26
apra 19. 2002
ot Narrow
before settling in Portland. He decided to return to
graduate school and pursue a teaching career,
obtaining a master’s degree and a doctorate in
urban studies at Portland State University in 1997.
March also went hack to the public sector,
working for the M ultnomah County auditor and
then for Commissioner Lisa N aito as a staff assis
tant. He now is an adjunct professor at PSU’s
Institute of Aging.
He ran unsuc-
Continued
from Page 2 5
S teve M arch
by Jack T u rteltau b
S
tate Rep. Steve March, a Democrat
from Portlands Central Eastside Dis
trict 4, is a strong public advocate for
the rights of sexual minorities. During
the past legislative session he sponsored
a measure that would have created a domestic
partnership registry for Oregon similar to those in
Multnomah County, Vermont and California.
The idea behind the hill is to grant the basic
rights to sexual minority couples that straight
spouses or common-law partners now enjoy.
These include the power to make financial and
health decisions and to access insurance benefits.
M arch supports the queer com m unity
because he believes sexuality is “hardwired. I
don’t think people choose to be one way or the
other— they are what they are.” He observes
that there is a “full range of sexuality; some peo
ple are gay, some bisexual” in addition to the
heterosexual majority.
He says he feels well accepted by the queer
community. He thinks people who know him or
his work see him as an enlightened supporter.
M archs varied life experiences gave rise to
his enlightened views of sexuality. After finish
ing his undergraduate work at Sacramento State
University, he went on to work as an intern for
Mervyn Dymally, the first African American
elected to the California Assembly.
He worked in the state legislature and then
"Over i,me> I think
State Rep. Steve March (left, with Basic Rights Oregon board chairman Frank Dixon)
sponsored legislation that would have created a domestic partnership registry for Oregon
for the lieutenant governor. It was the tumul
tuous 1960s, a time of tremendous social unrest
with civil rights and anti-war protest move
ments that took their agendas to the streets.
In state politics, March was exposed to dif
ferent minority groups and ethnic cultures, and
he came to appreciate diversity and understand
the need for coalition building. He also became
a small-businessman with at least one openly
gay employee— whose sexual orientation, need
less to say, “wasn’t an issue.”
Tiring of California politics and the summer
heat, he eventually migrated to the cooler Pacific
Northwest, living briefly in Seattle and Bend
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primary but came
hack in 2000 to win
the public will
his first election. His
come to a better
current focus is on
getting re-elected.
understanding
M arch
notes
about the issue
that he lives in a
district where voters
o f equal rights"
consistently have
rejected the Oregon
— Steve March
Citizens A lliance’s
ballot measures. But as a Democrat, he operates
in a Legislature that is controlled by a more con
servative Republican majority.
Although he is disappointed his hill didn’t
make it out of the House Judiciary Committee,
he plans to pursue the issue in the future— a
future about which he is hopeful. “Over time, I
think the public will come to a better under
standing about the issue of equal rights” for sex
ual minorities.
M arch’s willingness to stand up and be
counted for the sexual minorities community
distinguishes him from many straight legislators
and certainly would invite criticism from certain
quarters. But he says he won’t compromise his
principles: “Sometimes you have to do what you
have to do. ” jm
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