OR.COLL.
HQ
75
. J96
v. 16
no. 7
February
5
inside
February finds Flooney's
Theater Company presenting
,
The Langston Hughes P ro je c t
Page 31
olum e
P o rtla n d , O r e g o n
16 ♦ N u m b e r 7 ♦ F e b r u a r y 5, 1 9 9 9
FREE
Legislative
Lip Service
Oregon’s lawmakers
had vowed to focus
on issues like education
and transportation, but
quickly changed their tune
by I nga
University of Oregon Library
Received on: 0 2 - 0 9 -gg
Just out
Is a P o r t la n d g a y an d lesb ian c o m m u n ity c e n te r
a fa r-fe tc h e d f a n t a s y o r a r e a lity on the v e r g e ?
Page 2 1
S orensen
sc JfP fl; o much for a kinder, gentler
Legislature!” laments Jean
% Harris, executive director of
Basic Rights Oregon, a state­
wide organization that promotes les­
bian and gay rights.
Harris is surveying a dismal assort­
ment of bills introduced by state law­
makers within what feels like minutes
of the 1999 legislative session’s com­
mencement.
OK, maybe it wasn’t minutes, but it
was a matter of several hours.
“Within a couple of days they were
on the attack!”
says
Harris, House Joint
whose group is Resolution 6
making its first seeks to amend
major foray into the constitution to
the land of state require state and
legislative lob­ local governments
b y i n g — o f t e n to obtain voter
u n pr ed ic ta b le approval before
territory
that they prohibit
discrimination
requires a vigi­
based on “ the
lant eye.
sexual practices or
“You’ve got
sexual orientation
to keep track of of a person ”
what’s going on
every hour. You
just don’t know what they’ll try and
do,” says Harris.
For 15 years, Right to Pride (for­
merly Right to Privacy) orchestrated
the efforts in Salem, but of late the
group has assumed a more low-key
role, with BRO taking the lead.
Since the Oregon Legislature con­
vened Jan. 11, Harris and company
have been kept busy. Just a few days
into the session, Reps. Bill Witt, R-
Beaverton, and Kevin Mannix, R-
Salem, let loose with three measures
designed to undo a recent appellate
court ruling that granted some rights
to gay and lesbian people.
Continued on Page 6