4
;uest commentary
just out
by Sam Adams
J
Same Bill, Different Wrapping
NEWSMAGAZINE
VOL. 24 NO. 12
APRIL 20, 2007
Oregon's same-sex domestic partners see end to discrimination
ithin the next month, Oregon will make history and send
a message of equality across the entire nation. The Oregon
Legislature is poised to pass two pieces of legislation that are
vital to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Oregonians and
our families. The first is the Oregon Equality Act, Senate Bill 2,
which will finally create a consistent statewide law banning
against the LGBT community. No longer will a person legally be fired from
their job, denied a room at a hotel or refused service at a restaurant just because
of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Vera Katz, my friend and mentor,
first introduced this legislation in 1973. After 34 years of trying, legal discrim
ination against LGBT Oregonians will come to an end this year.
And that’s not the end of it. The Legislature is expected also to end the
discrimination that same-sex couples face every single day because we are
denied access to legal recognition of our relationships.
The Oregon Family Fairness Act, House Bill 2007, would create a new,
statewide domestic partner law that grants us and our partners all of the protec
tions, rights and responsibilities under state law that straight couples can access
through marriage.
When first introduced, it was called “civil unions.” This is the term they use
in Vermont. Then last week, out lesbian Rep. Tina Kotek, D-North Portland,
proposed an amendment. The bill will now be called “domestic partnerships"—
like California’s law.
I have to admit, at first 1 was confused. Why change the name? The name
civil union just seemed more “official” to me somehow—like we were getting
real government sanction of our relationships...and I wondered whether we
were giving something up by changing the name for this package of 500-plus
rights. Are we ceding ground to our opposition?
After some soul searching, and quite a few conversations with friends,
1 believe the answer is no—we’re not giving up a thing, nor are we ceding one
inch of ground to the opposition. I’ve decided that Tina’s amendment makes
perfect sense. Here’s why:
Same package, different wrapping: House Bill 2007 will grant same-sex cou
ples and our families more than 500 protections, rights and responsibilities—
the exact same rights whether you call it a civil union or a domestic partner
ship. There’s zero change. And let’s not forget that this is historic—no other
state has ever passed such comprehensive rights after the voters enacted a ban
on same-sex marriage.
Domestic partner is our language. Over the past 30 years we claimed the
word “partner” and gave it a new meaning. We created a definition for our
relationships when “wife” or “husband” was not accurate or available. We
passed domestic partnership registries and fought with employers to grant
domestic partnership benefits for our partners and our children. We introduced
our partners to our families and neighbors. Our siblings and parents have
W
adopted the word partner to descnbe our families. We gave meaning to this word—
so let’s use it. To act in any other way minimizes the meaning of our partnerships
and the struggles we have fought for and won over the past three decades.'
Our opponents have language, too—it’s called “reciprocal benefits.” Our
opponents want to undermine our relationships, our partnerships, by creating
discrimination
a category called "reciprocal benefits.” It is nothing like a domestic partnership
or a civil union. They are uncomfortable with recognizing our partnerships as
loving, committed relationships. Instead, Karen Minnis, R-Wood Village, and
others have proposed “reciprocal benefits,” which would grant a small number of
rights, based not on the devotion of two loving partners, but based on a fiction
that makes our opponents more comfortable. This is a clear attempt to avoid
giving our loving relationships the status they deserve, and it is unacceptable.
Our opponents will attempt to take these rights away as sum as they’re
signed into law. Our opponents will not rest while we celebrate this victory, nor
will the fight end when the bills pass in the Legislature. The Oregon Family
Council, the organization that brought us Measure 36, will collect the signa
tures to put domestic partnerships—and our rights—on the ballot. They’ll work
night and day to take these rights away with an indecent campaign.
I’m in this for the long haul. I don’t want to see the Legislature finally enact
these essential rights, only to lose them at the ballot. So my vote is for doing
anything and everything to make sure that the opposition fails in any attempt
to take our hard-fought rights away.
House Bill 2007 uses language that accurately describes our relationships.
It’s our language and gives us the protections, rights and responsibilities under
state law that are available through marriage contracts. It’s language that is
understandable to all Oregonians, which will be incredibly important when our
rights are put to the voters by our opposition.
