500 gay rights backers rally,
lobby at Oregon's Capitol
BY CHARLES E. BEGGS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SALEM — Gay rights activists from
around the state converged on the
Capitol Thursday for a rally and a day
of lobbying lawmakers to pass equal
rights measures for same-sex couples.
“Our time has come,” Roey Thor
pe of Basic Rights Oregon told a
crowd of around 500 people at the
Capitol’s main entrance.
“We will never go away. We will
never give up,” said Thorpe, execu
tive director of the state’s major gay
rights organization.
The event was held on the one
year anniversary of Multnomah
County creating a political uproar by
beginning to issue marriage licenses
to same-sex couples.
The legality of the 3,042 licenses
issued before a judge halted the
practice is up in the air because vot
ers in November passed a state
constitutional amendment banning
gay marriage.
A case awaiting a decision by the
Oregon Supreme Court asks the jus
tices to decide whether the licenses
are valid or whether the voter-passed
marriage prohibition is retroactive.
Another major issue in the case is
whether the courts have the authority
to define marriage-type benefits for
same-sex couples or whether that’s
up to the Legislature.
Gay-rights backers are lobbying
lawmakers to create “civil unions”
that would provide the equivalent of
marital benefits for gay couples,
such as rights to spousal death ben
efits or visiting rights in hospitals.
Sen. Ben Westlund of Bend, the
most prominent Republican gay
rights voice in the Legislature, told
the rally he’s “passionately support
ing civil union legislation” along
with Senate Majority Leader Kate
Brown, D-Portland.
Gay rights supporters also are
pushing for passage of a bill that
would outlaw discrimination based
on sexual orientation in employment,
housing and public accommodations.
Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski
says adoption of the anti-discrimina
tion measure is a high priority of his,
and he also backs civil unions.
Westlund said prospects are “excel
lent” for passage of both measures in
the Democrat-run Senate but likely
would run into trouble with leaders of
the Republican-controlled House.
House Majority Leader Wayne
Scott, R-Canby, has said the anti-dis
crimination bill probably deserves
an airing but that he is concerned
about giving “special rights” to gays.
Chuck Deister, spokesman for
House Speaker Karen Minnis, R
Wood Village, said she would have no
comment on the proposals Thursday.
House Minority Leader Jeff
Merkley, D-Portland, said he thinks
the bill would have “a very good
chance” of passing if leaders allow
the measure to come to a House
vote, because it likely would get bi
partisan support.
A bill to create legal rights for civil
unions between same-sex couples
would have a tougher time passing
in the House, he said.
Katie Potter, daughter of Portland
Mayor Tom Potter, attended the rally
and said one of her goals is defeat
ing a bill that would give a prefer
ence in adoptions to heterosexual
couples over same-sex partners.
Potter and her partner, Pam Moen,
took marriage vows in Multnomah
County ceremonies last year, and
Moen adopted Potter’s two children.
She said despite the voter-passed
gay marriage ban, surveys have
shown a majority of the public
supports the idea of civil union
arrangements.
What's happening with
gay marriage nationally
On Tuesday, the Washington
State Supreme Court will hear ar
guments in a case challenging
the state’s ban on gay marriage.
Laws on gay marriage vary from
state to state:
• Massacusetts is the only state
where gay marriage is legal. The
state’s Supreme Judicial Court le
galized it in 2003; the court will
hear arguments this year on a
challenge to a 1913 state law that
bars out-of-state gay couples from
getting married there.
• In addition to Washington
state, legal challenges by same-sex
couples seeking the right to marry
are pending in California, Con
necticut, New Jersey, New York,
Maryland and Oregon.
• Voters in 13 states passed con
stitutional amendments banning
gay marriage last year: Arkansas,
Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana,
Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri,
Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Ok
lahoma, Oregon and Utah.
• Four states already had gay
marriage bans in their constitu
tions: Alaska, Hawaii, Nebraska
and Nevada.
