Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 18, 1994)
/ school level. He also says House Bill 3500 (a law passed last legislative session that prohibits the enforcement of discriminatory local measures) was “perhaps the best lawmakers could do under the circumstances.” And he consistently denounced the OCA and its most recent initiative. Ballot Measure 13, throughout his campaign against Re publican opponent Denny Smith. In January, Kitzhaber takes over the chief executive’s post from outgoing Gov. Barbara Rob erts. Though Kitzhaber is a strong supporter of diversity, gay and lesbian rights activists statewide admit it will be difficult making inroads with respect to proactive civil rights legislation, namely, passing a statewide bill prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Why? Because, as with Congress, both houses of the Oregon Legislature will now be controlled by Republicans—the last time that happened was 1955. Rural Republicans will be in the top leader- | ship positions in both the state Senate and House: Bend rancher Bev Clarno will become House j speaker when the 1995 legislative session opens in a few weeks, and Pendleton businessman Gordon ! Smith will become Senate president. Clamo voted I against HB 35(X) last session, and Smith says he I opposes any “special rights” for gay men and j lesbians. "I’ve already met with her (Clamo],” says Greg Jackson, executive director of Right to Privacy, an Oregon gay and lesbian rights organization that j has been lobbying for years for passage of a state civil rights bill. “Let’s just say that a gay and ! lesbian civil rights bill is not at the top of her agenda. She seems intenton focusingon issues like crime and education.” Jackson says he’s counting on Kitzhaber’s of ten-heralded ability to build bridges and find com promise among many types of people. Still others say Clamo may be more willing to find middle ground than outgoing Speaker Larry Campbell, a Republican lawmaker known for his confronta tional style. Campbell, who is retiring from the Legislature, was—at best—reluctant to allow a hearing on a gay and lesbian rights bill. “On the bright side, Oregon still has more openly gay, lesbian and bisexual lawmakers than attorney general of New York, was also unsuccess ful. The latter race was a particularly ugly one. According to The New York Times, "A subtext in the campaign was Ms. Burstein’s homosexuality. Many voters paid little attention to the race until Columbus Day, when the Staten Island Borough president, Guy Molinari, a Republican, said that Ms. Burstein, a former state senator and judge in Brooklyn Family Court, should not be attorney general because she is a lesbian.” In the article, Molinari is quoted as saying: “By the time the election rolled around, I don’t think there was a tiny hamlet in the state that wasn’t aware that not only was she a lesbian but that she had a gay and lesbian agenda. Some people told me, ‘Thank you for letting me know, Guy. It does make a difference to me, and now I know how I will vote.’ It probably made the difference in the elec tion.” Burstein, who would have been the first out lesbian elected to a statewide office, lost the race by three percentage points. The Molinari connection gets even more inter esting: During the campaign, Guy Molinari’s 61- year-old brother, a California resident, reportedly came out publicly as a gay man and denounced his brother’s rhetoric. There has also been a colorful dialogue on America OnLine about an alleged lesbian relationship that Guy’s daughter Susan, who is a Republican U.S. representative from New York, had with U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D- Maryland), a few years ago. We contacted Molinari’s Washington office and were told by a congressional aide the claim was “ridiculous,” and that Susan was in fact on a honeymoon with her second husband. He also remarked, “The con gresswoman is so beautiful. Even if she was a lesbian, why would she go with such a toad?” According to The New York Post, Susan Molinari issued a statement saying she did not support Burstein—not because of Burstein’s sexual orientation—but because of her public policy po sitions. (Susan Molinari recently popped up in the Portland area on a campaign commercial endors ing Bill Witt, a conservative congressional candi date affiliated with the Oregon Citizens Alliance. Molinari was criticizing incumbent Elizabeth Furse, a strong advocate of gay and lesbian rights, for not supporting a particular crime bill.) New York also lost an eloquent backer of gay and lesbian rights— Democratic Gov. Mario Cuomo— who was defeated by state Sen. George Pataki. Though lesbian and gay rights activists in New York have not been able to pass a hate crimes measure or a state civil rights bill during Cuomo’s gubernatorial tenure, the governor did issue an executive order in 1982 barring discrimination based on sexual orientation in state government. That order was the basis of an important judicial decision upholding the exclusion of military re cruiters from the state’s 64 public colleges and universities because the military discriminates against open gay men and lesbians. Meanwhile, in Arizona’s gubernatorial race, Democratic challenger Ed Basha, who said he would sign a bill sanctioning same-sex marriages, lost to incumbent Fife Symington. According to The Associated Press, Basha said he would sign such a bill because “I oppose discrimination against people, period.” Basha reportedly made the re mark during a radio debate with Symington, who said he would veto a same-sex marriage bill if it gained approval from the Legislature, because he believes it would demean the institution of mar riage. regon Gov.-elect John Kitzhaber is on record as supporting a gay and lesbian civil rights bill and Project 10 (a school-oriented pro gram that supports gay and lesbian students). He has said he would veto “any anti-gay legislation," including a bill prohibiting gay and lesbian citi zens from adopting children. He says it’s vital that AIDS education and condom distribution pro grams be promoted, including at the elementary Continued on page 19 O Stalwart volunteers, the backbone o f the No on 13 campaign