

Davis also said the Court was not required to take into consideration in its decision the final deadline by which the initiatives' sponsors were required to turn in their signatures: the deadline (82,769 valid signatures are required) is 5 pm on Thursday, July 3. “They’re under no obligation to issue their opinion or final judgment based on when signatures are due," Davis said.

And in other news Amy Ruiz at the PDX Mercury had this to say on the anti-gay group "Concerned Oregonians" lack of funding. It sure seems like they have bigger concerns than just stripping away the rights of families. They have no money. I have to question how far they will get if they were to get on the ballot. It's going to be a multi-million dollar campaign and they are begging and pleading for a mere $50k?

The campaign to repeal Oregon's new domestic partnership and anti-discrimination laws is in bigger trouble than I thought. For starters, though the groups involved only have until early July to gather up tens of thousands of signatures on each of the two initiatives, they haven't been cleared to start collecting signatures yet. Clock's ticking, as they say.

[...]

Yep, the sky is falling in Concerned Oregon. It takes a lot of cash to fund a statewide signature gathering campaign, and they've only collected $4,385.00. The Concerned Oregonians PAC-which, according to their filing, exists to oppose the land use Measure 49-has $517.06 in the bank as of this writing, but enough outstanding accounts payable to put them in the hole by $6,191.70.

Labels: anti-discrimination, basic rights oregon, domestic partnership, oregon, supreme court

Shocking. Blue Oregon has the dirt on McCain's keynote address at a 1993 fundraiser for the Oregon Citizens Alliance (OCA) headed up by Lon Mabon. The OCA was responsible for numerous anti-gay ballot initiatives up until their last attempt in 2000. If you've lived in Oregon for any amount of time, you know the OCA and their hateful and often violent ways.


From Blue Oregon:

It seems that the media is having a lot of fun these days digging up old acquaintances of presidential candidates, finding an objectionable comment, and then badgering the candidates into denouncing those folks.

It doesn't seem to matter how tenuous the "relationship", how long ago it was, or anything.

So, courtesy of Jeff Mapes (who has an excellent post about John McCain's temper), here's a little snippet from a long-ago Oregonian article.

It seems that in 1993, John McCain was the keynote speaker at a fundraising banquet for the Oregon Citizens Alliance, the notorious anti-gay organization that was causing all sorts of trouble in Oregon in the 1990s.

McCain quickly got a first-hand flavor for the OCA. Marylin Shannon, the vice chairwoman of the Oregon GOP, had a spot on the program to give an opening prayer. In short order, she praised the Grants Pass woman accused of shooting an abortion doctor in Wichita and thanked the Lord ``for Lon Mabon and the vision you put in his heart.''

Let's check that again. Marilyn Shannon praises a terrorist who shot a doctor while introducing John McCain, and not only does he stay, he stands up and gives a fundraising address for these terrorist-lovers?

Outrageous. Will John McCain do what he should have done 15 years ago - and denounce the domestic terrorists who shoot doctors who provide legal medical services?

America is waiting.

[via Blue Oregon]

Labels: 2008 Presidential Election, anti gay, mccain, oregon

This morning Basic Rights Oregon weighed in on the U.S. Senate race between Jeff Merkley and Steve Novick. Basic Rights Oregon announced that it has endorsed Jeff Merkley for U.S. Senate in Oregon's Democratic Primary.

"Jeff Merkley has been a strong ally on issues important to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community," said Basic Rights Oregon Executive Director Jeana Frazzini. "As House Speaker, Jeff led the charge on passing Oregon's domestic partnership law, giving committed couples the legal recognition they need to care for one another in a crisis. And he championed a nondiscrimination law ensuring that no one in Oregon can lose their home or be fired from their job just because they are gay or lesbian. We need a fighter like Jeff Merkley in the U.S. Senate."

The endorsement decision was made by a vote of the organization's Board of Directors on the basis of written questionnaires and in-person interviews with the two major candidates.

