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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 19, 2003)
13.2003» L’ m ; ì i ¡ i v i « m e w s Invest a little time and I'll take it from there. Kafoury and Katz were two of the main supporters. This was King before politicians thought about courting the gay vote, Nicola notes. “You can’t imagine someone getting elected to the Portland City Council, for example, without the support of our community, hut at that time, there was no organized community to speak of," he says. “So for Vera and Steve to give us the sup port they did, when there was no conceivable political payoff for them, that was pretty brave.” H ie hill almost didn’t get out of committee. When it did, it was time to gather support for the public hearing. Several members of the Second Foundation met at the Family Zixi, a gay bar in Portland, to write letters asking their representatives to sup port the hill. Word spread for people to come out and help. Nicola created a map so people could easily identify their representative. They cranked out letters and donated a nickel each for postage. “That was the level of our sophisti cation," Nicola laughs. Rut it worked. Later, Nicola heard that many legislators were surprised to get letters from actual constituents rather than people not in their district. The public hearing was held on a spring day in early May. The House Senate and Federal Affairs Committee laid out the rules: Testimony was to last for only one hour. This was a hearing, not a pep rally. There was to he no applause. “There was an awful lot of emotional testify ing," Hutchins recalls. When he first became involved with the hill, he says the atmosphere was partylike and friendly. “ But when you actu ally get up to testify, it starts getting to where it is a gut-wrenching kind of thing to where you realize this is serious.” People spoke in general terms and specifics. One woman said she was fired from her job as a bartender because she wouldn’t date men. Another woman said she was evicted from her apartment. The Oregon District Branch of the American Psychiatric Association stilted, “There is no proper medical basis to accord homosexuals less than full and equal protection under the law." And then Rita Knapp spoke. “ 1 was counting on what the psychiatric group had to say as Kang so compelling that anything 1 could say would not be very impor tant,” says Knapp, who in 1977 co-founded the Portland chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. She couldn’t have been more wrong. In a heartfelt tone, she talked about the importance of the rights of her daughter, Kristan Aspen, who went on to helm the Lesbian Community Proj ect. The Oregonian reported that Knapp described Aspen and her friends as being social ly conscious, intelligent, warm and happy. Knapp said people need to recognize that citizens have to be free to chcxtse their own lifestyle. It was time to come out of the Dark Ages and disengage from the myths and fears. It was time to erase the laws that deprive homosexuals of their rights. When she finished talking, she stixxl up from the table and heard a loud noise. At first she thought she must have knocked the microphone off the table. Rut then she realized it was applause. Everyone had ignored the committee’s rules. “You would have had to he absolutely heart less not to applaud her,” Nicola recalls. “It was incredible.” The bill may have failed, but it was the start of more to come. “Going from the situation where we were sitting in a bar and having peo ple handwrite those letters and pay a nickel for the stamp to what we have tixlay is just amaz ing,” Nicola says. J H Everyone knows they need a financial plan for the future, but it's hard to find time to do it. That's where I can help. 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PAT YO U N G S till W a it i O “We’re very disappointed,” Thorpe said. “Unfortunately, the Republican Parry at the pre sent time is controlled by the extreme right wing...and so it’s very difficult to be a moderate Republican in our state Legislature.” Thorpe believes that RRO has enough votes to pass the legislation but that G O P leaders seem determined to prevent them from ever going to the floor. “ 1 think that the state Legislature should he ashamed that 30 years have passed and they have still not acted on what, at the time, was a visionary piece of legislation and what now is just long overdue.” —Jim Radnsta JF1 nce again, the Oregon Legislature disregard ed pro-gay legislation during this past session. Senate Bill 786 would have banned discrim ination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodation, public assistance and educa tion. 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