ju s t o u t ▼ n o ve m b e r 7, 1997 ▼ 15
local news
Elections a m ixed bag
,
Washington ys Initiative 677 goes down taking plans for an Oregon version with it; No on 51 sails through
by Inga Sorensen
PHOTO BY LINDA KUEVVER
The N oon 51 crowd views the returns with elation
tonians squashed a similar initiative by a margin
of 60 percent to 40 percent (751,888 to 506,643).
Harris says given the trouncing, activists here
cannot move ahead with such plans.
“I’m disappointed,” she says. “I think an ini
tiative like this could pass in Oregon, especially
given our history and dialogue around these is
sues.”
But she says BRO’s board made it clear if
Initiative 677 lost by more than five percentage
points, the plan was all but dead in Oregon.
According to Harris, the board is slated to
meet on Nov. 10, when it will likely formalize its
decision to drop the measure, which was submit
ted to state officials Aug. 29.
“It seems impossible to move forward now,”
she says, adding that BRO will instead prepare to
respond to anti-gay and anti-abortion initiatives
poised for next November’s ballot.
Fearing that a loss could negatively influence
pending and future gay-related legislation, some
gay and lesbian activists in Washington and Or
egon criticized plans to place proactive measures
before voters.
Washington was the first to make the attempt.
In Oregon, Right to Pride, a statewide gay,
lesbian, bisexual rights group, was extremely skep
tical about conducting a proactive campaign here.
For months Barry Pack, executive director of
RTP, had expressed concerns that running such a
campaign could divert dollars and energy from
state legislative races.
“I think it’s a shame Initiative 677 lost. No one
wants to see it lose like that,” he says. “At the
same time, maybe the whole community can now
band together to work on [Oregon’s legislative]
races.”
Polls in Washington had indicated the out
come of the vote would be extremely close. But it
was not to be: Initiative 677 was carried only in
King County (192,532 to 188,476) and San Juan
County (1,961 to 1,555), losing in all 37 other
counties by margins of 2-1 or more in many
corners of the state.
And it didn’t seem to matter whether big
wigs—or big bucks—bolstered Initiative 677.
Democratic Gov. Gary Locke endorsed the
dren, by requiring significant safety training and
trigger locks.
N:
ot surprisingly, Initiative 677 opponents
were delighted.
Vancouver resident Bob Larimer, a well-
known opponent of gay rights, told reporters
voters recognized Initiative 677 was “about spe
cial rights, not discrimination.”
He also publicly chastised Locke for vetoing a
bill passed earlier this year that sought to outlaw
same-sex marriages in Washington.
Larimer also said the vote should “speak
strongly to Congress...and to
other states.”
He told The Associated
Press, “We did not want to be
the first domino to fall in an
aggressive campaign by the
homosexual community. We
succeeded beyond my wildest
imagination.”
Eleven states and the Dis
trict of Columbia ban job dis
crimination based on sexual
orientation. Unincorporated
King County, Seattle, Olympia
and Tumwater have antidis
crimination laws with protec
tions based on sexual orienta
tion that cover most employers.
Similar statutes in Clark and
Clallam counties and the cities
of Bellingham, Pullman and
Vancouver protect local gov
ernment employees.
Back in Oregon, RTP’s Pack
says he’s delighted that voters
overwhelmingly rejected Mea
sure 51, a legislative referral
that would have repealed
Oregon’s Death with Dignity
Act, approved by voters in 1994
as Measure 16. Oregonians
stomped Measure 51 by a 60-40 margin.
The vote means a person who is mentally
competent and diagnosed as having less than six
months to live may legally request a lethal pre
scription from a doctor, wait the required 15 days,
then take the drugs.
“It’s critical people have that choice,” says
Pack. “This is important, particularly for our com
munity, which has faced the ravages of AIDS. It’s
wonderful that better treatments are allowing
people to live longer, stronger lives, but it still
gives people peace of mind knowing they have
this option.”
ay and lesbian candidates nationwide did
well, according to the Gay and Lesbian
Victory Fund, the only national organiza
tion whose sole mission is to increase the number
of qualified openly gay and lesbian public offi
cials.
During the Nov. 4 elections, 10 of the Victory
Fund’s 15 openly gay candidates won their races,
while three more have advanced to next month’s
run-off elections.
Among the winners are Dayton City Commis
sion candidate Mary Wiseman, the first openly
gay elected official in Ohio, and Arlington County
Board candidate Jay Fisette, the first openly gay
elected official in Virginia. Wiseman came in first
in the four-person race for two seats on the Dayton
City Commission. Fisette garnered 62 percent of
the vote and won every precinct in his district.
Other Victory Fund candidates who won their
elections outright are: Susan Leal, San Francisco
treasurer; Phil Reed, New York City Council;
Margarita Lopez, New York City Council;
Deborah Silber, Brooklyn (N.Y.) Civil Court;
Rod Krueger, Minneapolis Library Board; Wally
Swan, Minneapolis Boardof Estimate; Jim McGill,
Wilkinsburg (Penn.) Borough Council; and Tom
Roberts, Santa Barbara City Council.
The Victory Fund candidates who have ad
vanced to run-off elections are: Annise Parker,
Houston City Council; Malcolm Gideons, Atlanta
City Council (District 1); and Cathy Woolard,
Atlanta City Council (District 6).
Since its inception in 1991, the Gay and Les
bian Victory Fund has generated almost $1.6
million for qualified openly gay and lesbian can
didates.
G
measure, as did the Washington Council of
Churches, the Catholic Bishops of Washington,
the Seattle Times and many other influential play
ers. Supporters, meanwhile,
raised more than $480,000,
while opponents pulled in
closer to $20,000.
“Polls consistently show the
public overwhelmingly op
poses discrimination, but then
we get a vote like this,” says
Pack. “The fact is, this is a
complex legal issue. Many
people believe gay people are
already protected from dis
crimination. Describing the re
ality of the problem in a 60-
second sound bite is a really
tough challenge.”
Harris and other politicos
also surmise that voters in the
Pacific Northwest, as well as
nationally, chose to go with the
status quo this election season,
meaning in many cases voters
re-elected incumbents and cast
“no” ballots on initiative ques
tions.
In Washington state, for ex
ample, voters rejected all five
citizen initiatives, including one
that sought to reduce acciden
tal shooting deaths and inju There is no joy in Jim Moeller’s rec room as Initiative 677 strikes out. (Moeller, an openly gay Vancouver city council
ries, particularly involving chil- member, is second from right.)
PHOTO BV UNOA
I
t’s not happening. Those three simple
words, coupled with some pretty ugly elec
tion results, spell “no go” for Oregon’s
proposed ballot initiative barring employ
ment discrimination based on sexual orien
tation.
“It’s one thing to do this with a five-point
spread, but 20?” says Jean Harris, executive di
rector of Basic Rights Oregon, a grass-roots orga
nization that promotes human rights.
Harris was advocating placing a proactive
measure on Oregon’s November 1998 ballot, but
that push came to a grinding halt after Washing