just out ▼ may 10. 1009 ▼ 19
It’s Your Hair...
...You Decide
A
Shutout in Salem
r o m a t h er a p y
Sandalwood, pine or cassis votives $ I.
Civil rights fo r sexual minorities are taking a beating
this session in the Oregon Legislature
Cedar-wood soap $5.
Lavender oil candle in painted pot $ 14.
French vetyver cologne $24.
He make it Real.
b y In g a S o r e n s e n
upporters of gay and lesbian civil rights
knew it was going to be tough making
headway this legislative session, but
they didn’t realize it was going to get
this ugly.
“Ugly is a good word for it. I am really dis
gusted with what I’ve seen and heard this ses
sion,” says Rep. Chuck Carpenter, the openly gay
first-term Republican from Portland. Though
Carpenter gets to enjoy the privileges associated
with being a member of the majority party (the
Republicans control the state Legislature this
session for the first time in 40 years), he is furious
with GOP leadership for allegedly reneging on its
promise to give a nondiscrimination bill a hearing
if the necessary votes were secured.
“House leadership told us that if we could
show that we had a majority in the House who
were willing to vote for the
bill, then we would hear it,”
says Rep. Kate Brown (D-
Portland), who introduced
House Bill 3459, which
would prohibit discrimination
based on sexual orientation
in employment, housing, pub
lic accommodations and real
estate transactions. “We got
the votes, but then when we
went to ask for the hearing,
we were told that we now
needed to have a majority of
the Republican caucus who
would be willing to vote for a
hearing.”
A ccording to L isa
Maxfield, co-chair of Right
To Privacy, a sexual minor
ity rights organization that
lobbied for HB 3459, House Gatl Shlbley
Speaker Bev Clamo (R-Bend) agreed to move
HB 3459 if the bill’s backers could show they had
31 House votes.
“Part of the agreement was that we would do
all of this lobbying very quietly— that we wouldn’t
make this into a public issue. That’s why you
haven’t heard anything about this until now. We
promised to go along with the leadership’s strat
egy, and then they pulled the rug out from under
us,” says Maxfield.
Further infuriating the bill’s backers was a
claim made by House Majority Leader Ray Baum
(R-La Grande), who says he has witnessed no
proof that gay men and lesbians face discrimina
tion in the workplace. Additionally, he has de
scribed the matter as a “moral [issue] not [a] civil
rights issue.”
“Last session when we were pushing an omni
bus bill, we took a much more public approach.
We held press conferences. We met with editorial
boards, you know, the whole thing. That didn’t
work,” says Brown. “So this time we tried a
strategy that called upon us to work behind the
scenes. We did that, and it hasn’t worked either.”
Maxfield says when RTP lobbyists approached
Republican leadership with their 31 votes, they
were informed that all “controversial” bills would
now also have to receive majority support—or 18
votes— from the GOP caucus: the criteria is being
referred to as the “Rule of 18.”
“Chuck Carpenter—who has just been great—
took the bill to his caucus, and I believe, at best,
five Republicans voted for a hearing,” says
Maxfield.
For their part, legislative leaders claim they
did not want to deal with “social issues" this
S
session, and instead want to focus on the state’s
economic situation.
“That is such bull,” says Rep. Gail Shibley (D-
Portland), who sponsored a bill which would have
prohibited discrimination based on sexual orien
tation in employment. “We’ve handled abortion
issues and family leave and a whole host of so-
called social issues. The thing is, Republicans
only want to be able to vote on their choice of
social issues. It’s total hypocrisy.”
According to Maxfield, after an impasse was
reached on the omnibus bill, sexual minority
rights backers decided to offer Shibley’s legisla
tion as an amendment to a controversial family
leave measure that was being considered by the
House Labor Committee.
Brown, who had lined up the votes for Shibley’s
nondiscrimination amendment prior to the family
leave measure’s scheduled
hearing, did not tell commit
tee chairman Rep. John Watt
(R-Medford) of her intentions
because she knew he would
oppose the move.
“We thought the bill
might make it through and
the House would then be able
to vote on the nondi scri mi na
tion issue,” she says. How
ever, Watt found out about
the plan and decided to kill
the whole measure.
“Chuck Carpenter [who
serves on the House Labor
Committee] once again stood
his ground and made the dif
ference,” says Maxfield. “He
told Watt that there was no
way he was going to back
down from supporting the
amendment. That forced Watt to shut down the
whole committee. In doing so we killed the amend
ment, but we also killed a really nasty family
leave bill.”
“It’s obvious now that the leadership never
intended to give us a hearing—never," says Rep.
George Eighmey (D-Portland). “We accepted their
ground rules because we thought they were acting
in good faith. Now we know that they were simply
trying to keep us quiet. Their tactic, as despicable
as it is, was very effective.”
Maxfield and others say they are exploring
other potential parliamentary maneuvers that they
may use to get a vote on the omnibus nondiscrimi
nation measure, but Shibley says it’s highly un
likely anything will come of it.
“Trust me, I will pull no parliamentary punches,
but from a practical standpoint given the current
make-up of the committees and the rush toward
adjournment, it’s a real, real long shot that any
thing will happen with the bill. That’s not to say,
however, that we’re not exploring our options.”
As for any bright spots this session, Eighmey
says he’s fairly confident a bill he’s sponsoring
which would allow people to choose how their
remains are disposed of will pass, and human
rights advocates are watching the steady progress
of House Bill 3125, which would bar employers
from discriminating against employees who, on
their own time and off the employer’s premises,
participate in political activities.
“We’re batting around .150,” says Shibley.
“For every three steps back, we may take a half
step forward. It’s frustrating, but we’re doing the
best we can with what we have.”
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