21.2001
otherwise. Washington County Sher
iff’s Detective Michael O ’Connell said
a similar incident had happened at
least once in the victim’s past.
More than 500 people attended a
candlelight vigil Sept. 14 at Pioneer
Courthouse Square to remember
Okaruru as well as the thousands of
lives lost in the terrorist attacks on
New York and W ashington, D.C.
About 150 mourners gathered Oct. 7
at the steps of the Washington County
Courthouse for a Rally Against Hate,
r
n July, Just Out wrote about a 7-year-
old youth support group coordinated
hy a counselor at M cM innville High The Yamhill County Sheriffs Office demoted Debra
School. Susie Alin says Counter Bal- Widker jn August
ance continues to struggle financially.
mission. In addition, they honed in on Moeller’s
“For a while 1 received a small stipend to
sexual orientation, saying he established the
help cover my time as a professional,” she
agency to expand sexual minority rights.
reveals. “I applied for another grant last year,
“The implication is that there is also some
hut no luck. So this year, as in other years, I ‘gay agenda,’ ” he told Just Out in September.
have been personally covering the expenses.”
“Sexual orientation currently is not protected in
After being without a home for four months, a Washington state from discrimination in hous
McMinnville church agreed to give Counter Bal ing, employment or public accommodation, and
ance a place to hold meetings. According to Alin,
since the local H RC will he based on state and
between two and 20 kids show up every week.
federal laws, their concerns in this area are
“There are at least three students who have
groundless and appear overtly bigoted."
told me that they are alive and well today
Joanie Schrader led a petition drive to get
because Counter Balance is there for them,” she
the decision placed on the Nov. 6 ballot as a
says. “There are others who have been helped
referendum. T he commission was defeated 65
in other ways; safety and respect of oneself are
percent to 35 percent.
frequent topics.”
omestic partners con
ehra Walker, a 50-year-
tinue to register with
old sergeant from the
Multnomah County. Since
Yamhill County Sheriff’s
Sept. 1, 2000, more than
Office, still is feeling the
300 have paid $60 for the
effects of the fallout after
certificate.
her transition from male
But interest appears to
to female.
be slowing. After an initial
Despite an exemplary I
surge of 192 couples during
record, in the year after |
the first four months, only
comments more important than ever. “ 1 think
her announcement of a 1
112 have registered so far
the reasons that he shouldn’t he on the school
gender change, the depart- “
this year.
hoard are just as valid...if not more so, given
ment conducted six inter- 5
The registry allows all
what’s happening in the world.”
nal investigations into her
unmarried domestic part
performance. For more C 'ty Councilor Jim M oeller was
___ ? _______
According to Wiener, the recall effort still
ners,
including o ________
same-sex
could happen. He says people are gauging their than a year, she was pulled accused of promoting a “ gay agenda” couples, to formalize their
relationships as public
level of interest and will make a decision within off the road as field super- *n Vancouver, Wash.
the next month.
visor and reassigned to a desk job.
record. Although it is mostly a symbolic gesture,
In mid-August, Walker was demoted from
the number of couples who sign up will help
farmer found the body of Loni Kai Okaruru, a sergeant and placed on a year’s probation. She
determine when the next step might occur in
28-year-old trans woman, Aug. 26 in a field thinks the county wants nothing more than to granting some of the benefits afforded to married
near Hillsboro. It was the first homicide to he make her disappear.
couples.
classified as a bias crime in Washington County.
“The probation thing meant the union can’t
And as a sure sign of assimilation, a county
Investigators think a driver offered Okaru represent [me] and that I could be terminated for official says “three or four” couples already have
ru a ride under the assumption that she was a any reason as it placed me as the lowest seniority dissolved their partnerships. All they had to do
woman hut became angered upon learning
member of the union,” she says. “Didn’t matter
was fill out another form and fork over an addi
that I had 18 years’ service with the county.”
tional $ 25 . j n
I
ortland Public Schools
board member Derry
Jackson outraged the
community in July
when he said, “I see the
Jews running everything.”
This came just months after
his failed effort to lift the dis
trict’s ban on military
recruiters. During that ordeal
he sent an e-mail to col
league Sue Hagmeier, calling
homosexuality a “behavior”
as opposed to race, which is
determined at birth.
More than 30 people
formed Portlanders Against
Prejudice, promising to
launch a recall effort as soon
as possible. According to
Oregon law, they can’t file a
petition until officeholders Service Center
have served six months of their current term,
which means they could start gathering signa
tures next month.
But times have changed since last summer,
according to Kathie Humes, who attended that
initial meeting. Although she doesn’t speak for
everyone, she no longer is interested in recalling
Jackson.
“For me personally, Sept. 11 changed
things,” Humes says. “1 think we need to focus
the energies of our community on taking care
of each other and our children. Such a cam
paign right now would he divisive.”
Meanwhile, fellow Portlander Against Prej
udice Mark Wiener says current events make a
response to Jackson’s anti-Semitic and anti-gay
D
A
O
î
- .....
A mourner lights a candle for Loni Okaruru
!
penly gay City
Councilor
Jim
Moeller faced
a
firestorm this year
surrounding the Van-
couver/Clark County
Human Rights Com
mission. The basic
goal of the agency,
requiring
about
$50,000 in annual
funding, was to elim
inate and prevent
discrimination
in
work, housing, public
accommodation,
credit and insurance.
Critics saw it as a
duplication of services
provided
by the
Washington
State
Human Rights Com- Couples celebrate their domestic partnership registry