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B enton C ounty
L eads the W ay
A new anti-discrimination ordinance that includes trans people
is an Oregon milestone by Inga S o re n se n
t is one of those historic moments that
passed with little fanfare.
“There’s been no controversy. It’s real
ly quite amazing,” notes Karuna Neustadt,
president o f A fter 8, a decade-old,
Corvallis-based group that “works for political
change for the lesbian, gay and bisexual com
munities in Benton and Linn counties.”
Neustadt’s enthusiasm is prompted by the
July 1 passage of an anti-discrimination ordi
nance which includes, among a host of other
categories, sexual orientation and gender identi
ty. T he latter explicitly encompasses transsexual
and transgendered people.
By a 2-1 vote, the Benton County Board of
Commissioners approved what is believed to be
Oregon’s first anti-discrimination ordinance
which includes transsexual and transgendered
people as a protected class.
The measure, which takes effect Aug. 14,
covers the unincorporated areas of Benton
County— rural spots like Kings Valley, North
Albany, Alpine, Blodgett and Adair.
are race, religion, color, sex, national origin,
marital status, mental or physical disability,
familial status, sexual orientation, source of
income, and gender identity.
Benton County resident Derrick Travers, a
female-to-male trans activist, has worked close
ly with After 8 in promoting passage of the ordi
nance.
T he 25-year-old came out about four years
ago as a trans person, and, he says, faces “low-
level, ongoing verbal harassment.”
“It’s very gratifying to see this pass, particu
larly given how explicit it is regarding transsex
It does not cover the county’s incorporated
areas— its more populated sites like the cities of
Corvallis, Philom ath and
Monroe— because, says Neu
stadt, the county does not
have jurisdiction over incor
porated cities.
"W e hope that we will be
just the first of many Oregon
comm unities that include
transsexual and transgen
dered persons in their anti-
discrimination clauses,” she
says. “This is just the start.
W hat we really need, how
ever, are state and federal
laws so we don’t have to do
this in such a piecemeal
A fter 8 member D errick Travers, Benton County commissioners
way.”
Patsy M iller and Bob Speaker and After 8 president Karuna
T he ordinance prohibits
Neustadt.
discrim ination in employ
ual and transgendered people,” says Travers. “In
ment, housing and public accommodations.
society, there remains a lot of confusion around
T he protected classes covered by the measure
HRC E quality T our K icks O ff
National organization launches regional voter education tour in Portland
athleen Saadat’s voice boomed across
the square.
“Bigotry is bigotry is bigotry,” said the
longtime activist, who stood poised
before the microphone. It was the noonish hour
on July 31. Saadat, along with several dozen oth
ers, had converged upon Pioneer Courthouse
Square, Portland’s so-called “living room,” for
the inception of the Human Rights Campaign’s
1998 Equality Tour, a 17-day queer rights cara
van which is wending its way along a 2,300-mile
path through Oregon, Washington and Idaho.
H RC, based in Washington, D.C., is a
national gay and lesbian political organization
that lobbies Congress and provides support to
selected political campaigns.
T he 1998 Equality Tour will eventually circle
back to Portland, where it is scheduled to wrap
up August 16.
During the kick-off, locales such as Saadat,
the Rev. Roy Cole, pastor of the Metropolitan
Community Church of Portland, Portland City
Commissioner Erik Sten, and nightclub owner
Darcelle X V (decked out in a black and red
gown and a generous dab of rouge), joined with
national figures like Betty DeGeneres (Ellen’s
mom), and Candace Gingrich, (Newt’s sis) to
chum up enthusiasm for the H RC effort, which
is designed in part to register voters and educate
the public about gay, lesbian and bisexual politi
cal issues.
David Wu, Democratic candidate in
Oregon’s 1st Congressional District, is running
against Molly Bordonaro, a highly conserva
tive— and charismatic— Republican in the
November election. Wu addressed ralliers.
“W e are in a struggle not only here in Oregon
but across American between the extreme and
by Inga S o ren sen
the mainstream,” Wu told onlookers, who
included afternoon lunchers strewn upon the
amphitheater steps and book browsers sniffing
out goodies at Powell’s three-day Square Deal
Sale.
Wu blasted current congressional leaders like
the G O P ’s Trent Lott— who recently likened
queemess to kleptomania— for “taking us to the
hinterlands of extremism.”
To get back on track, he said, equality-mind
ed candidates must get elected. Wu then held up
a 1998 Christian Coalition voter guide: “You’ll
see my opponent has a perfect record.”
In a staid beige blazer, DeGeneres noted it is
“sad there is a need for an Equality Tour at all.”
Saadat, meanwhile, highlighted the impor
tance of coalition-building among oppressed
groups, hence the cry: “Bigotry is bigotry is big
otry.”
sexual minority issues... discrimination based on
sexual orientation is not the same thing as dis
crim ination based on gender identity.”
T h e ordinance, he says, acknowledges and
responds to that reality, and offers trans folks a
particular clarity with respect to their legal pro
tections.
Neustadt says her group approached the
Benton County Board of Commissioners sever
al months ago about approving a county ordi
nance.
“It’s a three-member board, and we felt we
had the support of two of the three commission
ers,” she says.
Those commissioners are Bob Speaker and
Patsy Miller. “We asked [Speaker] to take it for
ward, and he did. It was a pretty painless
process.”
In fact, Neustadt says a July 1 public hearing
on the proposal was “a love fest.”
She estimates about four dozen supporters—
and no detractors— turned out for the hearing.
Backers included state Sen. C liff Trow, a
Democrat representing District 18, and state
Rep. Barbara Ross, a Democrat representing
District 35, both of whom provided testimony.
Speaker says he was delighted to sponsor the
ordinance.
“I would say that hearing was the most grati
fying moment I’ve had [as a commissioner],” he
says. “To hear all those people speak out in sup
port was really quite something. You feel like
you’re really making a difference in people’s
lives. It made me really proud to live here.”
Gingrich, dubbed the “good Gingrich” by
rally emcee and H RC national field director
Donna Red Wing, pointed to H RC ’s logo— a
yellow equal sign on a blue backdrop— and said,
“This is the Equality Tour, not the Specialty
Tour,” referring, of course, to claims by anti-gay
forces that equal marriage rights for same-sex
couples (among other things) are somehow “spe
cial rights.”
• Darcelle XV called upon queers to give
money to The Cause and press candidates on
their policy positions.
“I’d say, ‘W hat do you think of me? I wear a
dress.’ If they can’t look me in the eye and say,
‘Darcelle, let’s go party,’ then I’m not voting for
them,” she chirped.
■ On Aug. 16 from 5 p.m . to 7 p .m ., an end-of-
tour rally will take place at Laurelhurst Park, S.E .
39th A te. and Stark Street in Portland. Earlier that
day, Red Wing will give 9 a m . and 11 a m. ser
mons at the M etropolitan Community Church o f
Portland, 2400 N .E . Broadway. At 1 p.m ., there
will be a community meeting at M C C .
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