Frazzini said Merkley's record makes him the clear choice in the race. "Jeff's leadership brings people together to do what's right for Oregon," she said.

On another note today is BRO's Executive Director, Jeana Frazzini's birthday. Happy birthday Jeana!

Labels: basic rights oregon, endorsement, oregon

Racist and homophobic Oregon State Senator Gary George and Sal Esquivel made a stupid mistake when filing IP 144 to repeal Oregon's Domestic Partnership law - the language in the initiative petition read "civil unions". Not surprisingly it took them this long to figure out the problem. They just re-filed, making it IP 146.

Based on IP 144, Basic Rights Oregon and the ACLU filed comments with the state to throw out IP 144 due to the fact that it was, well - without fact.

So here we go. Oregon's most extreme are officially going after a repeal of something as basic as Oregon's Domestic Partnership law. Maybe they should follow in the footsteps of some other evangelical organizations in the news recently who are going after issues that people actually feel a moral obligation to combat. See Evangelical Group Seeks To Move Away From Anti-Gay Focus.

More to come.

Labels: basic rights oregon, domestic partnership, oregon

The American Civil Liberties Union has asked the State of Oregon to reject the draft ballot initiative (IP 145) to repeal the Oregon Equality Act - an anti-discrimination law for sexual minorities - based on the initiative's "unconstitutionality and incomprehensibility," according to initiaitive comments filed this week with the Oregon Secretary of State.

Additional letters of comment came both from the ACLU and Basic Rights Oregon, addressing a range of concerns regarding the initiative's language, the contentious draft ballot title, and the very comprehensibility of the initiative.

According to the Secretary of State Elections office, any letters seeking dismissal of a proposed ballot initiative are passed onto Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers, who ultimately decides on the certification fate of ballot initiatives.

The response from Myers - including a certified ballot title, if so approved - is expected April 8 for IP 144, and April 9 for IP 145.

Via Just Out.

Labels: aclu, basic rights oregon, domestic partnership, oregon

And sadly they are letting all of Oregon down by attempting to crush the Oregon dream for the minority. These four desperate Oregon Republican lawmakers are trying to repeal Oregon's Domestic Partnership and Anti-Discrimination laws.

Here are their pretty little faces.

Signed on to attempt to repeal Oregon's Anti-Discrimination law:

Oregon Senator Gary George


Oregon State Representative Kim Thatcher


Signed on to repeal Oregon's Domestic Partnership law:

Oregon State Senator Sal Esquivel


Oregon State Senator Fred Girod


Oregon's already decrepit Republican Party who owes over $265,000 in debts including the IRS for back taxes - stoops to another low. With their sad IRS news hitting newspapers within recent weeks - maybe they saw this as a good time to shift the focus on the gays again. Those damn gays.

More details coming soon.

Labels: anti-discrimination, domestic partnership, oregon

Hey gays! Have you ever wanted to be two people at the same time? Well now you can!

It looks as though gay and lesbian couples who register as Domestic Partners in Oregon are running into expensive roadblocks when it comes to establishing their own identity - and no not their sexual identity - their actual names.

Under Oregon's Domestic Partnership law you are able to take you partner's name, or as many do, hyphenate your last names. Sounds great right? Well sure, you no longer have to pay to legally change your name in Oregon. The complication comes at the federal level. Try telling the Social Security Administration that you have changed your name. 'You are who? No you aren't.", they will say to you.

So this is what happens. Your name is legally changed at the state level but in no way shape or form is that recognized by federal agencies like the Social Security Admin. So you basically have two names. Could get quite confusing in hundreds of situations even with passports.

The only way around this is to pay a $200 fee to the feds. So now a family has to pay hundreds just for what should be a no brainer.

As one couple told us:

We went ahead and petitioned the court to allow us to change our names legally because we found out that the Social Security office would not honor our DP certificate as a legal name change doc. So we had to pay $200.00 for something that we would have received automatically if we were a man/woman couple.

Just another example of an inequity in Oregon's Domestic Partnership law. Something that a straight couple who gets married never even has to think about.

