Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013, November 03, 2000, Page 25, Image 25

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    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
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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.
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X y y U
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X
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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.”
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*
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.
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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.