L'iuat; ivi 4i mews
ore than 100 activists from
Oregon, W ashington, C ali
fornia, Nevada, Alaska and
Idaho came to town April 19
to 21 for the Northwest
G L B T Power Summit.
The purpose was to recruit, train and activate
leaders who will work to build effective commu
nity support for laws and policies promoting equal
rights for sexual minorities. The summit was
organized by the National Gay and Lesbian Task
Force, which kicked off the weekend by donating
$25,000 to Basic Rights Oregon, which might
face another anti-gay ballot measure this fall.
Executive director Lorri L. Jean spoke with
Just Out about this year’s political climate as
campaign season gets under way. Here are some
excerpts from the conversation:
M ay the T ask F orce
B e with Y ou
Lorri L Jean descends on Portland for Northwest GLBT Power Summit
by Jim R ad o sta
JR : The more we become assimilated, the
more gay Republicans will “ come out of the
closet,” the same way black Republicans are
more visible now. But have the Log Cabin
Republicans become nothing more than apolo
gists for the Bush administration?
L J: I don’t understand how thinking gay
people can be Republican, given how the reli
gious fanatics have control of that party. By the
same token, I do understand the strategy of
advancing our cause from within; I think that’s
a legitimate strategy. But when they start being
apologists about abridgment of our rights, that I
can’t tolerate.
Jim Radosta: What do you hope will be
accomplished during the summit?
Lorri Jean: Our hope is that we will succeed in
really enhancing the skill level of 130 leaders from
around the West who will go back to their com
munities and put what they’ve learned here to use
in a way that is going to significantly advance our
cause. Ultimately the goal, of course, is strength
ening our movement at the grassroots level so that
we can achieve full and complete equality.
JR : H aving seen the political clim ates in
other states, how would you say things dif
fer here?
LJ: Well, Oregon’s a lot better organized. If
we could replicate what Oregon has done around
the country— which is what the task force is try
ing to do— we’d have a lot better win-loss record
when it comes to anti-gay ballot measures.
JR : Are other states coming up with simi
lar voter identification programs?
LJ: The first effort in many places is trying to
convince them that this is the right way to do it.
One of our community’s weaknesses, I think, is
that we often do not learn from our past mistakes.
Raising tons of money and spending it on
television and radio advertising is not going to
work. The way we win is by doing good, old-
fashioned, door-to-door, phone-to-phone organ
izing— identifying people who will vote with us
and getting them out to vote.
Last year...there were six GLBT-related bal
lot measures. We were very heavily involved in
every one of those areas, training people in the
same way we’re training them here. For the first
time in history in November, we won five out of
s i» —and if we’d had three more weeks in Hous
ton, we would’ve won in Houston, too.
JR : How many states are facing anti-gay
ballot measures this year?
Lorri L. Jean attends a reception April 19 with gay actor Wilson Cruz (My So-Called Life), one of
130 activists who came to town for the Northwest G LB T Power Summit
L J: Right now there are about nine that are
looming. Several just popped up in the last few
weeks, actually.
One of our primary efforts is in Dade Coun
ty, Ha., where it’s the 25th anniversary of Anita
Bryant’s infamous Save Our Children campaign.
The exact same measure— word for word— is on
the ballot again.. .and we’ve got to win.
JR : Florida is notoriously stubborn— right
now Rosie O ’Donnell can’t even get a meeting
with Gov. Jeb Bush to talk about gay adoption.
Do you think her coming out is going to help
change people’s minds?
L J: One thing like that can’t turn the
tide.. .but it can sure make a hell of a difference,
particularly if we can get her focused on activism
that is appropriate. After she came out...she
paid for full-page ads in a bunch of Florida
papers urging legislators to do something on the
gay adoption thing, and there’s no bill pending!
So we need to get her a little bit more coordi
nated with the gay activists that she eschewed in
her interview. She can be a fabulous spokesperson,
rights, and he is hurting us. Yet you have the Log
Cabin Republicans out there rallying in his sup
port, saying he’s not such a bad guy.
But the truth is, behind the scenes, his
administration is working diligently against us.
And as long as he is in the presidency and we
have a conservative Congress, we’re not going
to make any headway in Washington.
but she’s got to coordinate with the organized
efforts that are already happening to make sure
that she’s not wasting her money and her time.
JR : D o you anticipate the traditional
midterm swing to the left in this year’s elec
tion, or has Sept. 11 disrupted that trend?
L J: It’s anybody’s guess. It’s clear that George
W. Bush wants to extend the war as long as he
can, because if he does he’ll get re-elected. But
these are not good times in national elections
for queer people.
If we lose the Senate, it’s going to be horrible.
We would’ve been in a lot worse shape if [Ver
mont Sen. Jim] Jeffords hadn’t changed camps.
JR : Which has had the greater effect on the
gay rights movement: the “ selection” of Presi
dent Bush or the aftermath of Sept. 11?
L J: Definitely the ascension of George W.
Bush. I think that the impact of Sept. 11 is still
unclear.
Don’t let anybody fool you— George W.
Bush is not our friend, he’s not neutral on our
JR : Does N G L T F ever clash with the
Human Rights Campaign, which often takes a
more moderate approach to gay rights?
L J: Where we do have some disagreements is
around things like whether it’s appropriate to
exclude transgender people from [the Employ
ment Non-Discrimination Act]. The task force
is leading the way in terms of putting out a mes
sage about full and complete equality and no
compromise.
There’s never been a social justice move
ment that has had unanimity. T hat’s one of its
characteristics.
JR : D o you find it frustrating that the
movement is concentrating on “ smaller” issues
such as hate crimes and safe schools legislation
while “ bigger” issues such as civil unions and
inheritance rights are left unaddressed?
L J : W hen you’re not well organized
enough to push a more omnibus civil rights
bill, what you do is you back off and you say,
“O K , well, if you won’t support our equal
rights, will you at least support us not getting
beaten and murdered?”
I’rn having some growing discomfort with
the whole concept of hate crimes bills. I haven’t
yet decided where I come down on it, but the
LG B T Quakers have written a very provocative
piece...calling into question the strategy of hate
crimes given the criminal justice system in this
country.
I would like us to be able to get stronger
through efforts like this Power Sum m it...so
that we can push things that really are goiq(9- to
have a lot greater meaning for a larger number
of people. | H
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