Related Post:
OR Domestic Partnership Law Already Bleeding Inequities

Labels: domestic partnership, oregon

This news comes out of Sherwood Oregon (about 15 minutes outside downtown). Imagine this, not even a week after a 15 year old middle school student was shot in the head by his 14 year old classmate because of his perceived sexual orientation. This situation in Sherwood disturbs me so much.

Sherwood Middle School drama students would rather cancel their production of "Higher Ground" than give in to their principal's request for revisions.

The cast of "Higher Ground," an original play written by the school's drama teacher, Jennie Brown, that explores the effects of bullying and hate speech and that was originally scheduled to open this weekend, met Thursday, Feb. 21, to discuss Principal Anna Pittioni's announcement that the play was "too mature" for middle school students.

"They had two options," Pittioni said. "They could vote to work on revisions or to not revise the play."

(Principal Pittoni had two options as well. To choose to say that intolerance will not be tolerated or that intolerance will be tolerated and even more than that - protected. She sadly chose the latter.)

Not revising the script would mean not performing the play at the middle school. In the end, 35 of the 47 cast members present voted against making revisions, Pittioni said.

Pittioni postponed the play earlier in the week and said some of the content was too mature for her students.

"Based on the broad audience of students we serve, I believe that the existing content exceeds the maturity of many of our students," Pittioni wrote in an announcement sent out to parents on Wednesday, Feb. 20. "Additionally, I believe that the play can be revised and performed at a later date."

As some parents put it:

"The whole play has just a fabulous message with it and it's about bullying," said Horner.

On Tuesday, Horner sent an e-mail to local media and said he supported addressing the topic, having been a victim of bullying himself.

"To think that 'Higher Ground,' a play that confronts the abusive reality of bullying, was canceled three days prior to the performance because of a reference to homosexuality and other contemporary topics that some may have difficulty acknowledging, saddens me," he wrote.

Sarah Grant, whose 13-year-old son, Freddie, has a major part in the middle school production, she was upset with the late date of the postponement.

For a play that had been approved by school counselors, only to be cancelled by Principal Anna Pittioni mere days prior to it going on stage is ridiculous.

This is theater. Theater is art and expression - in addition, this production happens to have a great message.

Sadly, the message that has been sent to the kids at the school by Principal Anna Pittioni cancelling it is the polar opposite of the message that is delivered by the play. It is a sad day for Sherwood Middle School, especially for the kids who get bullied on a daily basis for any number of reasons.

Shame on Principal Anna Pittioni.

Our friend Recovering Straight Girl, who is a mother herself, put it quite eloquently:

Amazing isn't it? That Portland, Oregon is one of the most diverse and affirming cities in the United States but if you leave the city limits and drive just a mere 17 miles out of town; you are in a different world all together.

A local middle school administrator in Sherwood, a suburb of the Portland Metro area has halted a production of a play that promotes tolerance and has an anti-bullying message. She has deemed the play "too mature" for middle school students. Too mature? The students themselves stated in interviews yesterday that the content of the play is "tame" compared to what they deal with in real life. And in a world where 15 year old middle-school students are murdered because of their sexual orientation and gender identity, I think that it's vital that middle school students receive the most diversity training that they can.

Unfortunately this issue is not about promoting diversity or tolerance. It's about tolerating intolerance.

By promoting tolerance and acceptance, this school district is afraid that they will look as though they promote some kind of "alternate lifestyle."

Please.

This is a public school filled with students who have to deal with this crap every single solitary day. By statistical data, 10% of them are GLBTQ themselves, and some of them even have GLBTQ parents and family members.

This is outrageous and embarrassing that this kind of bigotry has a voice and it's voice is so prominent.

And as the Statesman Journal put up their list of "Winners and Losers" they wisely included this:

LOSER: Sherwood Middle School. The administration postponed a school play about bullying, contending that it was too mature for some students and would offend some people. Get real. Students know what's going on in society -- and in their schools.

