Wednesday, July 15, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Lawmakers’ vote helps gay veterans
Jonathan J. Cooper/Sheila V Kumar
Associated Press
SALEM (AP) — Oregon
is on track to be the first state
to hire a coordinator to help
lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender veterans upgrade
a less-than-honorable dis-
charge received because of
their sexual orientation.
The bill was among
a flurry of legislation
approved as Oregon law-
makers wrapped up the five-
month legislative session on
Monday.
Other last-minute bills
would help strippers report
workplace violations and
young people expunge mari-
juana convictions from their
records. In a surprise move
that frustrated marijuana
farmers, lawmakers opted
not to put a two-year delay
on the cultivation of hemp, a
non-intoxicating form of the
cannabis plant.
If Gov. Kate Brown signs
off, a new LGBT coordina-
tor at the Oregon Department
of Veterans’ Affairs would
help gay veterans apply for a
change in their discharge sta-
tus. Advocates say some gay
and lesbian service members
received less than honorable
discharges because of their
sexual orientation, barring
them from receiving certain
federal and state benefits,
including those of the G.I.
Bill.
Supporters said LGBT
veterans have a dispropor-
tionate number of discharge
appeals pending.
“I have personally served
with folks who were dis-
charged because of their
orientation,” said Rep. Paul
Evans, a Democrat from
Monmouth and retired Air
Force major. “Only two
things really matter: Are they
serving as well as they possi-
bly can? And are they doing
everything they can while
they’re there to make a bet-
ter and stronger society?” he
added.
Basic Rights Oregon,
a nonprofit gay and
Agenda
Sisters City Council
City Hall, 520 E. Cascade
Ave.
July 16, 8 a.m. workshop:
1. Water/sewer infrastruc-
ture and rates.
2. City Council applica-
tion review.
3. Preview July 23, work-
shop and regular meeting
agenda.
4. Other business —
Business Owner Opinion
Survey update.
transgender advocacy group
based in Portland, said in sub-
mitted testimony that veter-
ans were dismissed under the
1993 federal law Don’t Ask
Don’t Tell, which allowed
gays to serve as long as they
kept their sexual orientation
a secret. But veterans have
also been discharged because
of the sexual preferences dat-
ing back to World War II,
they said, and all often need
help navigating the red tape
to get their discharge status
changed.
Those critical of the mea-
sure said it shouldn’t serve
just a portion of the veteran
population when all service
members are in need of sup-
port. Rep. Mike McLane an
Oregon Air National Guard
officer and staff judge advo-
cate, said veterans can be
discharged for a whole range
of reasons, stretching from
smoking marijuana to adul-
tery. There have been veter-
ans discharged for behavior
permissible in the civilian
populace but not in the mili-
tary, he added.
“Let’s do it for all the
veterans who have been dis-
charged based upon a code
of justice that we now look
back and say it’s wrong,”
said McLane, a Powell Butte
Republican. “By opening the
door and choosing one group,
we are in essence using pub-
lic funding to favor one class
of veterans over another class
of veterans.”
Brown, a Democrat who
is the nation’s first bisexual
governor, does not weigh
in on legislation before she
signs it.
The Legislature also sent
Brown a bill creating a hot-
line for strippers to report
problems in clubs and seek
work.
The bill was requested
by a group of dancers who
worked with the National
Association of Social
Workers. The dancers told
lawmakers they like the work
they do, but they sometimes
feel like there’s nowhere
to turn for non-judgmental
advice when their rights are
violated.
“I have a lot of faith in
individuals in this indus-
try,” said Elle Stanger, a
dancer from Portland who
was active in lobbying for
the bill. “Most of us are very
good people that work very
hard to create a good work-
ing environment. It’s a case
of a few bad apples are the
reason that we have to be so
publicly proactive.”
Another bill approved
Monday would reduce
the amount of time young
people have to wait before
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expunging marijuana crimes
from their criminal record.
The bill allows people under
21 to wait one year instead
of three before petitioning to
remove a conviction for pos-
sessing or delivering mari-
juana from their record.
The move comes as
Oregon moves to begin sell-
ing marijuana through a
regulated market, eliminat-
ing state sanctions for pos-
session of the drug in limited
quantities.
But one hot-button mar-
ijuana-related bill did not
pass.
Lawmakers chose not to
delay the development of a
hemp industry, a measure
that was seen as prioritizing
marijuana ahead of hemp.
Outdoor pot farmers said
they fear hemp will pollinate
their plants, diminishing the
intoxicating effects and its
value.
“Obviously the laws and
regulations still need work
around the coexistence of
hemp and sensimilla,” said
Cedar Grey, president of the
Oregon SunGrown Growers’
Guild, representing out-
door marijuana growers in
southwestern Oregon, a top
outdoor marijuana growing
area. Sensimilla is unfer-
tilized, and highly potent,
marijuana.
21
right-to-die
advocates
call Ca. loss a
brief setback
By renit Nirappil
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Ca.
(AP) — California dealt the
national right-to-die move-
ment a huge blow when leg-
islation allowing doctors to
prescribe life-ending drugs
stalled, but advocates aren’t
conceding defeat.
The movement was rein-
vigorated by the nationally
publicized story of Brittany
Maynard, a 29-year-old Cali-
fornia woman who moved to
Oregon last fall to die on her
own terms after a brain can-
cer diagnosis. She argued in
widely viewed online videos
that she should have been able
to access life-ending drugs in
her home state.
That wasn’t enough to
sway lawmakers on Cali-
fornia’s Assembly Health
Committee ahead of a bill
deadline, so the legislation’s
authors ended their efforts
until next year.
Lawmakers and aid-in-
dying advocates vowed they
would continue to fight.
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