• The following states have laws
on the books (but not in their
constitutions) prohibiting gay mar
riage: Alabama, Arizona, Califor
nia, Colorado, Delaware, Florida,
Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,
Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, New
Hampshire, North Carolina, Penn
sylvania, South Carolina, South
Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia,
Washington and West Virginia.
• Connecticut, New Jersey,
New Mexico, New York, Mary
land, Rhode Island, Wisconsin
and Wyoming have no laws ex
plicitly banning gay marriage.
• Vermont banned gay marriage
but legalized same-sex civil
unions in 2001.
— The Associated Press
Oregon troops find
bodies of apparent
Westerners in Iraq
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PORTLAND — Shallow graves
found by Oregon Army National
Guard soldiers in Iraq contained four
bodies, apparently of Westerners, that
showed signs of execution, Guard
spokesman Maj. Arnold Strong said.
“They found a polo shirt that had
eight bullet holes in the back and lots
of bloodstains,” Strong said in a tele
phone interview with The Oregonian
from Taji Camp, an Army base north
of Baghdad.
The remains, which were handed
over to the Army Criminal Investiga
tion Division and the FBI, have not
been identified publicly.
Oregon soldiers believe they were
from Western countries, Strong said,
based on the condition of the teeth
and on the clothing.
An Iraqi informant alerted the U.S.
military to the location of the re
mains. The informant claimed to
have seen the bodies in September in
“fresher condition” and believed they
either were American or British
based on their clothing and hair
color, Strong said.
Seven Americans, most working
for civilian companies, and a handful
of civilians from other Western coun
tries appear on lists of missing
foreigners in Iraq.
Oregon Guard soldiers, nearing the
end of the one-year tour in Iraq, were
getting ready to leave the country.
“This was literally the last compa
ny mission,” Strong said. Led by Sgt.
1st Class Manuel Annear of Rose
burg, the platoon spread out across
the desert sand near the site.
“Sometimes these things are booby
traps,” Strong said.
Soon, they came across the re
mains. The graves yielded two in
tact skulls, remnants of two others,
plus fragments of vertebrae and
some rib bones.
The remains were put in plastic
bags and taken to a nearby
Marine base.
IN BRIEF
Memorial for Hatoon
to be held Saturday
The campus community will re
member and celebrate the life of
Victoria “Hatoon” Adkins in a me
morial service on Saturday at 3 p.m.
at the Memorial Quad in front of the
Knight Library. Adkins, 67, died
from accident-related injuries
Thesday after she was hit by a
car while riding her bicycle on
Franklin Boulevard.
Adkins, who was homeless,
was a long-time campus resident
and most recently made her home
on a bench by the University
Bookstore. Flowers, candles and
notes now adorn the bench, and
people have been stopping by to
pay their fi
nal respects.
At the me
morial, com
munity mem
bers will
share their
stories of Ad
kins; there
will also be a
reading of
messages left
at her bench.
Local musicians will be in attendance.
HATOON VICTORIA
ADKINS
ACCIDENT VICTIM
After the memorial, those who
knew Adkins will gather in the
Knight Library Browsing Room to re
member and honor the community
and network of friends that con
tributed to her life.
Ayisha Yahya
The Oregon Humanities Center
presents the 2004-5 Colin Ruagh
Thomas O’Fallon Memorial Lecture in
Art and American Culture
Feminist art and cultural
critic, and author
Lucy Lippard
In a slide lecture entitled
“R«d fWsidcs’
Native Americans, tourism, art, and
the relationship of culture to place
Tuesday'
March 8, 2005
8:00 p.m.
177 Lawrence Hall
1190 Franklin Blvd.
University of Oregon
This slide lecture is free and open to the
public, and will be followed by a book
signing and sale. For more information,
or for disability accommodations, please
call (541) 346-3934.
EO/AA/ADA institution committed to cultural diversity
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