novem ber 3 .2 0 0 0 I nalienable R ights From left: Jane Scolieri, Kori and Debra Jarcho and Debbie Caselton attend a No on 9 rally Oct. 19 with their kids, Nico, Briana and Morgan ane Scolieri’s 5-year-old son, Nico, also attends Buckman. She realizes he will have challenges because he has two moms, but she hopes to delay that reality as long as possible. Measure 9 surely would expedite Nico hav ing to endure such hardship, Scolieri said. ‘‘What is my child going to face?” Scolieri thinks Lon Mabon, the O CA’s executive director, is attacking her life. But that fact doesn’t faze her compared to the worry she feels for her son. “I will fight even more,” she said. J uckman, an arts magnet school in South east Portland, started a support group for its gay and lesbian parents in 1999. About 10 fam school because my family will be discriminated ilies attend the meetings. against,” she explained. The school has been extremely supportive to One of Briana’s mothers, Debra Jarcho, the families, Jarcho said. “I feel like we’ve been understands kids say these kinds of things. How really able to mobilize.” ever, she wants to be certain that her daughter By the time the measure gained access to the receives support from adults when such bad November ballot, the group had a base of sup reactions occur. port, which allowed members to organize and If Measure 9 passes, Jarcho fears teachers speak out. Briana and her classmate Morgan wouldn’t be able to stand up for Briana, addressed the No on 9 rally Oct. 19 at Pioneer because that would be perceived as promoting Courthouse Square. or sanctioning homosexuality. Instructors Morgan said she feels bad when other kids would be faced with breaking the law and risk taunt her for having lesbian parents. “I feel losing their job and potentially state funding, scared sometimes to talk about my family.” so desperately needed to keep schools up and running. Continued on Page 26 B “| Q Q O X y y y The O CA went local with “Son of 9" measures to prohibit the promotion of homosexuality in munici palities. The Oregon Legislature reacted by passing a law prohibiting policies that single out citizens because of sexual orientation. The bill was viewed not as a gay rights bill but as an anti-OCA bill. -t Q Q y X y y U 1 Q Q yf X ■| Q Q ^ X y y y Measure 13, a toned-down version of the anti- | gay language used in 1992, failed. Scott Lively, the O C A ’s legal adviser, self-published The Pink Swastika. Mabon attempted to seize the Oregon Republican Party. “God doesn’t send two messages," he told the Oregonian. “I get the message, and if they want to know how to vote, they should ask me.” 1 Q / JO X T7 y O * Sexual minority students demand equality hile opponents say Measure 9 would be harmful for all children, sexual minority students are of the greatest concern to many. Gay student activists have developed “A Bill of Rights for Sexual Minority Students”: 1. The right to attend schools free of verbal and physical harassment where education, not survival, is the priority. 2. The right to attend schools where respect and dignity for all is a standard set by the boards of education and enforced by every school administrator. 3. The right to have access to accurate information about themselves, free of negative judgment and delivered by adults who not only inform them but affirm them. 4. The right to positive role models both in person and in the curriculum. 5. The right to be included in all support programs that exist to help teen-agers deal with the difficulties of adoles W cence. 6. The right to legislators who guarantee and fight for their constitutional freedoms rather than ones who reinforce hate and prejudice. 7. The right to heritage free of crippling self-hate and unchallenged discrimination. First published in the Friends of Project 10 Inc. Summer J Jpdate, 1990, Dr. Virginia Uribe. Mabon attempted but failed to collect enough sig- natures to get another initiative on the ballot using the “right of conscience” argument to discriminate. He and his wife, Bonnie, started their own mailing business, BJM Technical Support, because they both were finally off the OCA’s payroll. Their clients? The OCA’s group of organizations. Mabon began picking on single parents, attempting to file a measure to amend the Oregon Bill of Rights’ freedom of religion clause— the first change since statehood in 1859. The so-called Family Act eliminated heterosexual single parents and their children as “family.” The measure failed to gather enough signatures to make the ballot. ‘ Q A Q X TsTsTs _______ — — » , The O C A Underground formed. N o informa- tion is available about this group o f young peo ple. Its Web site requires a password to enter. AAA The O C A got enough signatures to place another initiative on the ballot. The so-called Student Protection Act coincidentally was named Mea sure 9.