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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (March 19, 2004)
march 19.2004 1 J lM t O U t 5 S a ve y o u r e th ic s le s s o n To t h e E d it o r : arty Davis’ editorial voicing her concerns about Multnomah County Commission Chair Diane Linn opening the d(x>r to gay mar riages was certainly a hit of rain on the parade of coupled gay men and women applying for mar riage licenses (“ Be All That You Can Be,” March 5|. Kind of a cross between an obituary and a wedding announcement. Davis feels Linn’s process was “tarnished” and has ignited the wrath of previously splintered religious factions who will now pound us into the ground. Davis seems to favor more time and careful coalition building to nudge straights into ratifying same-sex marriage. If she read her own paper, she would notice the gay marriage train has already left the station. And it is straight politicians and judges from coast to coast who are standing up in defense of gay marriage. Why should Linn be faulted.7 She read Ore gon’s public meetings and records law, avoided a quorum by meeting singly with all but one com missioner so as not to infract it and asked for a legal opinion on whether state law prohibited same-sex marriages. When the opinion was affirmative, she didn’t create public policy, she allowed gays access to marriage privileges (and responsibilities) that straights already enjoy. And for this, Davis wants us to feel a little bit guilty? A little bit shamed that we might endorse the old ends-justifies-the-means saw when it ben efits us? Sorry, Ms. Davis. Save your ethics lessons. 1 can’t quite muster a tear for homophobe Lonnie Roberts, who was politically outmaneuvered by four gutsy women who decided to do the right thing. If there’s a “values conflict” in your mind, Ms. Davis, then check the political landscape. President Bush has called for a constitutional amendment to prevent legal universal recognition of gay marriage. He has declared moral war. On us. He has endorsed homophobia. Let’s focus our eth ical outrage on Bush and not Linn. And let’s all drop our well-learned abused wife syndrome, where we stay nicely behaved around our straight abusers and hope that someday they’ll stop kick ing the shit out of us and maybe love us a bit more. Hell will freeze over before that happens. The Multnomah County Commission both administers state laws (in this case the marriage laws) and legislates county ordinances. These two functions are quite different, and it’s impor tant to understand the difference. For administrative issues, no public hearings are required or expected. Only when the com mission creates or changes a county law are pub lic hearings and the full participation of the 1 commissioners required. Your hypothetical (in which four commis sioners exclude the fifth and enact a Defense of Marriage Act in Multnomah County) is com pletely off base, as no law was enacted or changed in this instance. A state law was inter - preted. This is something the county executive does daily, and has always done, without public hearings or consultation with the commission ers. The county commission has no authority to create or change state marriage laws, only a duty to issue marriage licenses according to state law and the state constitution. And a duty, I might add, to interpret the constitution as it applies to county functions. What Linn did (and courageously in my opinion) was to give instructions to a county department, as she does routinely, relying on what the county attorney and an outside attor ney told her the law required. This is fully with in her power— it is her responsibility alone— and has nothing to do with the other commis sioners. It requires no commission vote and no public input. It is simply part of her job as the county executive. It was perhaps misleading that three of the four commissioners did a press conference with her— it might have helped make this clearer to the public if she alone had announced the change. You should check with a knowledgeable source before you write editorials having to do with legal matters and not rely on The Oregonian. About this issue they either deliberately or in advertently misled the public on how the Mult nomah Giunty Commission is set up to work. We should all he giving our unqualified grat itude to Linn and to the other commissioners and citizens who encouraged her to act. R u t h G un dle Portland G o r to n J o h n sto n Portland You’re in th e A rm y n ow Get y o u r fa c ts s tra ig h t To t h e To T he E d it o r : t’s one thing to disagree on matters of opin ion, as 1 sometimes do with your editorials, but it’s something else when an editorial reveals a misunderstanding of the most basic facts— in this case, how our county government works. I E d it o r : arty Davis asks, “Are we prepared to enlist as frontline tnxips in the culture war.7” Count me— among innumerable others, I’m certain— ready, willing and able. M B ob M ensel Portland n o ta b le s J u d g e not To t h e E d it o r : e stood in line March 3 in the wind, cold and rain for almost four hours to partici pate in the historic event of receiving our mar riage license. After 23 years of being a couple, we never thought we would live to see this day. We were married in the late afternoon at Keller Auditori um in one of the happiest moments of our life together seconded only when, as a gay couple, we adopted our son. I want to say Basic Rights Oregon did a fantas tic job in both venues. Their staff and volunteers worked so well to assist us to fill out the forms cor rectly and get in the right lines. The entire situa tion flowed srruxithly because of their gcxxl work. They need to be commended for a job well done! The presence of the organization Live Makes a Family made the long, cold wait much easier with the treats of hot beverages and doughnuts. As gay parents, we need to join this group. We hope the irony of police patrolling to protect the people in line from violence from others has not gone unnoticed. Finally, we believe Marty Davis owes Diane Linn an apology for the remarks made about her in the Feb. 20 issue [“California, Here We Come"). It now is evident that Linn did have the courage to issue marriage licenses. Perhaps Davis should keep her unfounded negative assump- tioas and judgments of others out of print. D ale a n d D a v id S c h ell Portland Y ellow jo u rn a lism To t h e E d it o r : O n March 7 The Oregonian ran a front-page story with the title “54 Percent in Oregon Oppose Same-Sex Marriage, Poll Says.” I sent the following letter to the newspaper and hope my fellow gays and lesbiaas and our friends in the community will also contact the editor to protest such iaespoasible reporting and sensationalism: The term "yellow journalism" was coined during the 1890s when the only source of news for Americans was the newspapers. At this time it was a common practice to report the editor’s interpretation of the news rather than objective journalism. During this peruxl of time the pub lic had little means of verification, so anything written in the newspaper was considered to be factual. The editors, realizing the power they had over the public, used this to their advantage to sensationalize the news and sell more papers. It is disturbing to see that in 2004, The Oregon - ian continues to employ “yellow journalism” tac tics as a way to sell papers. Portlanders Mark Richard Tesauro (left) and Raymond James Friedmann Jr. were married Nov. 22 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Tesauro, son of Richard and June Tesauro of Dallas, Texas, is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology and received his Ph.D. in chemistry from University of Texas at Austin. He works in research and development at Integrated Device Technology in Hillsboro. Friedmann, son of Raymond and Carol Friedmann of Austin, Texas, is a graduate of St. Edwards University. H e is a stay-at-home parent for the newlyweds’ 9-month-old daughter, Ceriwen Diane Friedmann-Tesauro, but worked previously at PA CE Credit Union. T he couple, who have been together nearly 13 years, met in A ustin and have resided in D allas and Phoenix, Ariz. Donations may be made to Love M akes a Family. Did you know Just Out publishes free wedding announcements? Submit your story atid photo at www.justout.etnn! The March 7 story “ 54 Percent in Oregon Oppose Same-Sex Marriage, Poll Says” is a text- btxik example of “yellow journalism” at work. A total of 400 people were polled, and, based on the results, a story was not only written but placed in the top section of the front page (prime real estate for a newspaper). A poll of 400 people would hardly be considered large enough to be a representative sample group to make a blanket statement of the views of the state’s voters. I am furious that a newspaper would dare print such trash, using unscientific polls and then attempting to pass this information off as factual. This type of biased, sensationalized reporting using unscientific methods has no Continued on Page 7 F R E E HIV TES TIN G S M W c f a Hair Cut *■ Color A n d A io r c ! wwv.spank-u.com Everyone deserves ♦o fee SPANKED now and then! 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