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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1990)
f l STOREFRONT Æ t h e a t r e presents at the PORTLAND CENTER for the PERFORMING ARTS I emysibh B r id g e t o w n R e a lty • R esid en tial, HUD P roperties, A p artm e n t C om plexes, C om m ercial. • F ree c o n su lta tio n : T he Buying P rocess, E arn est M oney A greem ents, C om petitive M arket Analysis, F inancing. • Buying o r Selling. ^ • C ity o r C ountry. Feeling harassed, intimidated, discriminated? The time has passed when lesbians and gays are better off silently enduring harassment, intimidation and discrimination occurrence of such hate crimes. If hate crimes are not reported, our political opponents could try to make the case that lesbians and gays do Note: No two legal situations are exactly the same. not need legal protection, because they are not This column discusses general legal principles only. victims of hate crimes. We all know that this For specific advice, consult your lawyer. is ridiculous, but we need to create the statistics that prove it to the world. he time has passed when lesbians and In addition to creating statistics, we also gays are better off silently enduring harassment, intimidation and discrimination. have a real possibility of having homophobic intimidation criminals put in jail. The You now have specific legal protection and Multnomah County District Attorney’s office rights. You need to know them and use them. is ready, willing and able to prosecute these crimes. However, they cannot prosecute crimes that aren’t reported. Do your part. Get help from a gay community lawyer or service organization if you need it. Discrimination Among the many kinds of discrimination that lesbians and gays endure are H arassm ent and Intim idation discrimination in housing and employment. It is now illegal (ORS 166.155, and Gay men, particularly, run the risk of 166.165) to intimidate a person because of employment discrimination because of their their sexual orientation. If one person actual, or perceived HIV status. If two commits the illegal intimidation against a gay unmarried adults (such as a gay couple) are person, it is a class A misdemeanor (up to one refused rental property, because of their year in jail). If two or more persons act marital status, this is probably discrimination together to intimidate a gay person under Oregon statutes that prohibit treating (intimidation in the first degree), the crime is people differently because of their “marital a class C felony. status.” If you experience such housing Under the statute, illegal intimidation discrimination, you should consult with a occurs when, because of a person’s sexual qualified attorney to determine whether your orientation, another person tampers or case is strong enough be to followed up, interferes with property, intentionally subjects through the state’s civil rights division, or another to offensive physical contact, or through a legal action. intentionally subjects the person to alarm by Oregon law does not clearly state that threatening to inflict serious physical injury, lesbians and gays cannot be discriminated or cause substantial damage to the person’s against in employment. Our state’s Supreme property. Court has hinted that a certain statute might be The person commits the crime of interpreted that way, but the issue is far from intimidation when they intentionally cause clear. Nonetheless, lesbians and gays who you alarm by threatening to hurt you. For have been victims of employment example, a vicious threat that “I ’m going to kill you, you faggot,” or “I ’m going to bum discrimination are increasingly successful in settling their claims with the offending you dykes out o f this house,” would definitely be violations of the statute. employer. Under the felony statute, if two or more Probably the fastest growing area of illegal persons act together to intentionally, discrimination is against gay men who do knowingly, or recklessly cause physical injury have, or are feared by their employer to have, to a lesbian or gay because of their sexual or be at risk of having, HIV infection. Two orientation, they are each guilty o f a felony. major cases alleging AIDS discrimination Felony statute also prohibits intentionally were recently tried in the Multnomah County placing a person in fear o f imminent serious Circuit Court, one against Tri-Met, and one physical injury. against Crown Zellerbach. In some of these Thus, two or more persons harassing gay ca$es, the victim of discrimination waits too people on the street, threatening them with a long to get legal help. If you are being beating, or death, would constitute a felony discriminated against in the workplace crime under applicable Oregon law, if it was because you have AIDS, or because your done because o f actual or perceived sexual employer thinks you do, you should get orientation of the victim. qualified legal advice as soon as the problem If you or someone you know is the victim begins. of such conduct, you should report it Among the kinds of conduct that are immediately to the police by dialing 911. probably illegal discrimination are: an Cooperate fully with the responding officers, employer requiring a gay man or HIV-positive giving them all the relevant information, person to provide a doctor’s note in order to including the basis of the charge that you were keep working, requiring such a person to use a threatened or hurt because of your sexual special set of tools, restrictions on restroom orientation. The Portland Police Bureau is use by employees, and isolating a person under instruction to enforce this law. Should within the workplace. Often, employers will you encounter an uncooperative officer, note try to cover their tracks by trumping up that officer’s name and badge number, so that charges against an employee, and building a you can follow up later through a gay paper file against them. If this starts to community lawyer, or other advocate. happen to you, get legal advice immediately. Another section of Oregon law, ORS In summary, gays and lesbians do now 181.550 requires police agencies in the state enjoy substantial legal protections, which we to keep track of crimes motivated by prejudice need to get used to, and learn to use. In the based on the perceived sexual orientation of past, we often suffered silently. Now we have the victim. These reports are then the chance to get even, legally. Know your summarized into quarterly and annual reports rights and use them. ▼ for the use of state agencies. In order to protect the hard-won statutory rights of gays The author is an attorney in private practice and and lesbians, it is imperative that all members maintains his office in the Crown Plaza Building in of our community actively work to report the downtown Portland. BY B R A D L E Y J. W O O D W O R T H T MM VET A ridiculous farce by CHARLES LUDLAM sssasis0* I have b ee n in sales since 1977. My e x p e rie n c e in c lu d e s in s u r an ce, finance, an d b u sin ess bro kerage. I have b ee n a successful re a lto r in P o rtlan d for 4 years. I am c o m m itte d to fu lfillin g m y clients* n e e d s th ro u g h o u t th e p r o c e s s o f s e l l i n g o r b u y in g property. Call fo r a free consultation Today. 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