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Portland Lesbian Avengers protest “anti-turkey baster bill”
▼
I'm available when you arel "
by Inga Sorensen
4 4 f n n wo* four,
eight, it’s all right to
' B
■ inseminate. One, three, five, seven,
H
fuck you and your bill, Kevin.”
H
That’s not the lingo one typically
hears at the state Capitol, but then
again, it’s not often that the Lesbian Avengers pay
a visit to our esteemed lawmakers.
With turkey basters in tow, about a dozen
members of the Portland Lesbian Avengers, a
direct action lesbian-rights group, trekked to Sa
lem recently to share their views about state Rep.
Kevin Mannix’s efforts to “promote traditional
family values.” More specifically, the Avengers
are outraged at the Salem Democrat’s proposal
which would make it illegal for an unmarried
woman to be alternatively inseminated in Oregon.
House Bill 2303 would do just that. Mannix has
also introduced House Bill 2317, which would
require the state to "favor and support” hetero
sexual marriages above all other relationships.
“Kevin Mannix is not pro-family, he’s pro-
penis,” maintained one colorfully worded leaflet
the Avengers handed to passers-by. “That’s abso
lutely true,” says
22-year-old Jenni
fer Carson, a com
puter specialist at
the Oregon Mu
seum of Science
and
Industry.
“This has nothing
to do with his sup
port of families.
He ju st wants
women to have sex
with men in order
to have children.
What’s that got to
do with promoting
families?”
Carrying signs
saying “Turkey
Basters Forever”
and “Support All
Kinds of Fam i State Rep. Kevin Mannix flees
lies,” Carson and
other Avengers—all from the Portland metro area—
converged upon the Legislature on Jan. 23.
“I had called a few days before to find out
whether we could get a meeting with Mannix,”
explains Carson. “We were told that since we
didn’t live in his district, he wouldn’t see us, that he
only sees his constituents.”
Undeterred, the Avengers went ahead with
their plans to pay the representative a visit. “When
we got to the Capitol, we stood outside with our
signs and chanted. We were told by state police
that we couldn’t go into the building with our
signs, so some of us put them down and went on
in,” she says.
With security escorts, the Avengers—who
ranged in age from 20 to 29—went up to Mannix’s
office. “A secretary told us that he was in a meeting
and probably wouldn’t see us. We decided to wait
a bit anyway,” says Carson.
After a brief wait, Mannix, who had just con
cluded his meeting, stepped out of his private
office and agreed to see the Avengers. Carson says
as the group stepped into his office, Mannix glanced
at the flier—the one that described the conserva
tive legislator as “pro-penis.”
“Before we could talk about anything, he said,
‘This is insulting.’ We asked him what was insult
ing, and he just said, ‘Get out,’ ” says Carson.
Carson says as the Avengers started to leave,
chanting along the way, four state troopers who
were acting as security began to manhandle group
members. She says one Oregon state trooper in
particular— Lt. Rick Geistwhite—grabbed and
shoved her.
“Geistwhite kept pushing us toward the eleva
tor. We said no, we were going to take the stairs. He
said that we must take the elevator. We said that’s
not true... finally he backed off but still followed us
down the stairs. He then blocked the door so we
couldn’t get out.”
Carson says the Avengers were still chanting
and speculates security officers didn’t want the
noise to spill into the lobby.
At the other side of that door stood state Rep.
Kate Brown (D-Portland), an ardent supporter of
reproductive freedom and lesbian, gay and bi
sexual rights.
“I usually walk the stairs instead of take the
elevator,” explains the 34-year-old vice chair of
the House Judiciary Committee. Brown is also
openly bisexual. “I couldn’t get through because
the door was blocked. I quickly found out why.”
Brown, who says she found the Lesbian Aveng
ers’ zap action amusing, adds, “Let’s just say that
[the Avengers] provoked much discussion among
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v\
his office to avoid the Lesbian Avengers
my colleagues here, and quite frankly, sometimes
citizens have to do bizarre stuff in order to get
[legislators and the public] to focus on social
issues.”
She says: “Someone asked me, ‘Doesn’t this
only hurt your cause?’ and I replied, ‘Listen, when
they’re here, they make me look moderate.’ I really
do believe that we need to hear from all spectmms
of the community.”
Carson says the Lesbian Avengers were ulti
mately allowed to leave, but not before she and
other group members were “grabbed and shoved
some more.” Carson says she has bruises on her
upper arm from the incident and has filed a formal
complaint with the Oregon State Police against
Geistwhite and another officer. Additionally, she
says she is considering bringing charges against
Geistwhite.
Oregon State Police spokesman Lt. Bemie
Giusto admits the women were “physically es
corted” out of the Capitol after they “refused to
leave when asked.”
“They apparently were causing a real ruckus,
and they could have been arrested for disorderly
conduct,” he says. “They were physically escorted
out when they refused to leave, but there wasn’t
any undo force used.” Giusto says state police filed
reports with the House speaker’s and Senate
president’s offices detailing the incident.
“Says Carson, “If this helps bring attention to
this awful bill, then it will have been worth the
bruises.”
Call Joan for details: 252-0762
Saturday, Feb. 11, 6 pm
SW Washington Lesbian Potluck
will m a t for an tvoning of sodaizing
Bring a dish to share
Call Tina C. for location:
(206) 892-3766
Tuesday, Feb. 21, 7-9 pm
Why Peso
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