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T rans A ction
Portlond adds gender identity to G vil Rights Ordinance
Columbia County’s Premier
Real Estate Resource.
by Jon ath an K ipp
Country living only 20 minutes
from downtown Portland.
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n a crowded City Council meeting
Dec. 13, Mayor Vera Katz and Commis-
sioner Dan Saltzman paved the way for a
unanimous decision to add gender identi­
ty to Portland’s Civil Rights Ordinance.
The ordinance now will provide legal protec­
tion for members of the trans community— a
diverse group of individuals with a wide array of
ways of expressing their gender— from discrimi­
nation in employment, housing and public
accommodation.
“Our work isn’t done here— it is just the
beginning,” Katz said before asking for a roll call.
“H ie city has an obligation to protect the citi­
zens of this community.”
Gender identity is not a protected class in
the state’s civil rights law. Benton County is the
only other municipality to provide similar pro­
tection in Oregon.
Multnomah County voted unanimously
Dec. 14 to expand employment policies to pro­
tect transgendered workers. Later this month, the
county will vote on a resolution offered by Com­
missioners Serena Cruz and Lisa Naito to put
together a working group to develop a county­
wide Civil Rights Ordinance.
The three hours of testimony were emotion­
al ones for some who waited to give their two
minutes of input and for others who just wanted
to witness the vote.
Leigh Ann Sparks nervously sat in the back
row— often clutching a friend’s hand. Sparks,
who moved to Portland from Eastern Oregon to
start living as a woman, appeared in the Oregon­
ian Dec. 13. Although she was dressed in jeans
and tennis shoes in the photograph that accom­
panied the story, she pulled out her Sunday
best—a tailored suit, stockings and pumps— to
testify before the council and see history made.
Lori Buckwalter sat nearby surrounded by
friends. Buckwalter, a longtime trans rights
activist, served as a consultant to the city in
drafting the ordinance proposal. She, too, held
on to supportive hands throughout much of the
hearing, tears welling up in her eyes sometimes
in frustration, sometimes out of joy— and in the
end pride.
Sitting in the council chambers awaiting the
vote was the end of a long road for Buckwalter.
She lobbied the city for years to get civil rights
protection for her and her community.
But time and time again she was put off, and
the issue was tabled. The mayor’s office said the
issue was delayed on multiple occasions because
of the political climate in the state— namely the
years of contention with the Oregon Citizens
Alliance.
But Buckwalter kept pushing. The city’s
politicians and bureaucrats didn’t act as fast as
she wanted, but they were respectful of her
tenacity, hard work, professionalism and endur­
ing patience.
“Today is really a tribute to you,” Katz said to
Buckwalter, “and your tireless work.”
B
REAL ESTATE
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Gifts
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in an
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Lori Buckwalter
“I condemn it as a violent attack,” said Mar­
garet Deirdre O ’Hartigan, Filisa Vistima direc­
tor. “It’s a sham, a fraud and utter disgrace.”
Sven Bonnichsen of the Portland Bisexual
Alliance said he was sad his organization could
not support the ordinance, claiming the
change “actually codified employers’ right to
discriminate.”
He and many others objected to the propos­
al’s exception clauses, including an employer’s
right to continue legal dress codes. The propos­
al’s definition of gender identity was also of con­
cern— particularly the failure to specifically list
transsexual, transvestite and cross-dresser when
defining “gender identity.”
Others complained that the trans communi­
ty wasn’t consulted in the writing of the propos­
al and that adequate time wasn’t provided for
input before the vote. O ’Hartigan went so far as
to accuse the city of using the ordinance as a
public relations stunt to detract attention from
Portland Police Chief Mark Kroeker, who has
been embroiled in a controversy with the gay
community since October.
It 14
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503-280 8080
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I
adelline Wessell, the city’s lead attorney
in drafting the proposal, tried to answer
the complaints and concerns voiced during the
public testimony before the final vote. The ordi­
nance’s wording can be adjusted if it is problem­
atic, she and Katz agreed.
Wessell responded to claims that the ordi­
nance would make criminals out of business
owners, reminding them that the ordinance is a
civil law, not a criminal one.
The ordinance also will provide for the
tracking of hate crimes targeted for gender iden­
tity. Kroeker said the program could he initiated
in early January.
Saltzman, who increasingly has become an
advocate for sexual minorities during his term at
City Hall, said, “We are affirming the funda­
mental principle that discrimination based on a
person s status is not a Portland value.”
Buckwalter added: “Gender identity rights
are not special rights. They belong to every-
one.” J H
ut not everyone was in support of the
change to the ordinance. Besides the
expected opposition from the Christian Coali­
tion and a handful of other fundamentalists, the
Portland Bisexual Alliance and Filisa Vistima
Foundation, a trans civil rights advocacy group,
also adamantly opposed the proposal.
While religious conservatives objected on
moral grounds, the Portland Bisexual Alliance
To view the C ivil R ig h t s O r d in a n c e pro­
and Filisa Vistima primarily objected about the
posal, visit www.ci.portIand.or.us/mayorf.
wording of the proposal.
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