j u s t o u t ▼ ju ly 1 9 . 1 9 9 6 ▼ 9
“This was a plan by the right wing to distract
and divide us,” Furse told Just Out, adding she
had previously spoken with the Human Rights
C am paign about the issue, and claim s the national
gay rights group gave her the go-ahead to “do
“Sure, this may be a wedge issue, but there
com es a time when you have to follow w hat’s in
your heart,” says U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, a
Springfield/Eugene Democrat who was the only
mem ber o f O regon’s congressional delegation to
oppose the measure.
“This is a hateful and dangerous precedent to
set,” he says. “ I’m sure some legislative careers
were ended over the [ 1964] Ci vi 1 Rights A ct... and
I feel that if my actions backing civil rights mean
the end o f my [congressional] career, well then
that’s a pretty good way to go.”
“ HRC did not encourage legislators— even
with a quiet wink and nod on the side— to vote in
favor o f the Defense o f M arriage Act,” says HRC
spokesm an David Smith. “I talked with our politi
cal people who work with the Pacific Northwest,
and they sim ply d o n ’t understand how any
congressperson could have walked away from a
conversation with us with the impression that it
was OK for them to vote yes.”
Furse, clearly angry with our persistent ques
what it takes” to get re-elected.
She faces what is expected to be a tough race in
November against Republican contender Bill Witt.
Last election, she defeated him by a mere 300 votes.
tioning, said, “W hat I do support is the right o f
states to deal with the marriage issue.”
She declined to answ er when asked whether
she would therefore support a state’s push to, for
“W edding A nnouncem ent” section.
W hen the women inform ed The Oregonian
they were a same-sex couple, they were told that
the paper only publishes “legal m arriages.”
Linebarier says while Oregonian em ployee
Marty Prunty told her it was a “free service” to the
com m unity, it was solely available to heterosexu
als because they are the only people who can be
legally married.
"The Oregonian has steadfastly maintained
for years that its W edding Announcem ent section
is a free community service. It needs to provide
that service in a nondiscrim inatory m anner,” says
the couple’s attorney, Renée Jacobs, o f the Port
land firm Crispin & Associates.
Linebarier says a letter was sent to The Orego -
nian — prior to the filing of the lawsuit— request
No " I d o " fo r you
In the recent U.S. House vote on DOMAy DeFazio is the lone
Oregonian to stand up for same-sex civil rights
▼
by Inga Sorensen
he hostility was palpable.
Funny thing is, it w asn’t coming
from gay men and lesbians, but rather
from the congressw om an herself.
“Listen, I’m not in favor o f a 14-
year-old m arrying an adult,” snapped U.S. Rep.
Elizabeth Furse when Just Out asked the Oregon
D em ocrat w hether she supports, on moral and
ethical grounds, equal m arriage rights for gay and
lesbian citizens.
The question came on the heels o f Furse’s
surprising vote in favor o f the Defense o f M ar
riage Act, a bill approved by the U.S. House that
defines m arriage— for the first time in federal
law— as a formal union between a man and woman.
The m easure, approved July 12 by a 342-67
m argin, allow s states to disregard same-sex m ar
riages perform ed in any other state, and precludes
spousal benefits, typically afforded partners in a
heterosexual union, that are distributed by a range
o f governm ent program s from Social Security to
veterans services.
W e spoke with Furse and U.S. Rep. Earl
Blum enauer, a Portland D em ocrat, one day after
they cast their ballots favoring the discrim inatory
legislation.
The two, who have been considered allies o f
the gay and lesbian com m unity, popped in at the
Right to Privacy’s Garden Party on July 13. RTP,
O regon’s largest gay, lesbian and bisexual rights
organization, had invited Furse to the fund-raiser
as a featured speaker.
W e caught up with Furse and Blum enauer at
the event, and the duo served up rationales that
som e critics say sounded like prepackaged estab
lishm ent gobbledygook.