Oregon is about to become the first state in the country to win legal recog
nition of our relationships after passing a constitutional amendment banning
same-sex marriage. And we’re going to win a more comprehensive set of rights
than either Washington or California, who have long been seen as leaders in
this fight. It started with our fight for Senate Bill 1000, continued with the
GLBT community’s and Basic Rights Oregon’s work to elect a pro-fairness
majority and continues through this legislative session, where that majority and
BRO have worked tirelessly to encourage broad support for the bills, ensure that
the committees hear our families’ compelling stories and think both strategical
ly and proactively.
We will never have full equality until the federal government recognizes our
relationships and we have protections in every state. But in Oregon, domestic
partnerships will provide our community the protections for our relationships
and our families that we have been fighting for. •
• Queer Nation activists protested the
Portland opening of Basic Instinct. The
film features a man-hating lesbian psychopath who kills with an ice pick. This
sparked a nationwide outcry against Hollywood's homophobic stereotypes.
• Sanford Director died of congestive heart failure March 19 in his Southwest
Portland home. He was 54. Proclaimed “Portland's Gay Mayor“ by Chester
NEWS
8-15 NORTHWEST
Bills pass in House; tradeswomen gather,
train; bias crime reported; pets show pride at
Pride; p:earblossoms fund-raiser moves
youth forward; trans library finds permanent
home; deco goes kitsch; familiar spot
evolves; reputation follows Pride board
member; domestic partnership passes in
Washington; activist Bob Ball builds success
16-17 NATIONAL
Anti-hate crime bill introduced; California
marriage bill advances in committee;
second-parent adoption passes in Colorado
Senate; Connecticut marriage bill sees
gains; hearing set for Indiana journalism
teacher; marriage ban dies in Indiana
committee; gay rights bills prove victorious
in Maryland; New Hampshire civil unions
inch toward reality
18-19 WORLD
Distress over Ukraine’s Eurovision entry;
Gay’s the Word might close; Normal Heart
theater trashed; Blair: Civil partnerships
‘profound’; city funds Reykjavik Pride;
Turkish queer students organize for first
time; chief Italian bishop’s cathedral
defaced; Amnesty: Honduran gay activist
beaten, raped; gays attacked at Jamaican
carnival; Australian pop star comes out
ARTS & CULTURE
15 Years Ago in Just Out... volume 9 number 6, april 1992
• There's a new face over at Phoenix
Rising these days. Valerie Whittlesey,
of French/English/Russian-dissident
ancestry, is the new executive director.
20 ECO QUEERS
Out to save the planet
S am ADAMS is Portland’s first openly gay city commissioner.
reflections
• The first-ever New Jersey Gay
Pride Parade is set for June 6 in
Asbury
Park.
Among
other
accomplishments, the New Jersey
Lesbian and Gay Coalition will be
celebrating its success at getting an
amendment passed to New Jersey's
anti-discrimination law to protect
gays, lesbians and bisexuals.
FEATURE
“Esther” Brinker, he used his title to be the welcoming ambassador for our
community and to do a lot of good. It would take a 10-volume set of books to
recount Director's contributions to bur community. He was “Queen of the»
Queens," and his energy, vision and commitment will be greatly missed.
• Marlon Riggs, producer and director of the internationally acclaimed
documentary Tongues Untied, a powerful and poetic exploration of the
African-American gay male experience, will be in Portland on May 1 to
premiere his award-winning documentary Color Adjustment.
• The lesbian feature film Claire of the Moon, produced by Demi-Monde
Productions, will premiere May 28 at Fox Theater in Portland.
• Shirley Maclaine stormed out of the British Film Awards on Jan. 27 and
joined gays on the sidewalk who were protesting the anti-gay and anti-
people-with-AIDS editorial stance of The London Evening Standard, which
sponsors the ceremony.
• Gail Shibley and Jerry Keene, two candidates for the Oregon House of
Representatives, will be among three others to benefit from the Victory
Fund, the nation's first organization to utilize new 900-number technology to
raise money for openly gay and lesbian candidates.
39 FILM
Emotional confusion ensues when a straight
man is tricked into a blind Coffee Date with
a gay man
40-41 BOOKS
Don’t know much about history?
42 MUSIC
Four l|ueer discs are music to my ears
43 CULTURE
Freshly transplanted feminist magazine
reclaims a loaded word
44 NIGHTLIFE
There’s no place like Hobo’s
COLUMNS
31 EPIQUEEREAN
Lounge Therapy
35 MS. BEHAVIOR
Babes in Toyland
36 OUT GOING
The Games We Play
46 JIM'S CLOSET
Homecoming Queen