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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 1998)
17 îv rm n ew s R epresentatives from Oregon’s two leading gay and lesbian rights groups say they hope to work together in the future, despite a recent decision not to merge the organizations. “I anticipate we’ll work together, particularly when it comes to lobbying the Legislature,” explains Katherine Tennyson, co-chair of Right to Pride, a 15-year-old group whose political arm raises money for and contributes to selected polit ical candidates, while its education arm promotes lobbying efforts. For the past few months, RTP has been exploring the possibility of unifying with Basic Rights Oregon, a more grass-roots oriented orga nization whose main thrust has been fending off anti-gay initiatives, and bolstering its Fair Workplace Project, which encourages businesses to promote gay-equitable environments and poli cies. In early August, RTP announced it would remain an independent organization. According to Tennyson, the primary reason for the decision centered on the issue of control. ‘T h a t’s really the bottom line,” she says. Tennyson says when RTP began exploring the possibility of unification, board members were interested in forming an entity in which RTP and BRO representation was equally balanced. She says what emerged from talks, however, was a plan which gave B R O more decision making clout (i.e. more board seats). “It would have been more like a takeover, and S eparate and E qual To merge or not to merge— thot is no longer the question at Right to Pride and Bask Rights Oregon that’s not what we were looking for,” she says, stressing that both RTP and BR O serve vital, yet separate, roles in the queer community. “We’re both working for our political rights. We just do it in a different way,” she says. “We have a role. They have a role.” Jean Harris, BR O ’s exec utive director, says she’s dis appointed by RTP’s decision. “RTP came to us and wanted to pursue this idea of unifying into one organiza tion,” she says. “So we spent time and energy taking a closer look at that.” Some proponents of uni fication say a coupling would have been a wise move Jean Harris because establishing one large organization would likely be less taxing on donors, and sharing office space and staff would be more efficient. (RTP and BR O are currently situated on opposite sides of the Willamette.) by Inga Sorensen According to Harris, BRO will continue to develop a candidate endorsement process, which is new terrain for the group. H R C S eeks S u p p o r t the ambassadorial nomination of the gay philanthropist [■■""•I he long-stalled nom ination of James Hormel as ambassador to Luxembourg made news yet again in the Aug. 5 issue of The Hill , a newspaper covering the Capitol. It reported Sen. Gordon Sm ith, an Oregon Republican, had lobbied legislative colleagues on behalf of Hormel at a G O P policy luncheon the previous week. According to the publication, Sm ith handed out copies of letters from Hormel responding to charges the nominee is anti-Catholic, as well as letters of support for Hormel from the head of Catholic Charities for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, as well as some non-Catholic reli gious leaders. by Bob R oehr Senate Republicans have blocked a vote on the nomination to protest what some have called Hormel’s promotion o f a “gay lifestyle.” Sen. Tim Hutchinson, a Republican from Arkansas, m aintains the nom inee is anti- Catholic because Hormel refuses to denounce the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a San Francisco-based political action and social ser vice group that dresses in nuns’ habits. Hutchinson and three other senators have placed a hold on the nomination. Majority Leader Trent Lott, a Republican from Miss issippi, has the authority to lift the hold and move the nomination to a vote. Hutchinson said he will not filibuster if Lott informs him before the nomination is placed on he Human Rights Campaign A ction Network is looking for volunteers to work of behalf of Oregon’s gay-supportive candidates who are running for national office. Volunteers will focus on the fundamen tals of working in campaigns: message cre ation, fund raising and getting out the vote. Anyone interested in participating is asked to contact Ellen Osoinach at 287-5578, or by e-mail at ellyno@aol.com. H R C is the largest national lesbian and gay political organization, with more than 250,000 members nationwide. It lobbies Congress, provides campaign support, and educates the public to ensure lesbians and gay men in the U .S. can be open, honest, and safe at home, at work, and in the com munity. T “BR O will do endorsements, and we will tar get races and decide where we want to spend our resources,” says Harris, “though that doesn’t nec essarily mean just check writing.” O regon S enator C ontinues to B ack H ormel Gordon Smith is trying to persuade fellow Republicans to approve She says BR O may, for example, choose instead to make its lists available to candidates for fund-raising purposes. “Candidates can come in to our office and dial for dollars,” she says. Tennyson, meanwhile, says RTP will do what it has done for the past 15 years: issue endorse ments, support particular candidates and orches trate a lobbying effort. “T hat’s what we’re going to do,” she says. the calendar for action. “I’d make a statement about my concerns,” Hutchinson told T he Hill. “My whole point is that there are issues here that should be ex amined. I just don’t believe that Mr. Hormel is an appropriate Gordon Smith choice.” Meanwhile, Sm ith isn’t the only Republican senator calling for a vote. In mid-June, New York Republican Alfonse D’Amato made public his letter to Lott discussing the matter. “1 fear that Hormel’s nomination is being obstructed for one reason and one reason only: the fact that he is gay,” D’Amato wrote. “In this day and age, when people ably serve our coun try in so many capacities without regard to sex ual orientation, for the United States Senate to deny an appointment on that basis is simply wrong.” He added, “I am embarrassed that our Republican Party, the party of Lincoln, is seen to be the force behind this injustice.” Additionally, a June 22 editorial in the New York Times stated: “Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is outlawed in Luxem bourg and in all the other countries of the European Union. It is illegal in San Francisco, where Mr. Hormel lives, and in Washington— except in such places as Congress, where the Republican leadership has made a fetish of it lately.” Hormel’s nomination has already cleared the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (on which Sm ith sits) by a 16-2 vote. Democrats and several Republicans— Smith included— have indicated their willingness to move for a vote on the nomination when they return from their recess in September. See my Exclusive Listings on our webpage WHEEL ALIGNMENTS AND RESIDENTIAL • P erso n a liz ed serv ices a t c o m p e titiv e prices . • S p e c ia liz in g in h o m e s, c o n d o m in iu m s & sm a ll p lex es http://pru-nw. com • 2 4 -h o u r e m e rg e n c y resp o n se • D is c o u n t f o r 3 o r mote p ro p e rties • M e m b e r o f M u lti-F a m ily H o u sin g C o u n cil I — ( 503 ) 241-3045 ( 503 ) 241-3375 e-mail: RegeocyRSKftaoI.com A Ik m s e é a n d ■att — Insm rtd — n u in axrtn rn t tn m p sn y J E W E L A. 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