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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (May 3, 1996)
ju st o u t ▼ may 3 . 1 9 0 6 ▼ 17 PRIMARY PRIMER: JUST GRIN AND BALLOT A s in elections of the recent past, Just Out is forced to make some tough decisions regarding our endorsements. In a number of political contests, human rights advocates are in the rare position of being able to select from a pool of candidates friendly to many of the causes we support: discrimination protections based on sexual orientation, equal legal marriage rights for same-sex couples, recognition of and support for sexual minority youth, equitable foster-parenting and adoption policies, economic equality for marginalized communities, protec tion of a woman’s right to choose, protection of the environment, increasing the minimum wage, removal of racial and ethnic bias in all levels of government and in the courts, protecting the basic civil rights of all immigrants, and the basic principle of abolishing anti-human laws and initiatives. Since Just Out also bases its endorsements on issues that extend beyond sexual orientation, there were some tough races to decide—particularly those Demo cratic races in which gay men and one lesbian face off against opponents who deserve serious consideration. In this issue we focus on these contests, as well as the race for the U.S. Senate. We focus on the Democrats in the U.S. Senate race since we could not consider Gordon Smith or Lon Mabon as viable options on the Republican side. From the point of view of the queer voter, openly gay Republican Chuck Carpenter, who is running for Oregon House District 7, is not facing a difficult race. In the May 17 issue we will feature Just Out’s full list of endorsements, just in time for the May 21 primary. Though issuing dual endorsements may have been easier in some of these races, it is Just Out policy not to: We believe you expect us to make the hard decisions. Analysis by Renée LaChance and Inga Sorensen ( ) r i :<;<>\ S i a m i : D is t r i c t 6 Four Democratic candidates vie fo r this seat: Ginny Burdick, Frank Dixon, Tom Mason and Kent Snyder Though all are supportive o f lesbian and gay rights, we ’re focusing on two candidates, Mason and Dixon. T o m Mason has name recognition in this race, since he served as an Oregon state represen tative for 16 years. Mason served the lesbian and gay community well for a number of those years, and Just Out has endorsed him in the past, however, he has recently changed his positions on a woman’s right to choose and lesbian and gay rights. Four years ago Mason was progressive on these issues, now he is opposed to same- sex marriage and equitable foster-parenting rights for les bians and gay men. His turn around on these issues mirrors a previous about-face: Three days before the 1994 election for Oregon House District 11 Mason— who had favored a woman’s right to choose— sought the endorsement of Or egon Right to Life, an anti choice organization. Mason has become a can Frank Dixon didate whom the lesbian and gay community should be extremely wary of, should he get his party’s nomination. F o r us there is one clear choice in this race— Frank Dixon, an out gay man who is a progres sive, pragmatic Democrat who advocates for edu cation, neighborhood livability, basic civil rights, community policing, affordable health care and women’s reproductive freedoms. He is the only candidate who has consistently worked for les bian and gay rights. He has been endorsed by the Right to Privacy PAC, the Portland Rainbow Coalition, the Sierra Club and the Oregon AFL- CIO. He will make a strong, articulate state sena tor. Frank Dixon has earned our endorsement. O regon H oi si ; D istrict 12 One race that posed a difficult choice involves the Democratic primary race fo r the Oregon House o f Representatives District 12 seat being vacated by Rep. Gail Shibley, who is running fo r the Portland City Council. Four candidates are running in this primary: Chris Beck, David Bragdon, Bob Duehmig and Laurie Wimmer. All four support equality fo r lesbians and gay men. Voters cannot go wrong with any o f these candidates. Both Beck and Bragdon support basic rights fo r all Oregonians and each men tions that fact in his state ment in the Voter’s Pam p hlet. Though n eith er Wimmer nor Duehmig fo l low suit, Just Out believes these two candidates are o f particular interest to our community. W immer is the direc tor of the Oregon Commis sion for W om en, and Duehmig, an openly gay pro gressive, is legislative spe cialist for the Oregon Fed eration of Teachers, Educa tion and Health Profession als. Laurie Wimmer, 38, is a lifelong Oregonian and unabashed women’s and children’s rights advocate, who has been a long time supporter of gay, lesbian and bisexual rights. Wimmer has testified at state legislative hear ings supporting antidiscrimination legislation based on sexual orientation; actively campaigned, with her young children in tow, against discrimi natory ballot measures 9 and 13; and is a member of the Keeston Lowery Democratic Club, a les bian and gay political club. She was staunchly opposed to 1988’s Ballot Measure 8, an initiative successfully pushed by Lon Mabon and company that rescinded a guber natorial executive order barring sexual orienta tion discrimination in state government. As director of the Oregon Commission for Women, Wimmer says she personally protested to state Rep. Kevin Mannix— a highly conserva tive Democrat who is running for state attorney general— when he unveiled his plans during the 1995 session to sponsor legislation that would have made it illegal for unmarried women to receive alternative insemination, and a bill that would have required government to favor and promote heterosexual marriages above all other relationships. Wimmer supports equal marriage rights for same-sex couples, antidiscrimination legislation, and public