may 6. 2005 ’ JUSt OUt 7
Continued from Page 4
supporting it. This picture led me to realize how
we can create a more attractive alternative
while exposing the truth.
Now is the perfect time to create a new kind
of union—not only for same-sex couples hut for
everyone who supports equality. This union will
have all the rights and privileges of “marriage”
hut will he based on one’s commitment to fair
ness, not one’s gender. I like the idea of choos
ing a name for our new union from our Oregon
roots—the Chinook Trade Language that was
widely used in the 1800s by both natives and
non-natives.
Implementing this plan will be fun—joining
many diverse groups together in our common
language, our common values. Decades from
now, the few people who use “marry” will be
chtxising a hierarchical union. Will one person
still be committing to “obey” the other?
C harlotte B ehm
Springfield
From tears to action
E ditor :
or a year we have had a taste of equality.
Something that is bigger than the certificate
on our wall or the vows we said to each other.
Something that means we are protected.
After an emotional day together, we realized
April 14 that this journey started with a $60 fee
paid to the county for our marriage license.
With a little asking around, we were told that
the county would be refunding the $60 fee to
the 3,022 couples who were married last spring.
That’s $181,320.
To the
This is where we can take action. If all 3,022
couples were to donate their $60 refund to
Basic Rights Oregon, our money would go to
lawyers and lobbyists to continue our fight in
the Legislature and the courts. Sure, we could
easily use that $60 to drown our sorrows in an
evening with friends. Or we can generate
$181,320 toward lawyers and lobbyists to help
us create change. So we encourage all couples
married last spring to do the same. We encour
age those who believe in the fight for equality
to join us.
Together we can turn our tears into action!
S amantha S waim
K ristin S teele
Portland
Support, don’t demonize,
county commissioners
Willamette Week went so far as to make Diane
Linn its “Rogue of the Year” for 2004.
The commissioners are taking all the heat
from both sides: gays who want someone to
blame for the outcome of the passing of Mea
sure 36, and conservatives who have a target for
their crusade to keep queers in second-class cit
izen status. It isn’t right.
Diane Linn has my respect. She has never
backed down or given in to critics, and she’s
always stood by the decision, explaining their
reasons for issuing the licenses. Her comment
after hearing of the Supreme Court’s decision
the other day was that it saddened her to think
of its effect on the couples who she believes
“deserve equal treatment."
Stop making Diane Linn your punching bag!
In time, despite current setbacks, the actions of
the Multnomah County commissioners may
come to be seen as courageous and prescient.
Those who stand in the way of progress will
eventually, and surely, be crushed.
To the E ditor :
was also depressed the other day when I saw The A nthony S chlottman
Oregonian's front-page headline blaring, “Ore Portland
gon Supreme Court Nullifies Gay Marriages.”
You could feel their delight at destroying the
hopes of 3,000 happily united couples; it was the An open letter from the
verdict The Oregonian, along with the Defense ;
Community off Welcoming
of Marriage Coalition and its allies, had been
praying for. It really hit me hard, although mar Congregations
riage has never been an issue for me personally
and possibly never will be.
What really pisses me off is that Diane Linn To the E ditor :
and the Multnomah County commissioners are
ast year, as Multnomah County t<x>k the
being made the scapegoats, when they should be
brave steps toward ending inequality, you
applauded for taking both legal and ethical
invited us into your lives. Clergy came from
action when they began to hand out the licens Oregon and Washington to stand in solidarity
es. The idiotic Rogue Desk of rhe idiotic with you, so that you could be wed with dignity
I
and honor, even in such strange and unusual
circumstances.
We were touched by the vulnerability you
expressed and by the pride your family and
friends tixik in being present with you. We will
never forget those magical moments we shared
as you stotxl before us, grateful to be able to
acknowledge the lives you so carefully have
been building together.
We affirm your love and your lives. No one’s
union can be declared “null and void.” At the
time, we believed your marriages were bom in
sanctity; for us, nothing has changed. Your wed
dings were sacred acts, and the love you share
and the lives you are building matter. No
authority can diminish what you have vowed
together. The Community of Welcoming Con
gregations stands with you today as we continue
down the road toward justice.
Someone dear to us once said of those times
at Keller Auditorium that we were buoyed by a
sea of love, powered by winds of justice. We
encourage you to hold the magic of those
moments in your hearts as fiiel to sustain you in
rhe struggle, to feed your love in the present and
to carry you forward to a just future with rhe
assurance that you are just as you were created to
he. God bless each of you.
T he R ev . T ara W ilkins
Community of Welcoming Congregations
orrec
Because of an editing error, the April 16 arti
cle “If You Build It.*..” misspelled the name of
Portland GLBT Community Center commit
tee member Susan Remmers. Just Out regrets
the error.
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