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Believing that voters area ’t ready for a proactive initiative,
Basic Rights Oregon stays on the defensive
T
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TRAVEL SERVICE
ulie Davis, executive director of Basic
Rights Oregon, says the human rights
group will not push a proactive initiative
that could protect gay men and lesbians
from discrimination.
“I know there have been a lot of people calling
for a proactive initiative, but our polling shows that
people who generally voted against Measure 9 and
Measure 13 would also be inclined to vote against
a proactive initiative. We had pondered the idea,
but we’ve decided against it.”
Basic Rights Oregon, formerly the No on 13
Committee and Support Our Communities Politi­
cal Action Committee, held its campaign kick-off
this spring. Unlike its predecessors, which were
created to counter specific state­
wide and local anti-sexual-mi-
nority initiatives, Basic Right Or­
egon is a long-term, year-round
operation whose mission is to
“build a movement to advance
and protect democratic free­
doms, and civil and human rights;
build the broadest possible coa­
lition to counter activities of
groups such as the Oregon Citi­
zens Alliance; [and] defeat at­
tempts to deny basic rights
through the electoral process.”
Earlier this year, Basic Rights
Oregon said it was considering a
proactive measure which read,
in part: “The initiative power
reserved to the people... does not
include the power to repeal or
limit rights and liberties guaran­
teed by the Oregon Bill of
Rights.... Those rights [include]
Freedom of Speech, Freedom of
Assembly and Freedom of Reli­
gion. No ballot title shall be is­
sued nor shal 1 an election be held
on any initiative petition if the
measure proposed by the peti­
tion includes matters that fall
outside the scope of the initia­
tive power.”
“Our polling found that
people were confused by the
Julie Davis
wording,” says Davis.
Jann Carson, associate director of the Portland
chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union,
which helped draft the wording, says, “Basic Rights
Oregon is doing what it thinks is best. I think
polling shows while Oregonians don’t think the
initiative process is perfect, they’re not yet ready to
change it. By and large they want to keep it intact."
A similar measure was considered this past
session by state lawmakers. The bill would have
allowed the Oregon Constitution’s Bill of Rights
to be amended only by the referendum process, not
the initiative process. An initiative consists of a
procedure whereby a certain percentage of voters
may, by petition, propose a law or constitutional
amendment to be placed on the ballot for voter
approval or rejection. Referendum, meanwhile,
allows questions to be submitted to voters on the
judgment of the legislature. Unable to push anti-
sexual-minority rights measures through the Or­
egon Legislature, the OCA has effectively used—
and some would say abused—the initiative pro­
cess to further its agenda. The bill received a
hearing but died in committee.
Though the group won’t be touting the virtues
of its own initiative, Basic Rights Oregon will have
its hands full. Davis says the OCA has filed eight
anti-sexual-minority-rights initiatives that would
permanently legalize discrimination against gay
men and lesbians. Those measures are poised for
the November 1996 general election ballot.
“Oregonians have twice before rejected state­
wide anti-gay initiatives, and we’re very encour­
aged that citizens say they do not believe it’s OK to
discriminate against people in employment due to
sexual orientation,” says Davis. “What we’re also
finding, however, is that many people still don’t
know that it’s perfectly legal for a gay person to be
fired because of their sexual orientation. There’s
still a great deal of education that needs to be
done.”
According to Davis, Basic Rights Oregon has
launched an aggressive house meeting strategy
where participants learn more about OCA strate­
gies and pledge not only to vote against anti­
human-rights measures, but to work to inform
others about the threat posed by groups such as the
OCA.
Davis says 2,000 pledge cards have been sent
out thus far, and the group hopes to connect with a
solid support base of 200,000 voters during the
next several months. Basic Rights Oregon also
hopes to raise $500,000 by the end of 1995 to use
going into the 1996 campaign season. Davis had
estimated it would cost at least $4 million to
simultaneously run a proactive and a reactive cam­
paign.
“The work we’re doing now is the neighbor-to-
neighbor, nitty-gritty work. It may not be sexy, but
it’s the type of work the OCA has been good at. It’s
the type of work that is effective and necessary,”
she says.
Davis says several house meetings are planned
through August and September. Anyone inter­
ested in hosting a house meeting or becoming
involved in the campaign should contact Basic
Rights Oregon at 222-6151.