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aprii 6. 2001 * Jaast Mat 15
H ouse C all
Gay rights organization heads
down south by Jonathan Kipp
ay kids are committing suicide.
That fact is not new. But recent
statistics indicate suicide is now
the leading cause of death for gay
and lesbian youth.
That bombshell and last years political fight
over the Oregon Citizens Alliances Measure 9
helped Basic Rights Oregon come to the deci
sion about what would be next on its agenda:
getting legislation to help these kids.
The organizations leaders and supporters soon
will head to the Oregon State Capitol building in
Salem in an attempt to do just that. They say
they’d prefer to go with as many people as possible.
Lobby Day for House Bill 3247, the Safe
Schools Bill, is slated for April 19. The bill
recently was assigned to the House Judiciary
Committee, chaired by Rep. Max Williams,
R-Tigard. Supporters are pushing for a hearing
on the bill and a floor vote in both chambers
before the session s end.
“Kids are facing extreme levels of harassment
in the schools,” says Nerissa Ediza, BRO pro
gram director. “This is an issue that is impor
tant.”
According to the most recent Youth Risk
Behavior Survey, one in 15 Oregon high school
students had been harassed in the previous 30 days
because someone thought he or she was gay. These
same students were three times more likely to
attempt suicide, were more likely to have decreased
to be protected from the
islature’s Republican leadership.
kind of discrimination
That is why it is important for people to show
they are facing every day up on Lobby Day, she says. “This is a stretch. 1
in their schools.”
don’t want people to think this is going to be easy."
The bill would send a
Apparently, numbers do matter. Ediza says
message that equal protec legislators consider one face-to-face meeting to
tion is available to all stu be equivalent to meeting with 100 of their con
dents, Ediza says. Support stituents. A letter equals 25 voters, a phone call
ers also hope a victory
50. E-mails, Ediza says, have negligible value.
would help keep the
But it is not just a numbers game. “It is espe
OCA’s next anti-gay ini cially important on this issue,” Ediza says about
tiative aimed at schools one-on-one meetings with legislators. “It’s
off the ballot.
important to put a human face on (the issue) to
“This really is just see who cares about it.”
about leveling the playing
Although the thought of lobbying might
Legislators actually welcome face-to-face meetings with constituents
field for these kids,” Ediza make some uncomfortable, Ediza says there is no
performance and were more likely to drop out than says. Students shouldn’t have to be distracted by reason to be timid or nervous. Legislators actu
their nonharassed peers, according to the study. taunting and concerned for their personal safety ally welcome face-to-face meetings with con
The Youth Suicide Task Force’s latest preven while trying to learn, she adds.
stituents. “It’s all about just showing up.” j H
tion plan recommends reducing harassment in
But the push for such a mandate is no
schools as a key strategy.
small order. “W e’re optimistically hopeful,” To register for L obby D ay call 503-222-6151 or
These facts served as the impetus for BRO to Ediza says, attributing the struggle to the Leg send e-mail to BasicRO@aol.com.
spearhead a campaign to get safe schools legisla
tion passed during the 2001 session. Three other
states, including Washington, are looking at
similar legislation, according to the National
Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
The House bill addresses the strong link
he 2001 legislative session is turning out to be less contentious than the last one. In 1999, Basic
between victimization at school and an elevated
Rights Oregon helped defeat nine anti-gay bills, costing the organization $90,000. Although
risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior. It defines no anti-gay legislation has surfaced in this session, BRO is tracking a few proposals that “are not
discrimination qs “any act that unreasonably dif favorable to our community,” program director Nerissa Ediza says.
ferentiates treatment, intended or unintended,
One bill seeks to require parental permission for all students participating in the statewide Youth
or any act that is fair in form but discriminatory Risk Behavior Survey. If the legislation passes, Ediza says, the study would virtually be rendered sta
in operation.” The bill would add sexual orien tistically invalid.
tation and perceived sexual orientation to a list
The survey addresses drugs, alcohol, suicide, harassment and sexual activity but not sexual ori
that includes age, disability, national origin, entation. Ediza says the bill recently has lost some of its momentum.
race, marital status, religion and sex.
In addition to the safe schools legislation, the Legislature is considering the Employment Nondis
Ediza says the bill makes sense. If kids in the crimination Act, continuing a tradition established in the 1970s. A bill that would set up a statewide
other classes are protected, “it is really only fair domestic partnership registry also has been submitted. Neither bill has had any movement so far.
T he 2001 S ession
T
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