funding for programs helping sexual minority youth. She has crafted a Children’s Bill of Rights that specifically addresses the high suicide rate among sexual minority youth. Wimmer, who is married and has two children, lives in Northwest Portland. She has been endorsed by the Portland Rainbow Coalition. S o m e may say it makes perfect sense for Bob Duehmig to become the suc cessor to the seat held by Oregon’s first openly gay or lesbian leg islato r, Gail Shibley. A fter all, like Shibley, he is openly gay and a pragmatic progressive who possesses a civil de meanor sorely needed in Sa lem. U nlike W im m er, Laurie Wimmer Duehmig is relatively new to Oregon, having moved here from the Midwest in 1991. Upon his arrival, the 31-year-old politi cal junkie became involved in local efforts to elect the Clinton-Gore ticket. The pro-labor, pro-choice Duehmig also headed up the get-out-the-vote campaign for now-Gov. John Kitzhaber. As a legislative specialist, Duehmig has spent the past three sessions “working on tax and edu cation issues.” Education is, in fact, on the top of Duehmig’s legislative agenda. He backs gay and lesbian rights, supports urban growth boundaries and tougher water and air quality standards. He has received Right to Privacy PAC’s en dorsement. Duehmig lives in Johns Landing with his partner of seven years. Bill Griesar. Both Duehmig and Wimmer know their way around the state legislative process. Both have paid their political dues. Wimmer has paid hers primarily in Oregon, especially lobbying in the Oregon Legislature, while Duehmig has paid his largely outside of Oregon. Duehmig’s political activity in Oregon has revolved around main stream Democratic politics, and he was involved only peripherally in fighting ballot measures 9 and 13, while Wimmer actively canvassed on those measures, plus Measure 8 in 1988. While lesbians and gay men would be equally well served by either candidate, and although we’d like to see a gay man succeed Shibley’s legislative legacy, Just Out’s endorsement goes to Wimmer, for her long track record of fighting for the basic human rights of Oregonians. P ortland ( i n Coi \( n P osition 1 Mike Lindberg held down this jobfo r 17 years. Lindberg has been a champion o f the arts, lesbian and gay rights, and many other issues o f impor tance to the Rose City. His absence from the council will be keenly felt. Eight candidates threw their hats into the ring fo r this seat on the coun c il—Just O ut is fo c u sin g on three: Jim Francesconi, Gail Shibley and Eric Sten. All three are good candidates; all three sup port lesbian and gay rights; all three would be a welcome addition to the council. However, some things stand out about each. E lfric Sten has the most experience in city government— he has worked in Portland City Commi ssioner Gretchen Kafoury ’ s offi ce for fi ve years, three of those as chief of staff. Sten’s area of expertise working for Kafoury has been hous ing. His ideas for providing affordable housing in Portland are cutting-edge, and his ability to pull people in to his way of thinking is enviable. He has done very good work for the residents of Portland without caring about getting the credit. The only things that disturbed us about Sten revolve around his perceived “party animal” atti tude. For example, several weeks ago KXL R adio’s Victoria Taft Show arranged to speak to Sten and tracked him down at a local bar to conduct the interview. While the image iW is reminiscent of Bud Clark and the Goose Hollow Inn, it turned us off in this race. Frankly, we would like to see Sten continue to hone his po litical skills; we’d like to see him run for Kafoury’s seat when it comes up. J i m Francesconi posed an endorsement dilemma for us in this contest. Francesconi was endorsed by a number of allies of the lesbian and gay community: Avel Gordly, Ann Sweet and the Portland Rain bow Coalition to name a few. All these people had supported Shibley in the past. We wondered what was up. Francesconi has touted his work getting 600 young people out of gangs and into jobs. He has worked with the African American community in many ways to enhance livability in North and Northeast Portland. He obviously feels passion ately about a number of issues involving youth and people of color. That weighs heavily in our endorsement considerations. The thing we found most confusing about Francesconi was how he could be an ally on lesbian and gay rights while being such a devout Catholic that he sends his three children to Catho lic school. Lesbians and gay men know legions about the pope’s homophobia and the often homophobic teachings of the Catholic Church. When asked to respond to questions about sexual orientation, Francesconi often seemed tom be tween the religious teachings of his church and his progressive political bent. He was very clear that lesbians and gay men should have basic civil rights, and that lesbian, gay and questioning youth should have access to counseling in public schools by lesbian- and gay- postitive counselors. He believes in a woman’s right to choose. Where things got fuzzy was when we asked if he would support same-sex marriage. Francesconi responded that honoring people’s commitments to one another was important. He said he would support same-sex marriage, even though it would be difficult for him to do so “because of [his] church." But he was clear that he “would not lead the charge.” Francesconi is an attorney who employs up to 15 people in his law practice. We asked him if discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation was addressed in the personnel policies of his firm, and he said he couldn’t say for sure whether it was in the language of the policy or not, but it certainly was his intention that it be included. The thing we most admired about Francesconi was his habit of sitting down with marginalized community leaders and asking questions about Continued on page 19