I encourage you to email the administration at Sherwood Middle School let them know what you think about promoting a nasty message of tolerating intolerance in her school. Here are the contacts:

Anna Pittioni - Principal: APittioni@sherwood.k12.or.us
Steve Emmert - Assistant Principal: SEmmert@sherwood.k12.or.us
Chris Stevens - Dean of Students: CStevens@sherwood.k12.or.us
Marianne Funderhide - Dean of Students: MFunderhide@sherwood.k12.or.us

Labels: anti-gay, oregon, school

This sort of makes you wonder what other situations a couple may run into in times of crisis. Take a medical emergency. Should we all be prepared with our Declaration of Domestic Partnership Forms to bring to the hospital if something terrible was to happen to our domestically partnered other half?

Imagine a straight married couple having to bring their marriage license to the hospital just for their husband or wife to prove that they are actually just that - their husband of wife.

Picture it... "Oh what? My husband was shot? OK I will be a little late to the hospital, I need to run home to get my marriage certificate."

When Sally Sparks and her partner, Heather Dugas, registered as domestic partners at the Multnomah County Building the day the new state law took effect on February 4, Sparks was overdue with their second child.

"It was a good feeling that [the law] went through and we were going to walk into the hospital as domestic partners," Sparks says.

When their son was born on February 10, Sparks and Dugas made sure to bring their certificate of domestic partnership to the hospital, just in case.

[..]

The law took effect in time for their son's birth, but the women still ran into red tape. Instead of noting Dugas' name on the birth certificate forms -- which had not changed to reflect the new law, and only had spaces for a mother and father -- a clerk at Providence St. Vincent Family Maternity Center handed her a separate form. Marked "For informational purposes only. This is not a legal document," the form has spaces for info on the child, mother, and partner. According to a note from the hospital clerk to Sparks, the form is "supplied to the state to be kept with your son's birth certificate."

Read about the whole debacle over at the Portland Mercury.

Labels: domestic partnership, oregon

At last count at 4pm this afternoon, Multnomah County had registered 126 same-sex couples as Domestic Partners. We assume that number went up as the day ended.

Obviously this does not include the other 35 counties in Oregon. For some reason I thought that there would be a lot more couples in line today, though then again there isn't a huge rush as there was in Multnomah County back in 2004 during the stint with marriages. It seems that couples may not view it this time around as "we better do it today as it may not be here tomorrow", and they shouldn't view it as that. We're good here in Oregon, at least for the time being.

It's pretty amazing to think back to the 2005 legislative session where our bill passed the Senate only to be killed in the House by former Republican Speaker Karen Minnis. I remember those rallies on the steps of the capitol, the hearings and the floor sessions as if they were yesterday. A very short video from my digital camera from way back when is below.



Then came 2006 when Oregon's GLBT community, led by Basic Rights Oregon, was determined to change the make up of the legislature into one that was fair-minded. I remember election night (at least the early part of the night) when a blue wave swept over Oregon. It was an incredible victory. There was no doubt that it would be an uphill battle even in the Democrat controlled legislature, but we knew that victory was ours for the taking.

Snap forward to May 9th, the day that the Governor signed into law two landmark bills. Oregon's Anti-Discrimination law that went into effect on January 1st, 2007 and Oregon's Domestic Partnership law - that although delayed for a little over a month - is the law of the land as of today.

Here is video from the historic signing:





What a fantastic day to be an Oregonian.

Labels: domestic partnership, oregon

This morning marked the first day that Oregon's Domestic Partnership law was officially back on the books after Friday's ruling in an Oregon federal court.

Hundreds of couples lined up at county offices across the state to officially get registered as Domestic Partners (congrats to all of you!). In Portland, some arrived at the Multnomah County Building near the east end of the Hawthorne Bridge as early as 4 a.m. to get in line for the building's 8 a.m. opening.

We'll bring you more pictures throughout the day.

Labels: domestic partnership, HB 2007, oregon, portland