Lesbian couple sues Oregonian
over discriminatory policy
A Portland lesbian couple has filed a lawsuit
against The Oregonian, claim ing the new spaper’s
refusal to print their w edding announcem ent vio
lates city and state laws prohibiting discrim ina
tion in public accom m odations.
The lawsuit was filed July 17 in M ultnomah
C ounty D istrict C ourt. T he co u p le, Sandra
Linebarier, 45, and her partner, C harlene Morris,
44, o f Southeast Portland, say they contacted The
Oregonian in early July to arrange for the publica
tion o f their w edding announcem ent in the paper’s
Iti Clark Comity 127 have died o f AIDS.
In the U.S. 315,809 have died.
ing that the newspaper voluntarily end its dis
crim inatory policy.
“Not only did they say they w on’t do it, they
even threatened us with sanctions if we continued
with the process,” she tells Just Out.
Linebarier adds, “There is this misperception
that gay people don’t have long-lasting, perm a
nent and valid relationships. That simply isn’t
true. I had hoped The Oregonian would have
recognized this and would have made this service
available to the entire com m unity, not just hetero
sexuals.”
An interesting note: Linebarier, who will be
wed in early August during a cerem ony in a
Portland public park, says the city parks and
example, reinstate legal prohibitions on interra
cial marriages.
Pressed for her personal feelings about same-
sex marriage, Furse retorted sharply, “ 1 don’t know.”
Blumenauer, meanwhile, offered political ja r
gon about safe streets and jo b security.
“ Do you have a statem ent? I’ll get you a
statem ent,” he said to me as an aide attempted to
jam a prepared statement into my hands and
scurry away with the representative.
“ I want to know why you voted for this mea
sure,” I responded.
Finally, after fumbling for a few minutes,
Blumenauer, who does not face a difficult race
and represents perhaps one o f the politically saf
est districts in the nation, said: ‘T h e picture of
marriage that I have in my mind is of a man and
a woman. T hat’s where I’m at in my head. This
isn’t a political thing with me.”
“We are baffled by B lum enauer’s vote,” says
HRC’s Smith. “We feel he’s in a very safe district.
We just d on’t understand it.”
HRC, which contributed $7,500 to Furse’s
and $2,500 B lum enauer’s recent cam paigns, says
the m arriage vote w ill be in cluded in the
organization’s report card, which rates legislators
based on their votes on selected gay and HIV/
AIDS-related measures.
Smith applauds D eFazio’s negative vote:
“Some, like DeFazio, are profiles in courage.
Some, like the president, are not.”
DeFazio adds, “W hat do you expect when the
president throws in the towel from the outset?”
referring to Bill C linton’s eager pronouncement
that he would sign the bill into law (despite
tagging the measure as “gay-baiting”).
Furse, meanwhile, told the Garden Party crowd
she could have “been a heroine” by voting down
the bill, but opted instead for political survival.
She received a polite round o f applause in an act
one observer described as “the most self-loathing
thing” he had witnessed “ in quite some tim e.”
RTP co-chair Lisa M axfield says she’s gone
from “feeling heartsick to having steam come out
o f my ears.”
“ It’s a devastating feeling,” she says.
W hen asked why R TP chose Furse as featured
speaker, M axfield said, “W e choose speakers that
are gay and speakers who may be straight who
‘get it.’ ”
Does Furse still get it?
“ I d o n ’t know anym ore,” M axfield responds,
som ew hat mournfully.
recreation departm ent is charging her and M orris
the “wedding rate” fee to use the space.
“ I asked them if it made a difference that it was
a same-sex couple’s w edding,” she says. “They
said no, it’s still a w edding.”
Despite the grow ing list o f mainstream papers
that print same-sex couple’s announcem ents, The
Oregonian, which failed to respond to our in
quiry, has held fast to its discrim inatory policy.
O ther couples who believe they have faced
similar discrim ination by The Oregonian are en
couraged to immediately contact M aura Coffin at
Crispin & Associates, 1230 SW First Ave., Suite
300, Portland, OR 97204; phone 224-2007; fax
224-0517.
Inga Sorensen
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