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.
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