P Jp V V H O fM M B M H H
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(news
ary Renfro and his partner o f five
years, Ken, live in Salem. It is
where they want to live. And, like
many o f this community’s citizens,
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Renfro tries to do his part to make
his town a nicer place to live.
O ne o f his volunteer positions is with the
Salem Human Rights and Relations Advisory
Com m ission. H e’s listened to the African
American community voice concerns about life
in Salem. H e’s listened to Native Americans
and Latinos too. It’s part o f his job as a commis
sioner.
But when the commission recently hosted a
focus group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans
residents, Renfro came to the table wearing two
hats— he was there not only to listen but also to
be heard.
Salem’s city code does not address discrimi
nation in employment, housing and public
accommodation against members o f the sexual
minorities community, Renfro says. He would
like to see that change. And he is not the only
one.
“ Being a member o f a protected class is the
biggest, hottest and most important issue,”
Charese Rohnny, a commissioner and Salem
attorney, says about the commission’s recent pri
orities.
The commission approved a resolution last
October, to be presented to Salem’s City C ou n
cil, requesting that sexual orientation be consid
ered a protected class in the municipality’s
human rights code. The commission’s next step
is to lobby the City Council to support the pro
posal and to amend the city code.
But Rohnny says the commission wants to
promote harmony between diverse groups as
well— thus the com m ission’s periodic focus
groups for minority communities.
Renfro is currently working with some o f
Salem’s supportive City Council members and
with the mayor to finalize the wording o f the
new code. He wants to be certain the proposal
reads as clearly as possible and is as inclusive as
possible.
“W e’ll be ready to move forward very soon,”
Renfro says.
"W hat they’ll do with it, I don’t know,” he
adds, referring to the City Council.
The commission is still uncertain whether it
can muster the votes needed to make the
change.
Changing the city ctxle is particularly impor
tant to Renfro. Discrimination based on sexual
orientation in Salem isn’t just theoretical to
him.
Renfro was denied housing by an apartment
landlord when he and his partner moved to
Salem in the mid ’90s. He’s been verbally
harassed on the streets o f Salem and even shot
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■
O ne of the H eard
Salem Human Rights and Relations Advisory Commission
lends an ear to the sexual minorities community
at. Renffo’s friend was fired because his boss
learned he is gay. Two women he knows were
kicked out o f a dance club because they were on
a date.
“ We know that it exists,” Renfro says.
Rather than move to a friendlier place with
more protective laws, Renfro decided to get
involved. He wanted change. His first step was
to become a commissioner.
It wouldn’t be until five years later that the
commission would host an evening for public
discussion o f topics o f interest and concern for
his community.
The May 23 event attracted only three citi
zens who disclosed their sexual orientations—
two men and one woman. A handful o f others
attended but said little.
Melly Holloway, chairwoman o f Salem’s
Human Rights and Relations Advisory
Commission; above: at the May 23 meeting
by Jonathan K ipp
Despite the small turnout, plenty of discus
sion took place for the five commissioners pre
sent to hear about life in Salem for some o f its
residents. Much o f what was said was infused
with pain.
Concerns about youths, their safety in
schools and the lack o f resources for them were
recurrent throughout the two-hour rap session.
“That’s where my heart tends to go— to the
youth,” said a lesbian in her late 20s.
Some expressed anger that Salem-Keizer
school district teachers and administrators still
allow gay and lesbian students to be harassed
and called names, while others wondered aloud
whether the district even has a policy about
such harassment.
One woman, a teacher, said the district does
have a policy. The woman seated next to her,
also a teacher, said staff do not know o f such
policies because they are not advertised.
Anthony Ivy, not long out o f high school,
often held the group’s attention as he painfully
recalled the harassment he endured in school
and the abuse his friends have suffered on the
streets o f Salem because o f their perceived sexu
al orientations.
“W hat’s being done about discrimination?”
he dramatically asked the group.
“ In order to stop things, you have to edu
cate,” Ivy said. “Educate our children it is not
OK to hate.”
The passionate young man was angry that
his school had an assembly to address issues
related to incidents o f gun violence at other
schools, but when Matthew Shepard was killed
he heard nothing about it.
Flo Olkoski and her husband, Ted, trans
plants from Florida since 1993, also attended the
Woe
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focus group. They expressed concerns about
some o f the schools as well.
The couple is active in Salem’s chapter o f
Parents, Families and Friends o f Lesbians and
Gays, as well as several human rights organiza
tions. Although their lesbian daughter remains
in Florida, the Olkoskis have gotten involved to
change Salem’s landscape o f intermittent intol
erance and bigotry toward sexual minorities.
The discrimination and oppression that sex
ual minorities face in Salem exceeds that o f any
other minority group with which the commis
sion has met, says Melly Holloway, chairwoman
o f the commission.
Holloway admits that few complaints are
filed with the commission, though she adds that
lack o f reporting doesn’t mean there isn’t a prob
lem. Many people in the community don’t know
about the commission, she says, so that might
explain why they do not come forward to report
injustices.
The commission has no data available about
how many complaints are made each year due to
discrimination based on sexual orientation.
A few citizens complained about Salem
police and the blatant homophobia exhibited by
some officers. They called for sensitivity and
diversity training o f local law enforcement per
sonnel.
But one man suggested police should not be
taught about how the gay community is differ
ent.
“The police need to focus on similarities and
basic human rights rather than the differences,”
Brandon Reich, a gay man, said.
Representatives from the Salem Police
Department were conspicuously absent, one
commissioner pointed out. The department,
which is notified o f every focus group, sent a rep
resentative to all three o f the past meetings with
other minority groups. Several commissioners
expressed concern about law enforcem ent’s
absence.
The May 23 focus group was the fourth
meeting the commission has sponsored this year
to hear about the problems o f minority com m u
nities.
The commissioners, all volunteers, hear
complaints and have the power to conduct
investigations and make referrals to the city
attorney for possible prosecution. Most com
plaints are resolved, however, with the help of
the commission, if the parties are amenable to
mediation.
■ The H u m a n R ig h ts a n d R elations A dviso
COMMISSION was created in 1964 by the Salem
City Council to respond to concerns about the treat
ment of the areas minority residents. For more
information about the commission, contact Maggie
Tuttle at (503) 588-6261.
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