Give Thanks
ju s t new s
Professionals, volunteers urge
"Vote No on 8"
‘ ‘Measure
8 would be bad policy , bad law ,
bad government and bad business / ’ says
Oregonians for Fairness
BY
• Sweet Grass • Desert Sage
• Copal • Smudging Bundles
• Natural Abalone Shells
• Crystals and Gemstones
• Drums and Rattles
Stop by for our
schedule of workshops
and events.
H E A L IN G C R Y ST A L S
8215 SE 13th Ave.
Portland, OR 97202
(503) 234-2224
BRADLEY J. WOODWORTH
ATTORNEY AT LAW
OREGON TRAIL BUILDING PENTHOUSE
J33S.W. FIFTH AVENUE
PORTLAND, OREGON 97204
( 503 ) 273-9146
Free Initial Consultation
SERVING THE LEGAL NEEDS OF OUR COMMUNITY IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS:
• ACCIDENTS & INJURIES
(hK ) KK ( >VERY, N O I I I )
• CRIMINAL LAW'
Di ll
• DIVORCE A ND CUSTODY
•
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W'lLLS & ESTATES
BUSINESS LAW' AND LITIGATION
RI AL ESTATE
LITIGATION IN ALLSTATE ANDFEDERALCOURTS
A N N D E E
H O C H M A N
he room, at first glance, is either a
campaign office or a showroom for the
Rand McNally map company. A huge multi­
colored map of Oregon faces visitors when they
walk in; charts of the state’s congressional dis­
tricts hang on a far wall. In the background is
the light tick of a computer keyboard. Then you
notice the banner that unmistakably announces
the purpose of this place, the phrase that has
become the mantra of the No on 8 campaign:
‘ It’s not fair. It’s not right. It’s a witch hunt.”
This is the campaign office of Oregonians for
Fairness, the headquarters of the fight to defeat
this election's hottest ballot measure. From this
busy room in southeast Portland come the fund­
raising strategies, media tactics, brochures and
discussions that define the fight against
Measure 8.
In the end. it will be up to Oregon voters on
November 8 to pass or pounce on Measure 8,
which would repeal Gov. Neil Goldschmidt's
executive order prohibiting discrimination
against gays and lesbians in state hiring and
services. But for a few more critical days, the
task of educating Oregon about the measure
rests in the hands of the people at OFF — and in
the daily, time-consuming, sometimes tedious
details of running a statewide campaign.
The telephone blurts into the light chatter
with its high-tech, jingly ring. “ Hello,
Oregonians for Fairness. This is Tom; may I
help you?” And another day begins in the life of
the campaign.
Cathy Siemens is on the phone again — she is
hardy ever off the phone these days. She is
discussing the virtues of an electronic clipping
service with a caller, doodling large pencil
abstracts on a yellow pad and listening with one
ear to Tom Norton, a full-time volunteer
for OFF.
“ There’s a guy on the phone from Wil-
i lamette University Law School,” Norton says,
poking his head into Siemens’s office. “ He
wants to put on a debate down there between the
‘yes’ and ‘no’ people.”
Already this morning Siemens has discussed
the campaign on KXL radio with the Rev. Alan
Deale, minister of First Unitarian Church. The
show was a response to Paul Cameron’s Sep­
tember 20 appearance on the same program . in
which he urged support for the ballot measure.
Cameron, a rabid anti-homosexual activist who
| was dropped from the American Psychological \
T
Barbara G. Isaacs, Ph.D.
Psychologist Resident
THE
W V 'PROMISE
1 OF SPRING
PAPERWHITES • TULIPS • FREESIA • IRIS
DAFFODILS • ALLIUMS • HYACINTHS
DRAGONFLY GARDENS
2230 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
235-9150
put i»tl • 6 • November l**KK
Hours: Mon -Sat. 10-6
Sun. 10-5
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•
Depression
Relationships
Ethnic Identity
Incest and Childhood
Trauma
• Adult Children of
Alcoholics *
Association because of his extreme views, said
on the program that “ We have a society that is
in terrible sexual trouble . . . passage of
Measure 8 will help stop the continual erosion
of our sexual standards in our society.”
This morning, Siemens had her chance to
talk back. Measure 8 would be bad policy, bad
law, bad government and bad business,” she
told listeners. Then she returned to the office
smiling, happily handing out “ Honorary Les­
bian” buttons to all the men on the staff.
Now she settles in her office, flips open a
datebook and is — once again — on the phone,
advising an organizer in Bend on how to ask for
endorsements, reviewing editorials on Measure
8 from Oregon newspapers, arranging a plug
for OFF during a Casselbery-Dupree concert.
Although campaign policy comes from the
top — from campaign manager Liz Kaufman,
from Siemens, from other staff — the endless
legwork depends on a “ shadow staff ’ of volun­
teers who do everything from looking up zip
codes to registering voters in bars on weekend
nights. Carl Goodman, whose job is to cheer­
fully lasso volunteers, strides grinning through
the office, encouraging a woman to do some
telephone fund-raising.
“ The people doing it are loving it. It’s really
exciting to call up these heterosexual voters and
actually talk to them about gay rights,” he says.
In the back room. Bob Clark, a volunteer,
transfers a mailing list to the computer. He got j
mad about Measure 8 supporters back in the
summer when he’d walk through Lloyd Center
and see the “ No Special Rights” banners.
“ I used to needle ’em a little bit. I'd take the
literature and say, ‘What are you telling these
people?’ ” Computer input isn’t the most high-
profile campaign job, but Clark knows it is
necessary. “ It makes me feel like I’m doing
something,” he says.
A day in the OFF campaign reveals the high
energy and organized spirit behind the No on 8
fight. The office shouts efficiency, with charts
taped on all the walls and giant, heavily
annotated calendars in each office. Endless lists
ensure that the details will be taken care o f—
that contributors will be thanked in writing, that
the new order of buttons will arrive on time, that
organizers around the state will get the brochures
and lawn signs they need.
Such a campaign demands more than full­
time hours. At 7 pm on the day that began with
the KXL radio show, Siemens is still grinning,
still pitching an enthused message about defeat­
ing Measure 8 to a small crowd at the Metro­
politan Community Church. She reminds them
that the fight isn’t over y et, that OFF still needs j
to raise $40,000 a week until election day.
Siemens delivers the final words of the day as
people file out: “ Don’t forget, on your way out,
to sign up. buy a T-shirt, get a bumpersticker.’
People cluster around to talk to her. She is
wearing two No on 8 stickers, one No on 8
button and another sticker that says, ‘Hello, my
name is Cathy.” When she finally leaves, she
will head home to make a few more OFF-related
calls before it gets too late. Then the calendar
will jump one day closer to November 8, and
the rustle of activity will start again.
‘ ‘The amazing thing about this office is that it
has this level of activity from 8 in the morning
until 10 at night,’’ said Thalia Zepatos. who is
organizing a postcard campaign for OFF. “ It’s
almost like gearing up for running a marathon
— a total physical and emotional
conditioning.”
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