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
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