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Democracy in Action
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ristotle said democracy only occurs
when there is equality for all. Well,
equality took a step forward when the
Oregon Legislature passed domestic
partnership and nondiscrimination bills.
To observe history, I hitched a ride to Salem with
Bryan Boyd, designated blogger for Basic Rights
Oregon, and witnessed the state Senate vote on
domestic partnerships.
Walking into the august chambers, I was stunned
by the number of queers who had turned out. The
first 1 ran into was Mike Grigsby, an organizer for
BY FLOYD SKLAVER
BRO who does “a lot of the grunt work, prepping
documents and testimony and begging people to do
things.” Diane Hall and Tamara Diaghilev drove up
So, to Roberts, Morse and Sens. Alan Bates,
from Eugene. Tamara’s uncle was Serge Diaghilev,
D-Ashland, and Ben Westlund, D-Tumalo, who
the famous gay Russian impresario who commis joked they were going to form a domestic part
sioned George Balanchine’s Apollo, recently
nership, and all the other courageous legislators,
performed by Oregon Ballet Theatre. Here, the tit
I heart you.
ular god was danced by Ronnie Underwood, who’s
Speaking of hearts, Kelsey Tyler and Robert
in bold print not because he’s gay (I don’t know) but
Burke tied the knot last month. But first Kelsey’s
because he’s so beautiful and so talented that I want
closest friends took him out for a celebratory
him to be. Also very beau
tiful and very talented is
dancer Brennan Boyer,
who stood out during
artistic director Christo
pher Stowell’s Eyes on
You, set to the tunes of
Cole Porter.
Back at the Senate,
Sean Minogue (no rela
tion to Kylie) told me he
had been there for all of
the hearings. Sean sat in
the cheering section with
Randy Lyons, a former
competitive cheerleader
at University of North
Texas. Randy was the first
male cheerleader at his
From left, Ron Pitt, Todd Pozycki, Floyd, Marc Acito, Kelsey Tyler, Karl
Arkansas high school and
Rohde and Matt Neupert recover from a wild bachelor party.
was recognized as one of
the best college cheerleaders in the country.
evening of debauched bachelorhood. Todd
1 sat down to listen to the debate next to
Pozycki arranged for the private party in the back
Cheryl Hall, who brought her own scorecard to
bar of C.C. Slaughters, where Kelsey was toasted
keep track of the balloting. On my other side was
and roasted by, among others, Michael Teufel, who
the news editor of The Mercury, Amy Ruiz, post shared a tasteful anecdote about Kelsey farting on
ing to her paper’s blog. Recently transplanted from
stage.
Seattle, where she worked for The Stranger, a few
My task for the evening was to find 69 hot men
years ago Amy married author, and sex advice
for Kelsey to kiss, as a final hurrah. Among them
columnist Dan Savage. They had a large wedding
were Chris McLanahan (No. 12) and Colin
reception, which they turned into a fund-raiser for Cowden (No. 13), sitting in a comer commiserat
Lambda Legal, but never mailed the license to
ing over their broken relationships. After kissing
King County because Dan didn’t want to pay for
Kelsey (and me—for good luck), Chris proudly
a divorce. The license expired, but not Amy’s
showed off his new underwear. Richard Wolfe and
dreams of marital bliss, which continue with her
Steven Foz were Nos. 42 and 43, then Nos. 44 and
girlfriend of seven years, Sonia Ruiz.
45 when Kelsey went back for seconds. Rob
As Sen. Kate Brown rose to read an impassioned
Crosby (No. 4) said he’d only kiss Kelsey if he
defense of the bill, 1 found myself on pins and nee could use his tongue.
dles and ready to cry. Was it joy? Nerves? Pride in our
After a slumber party in Karl Rohde’s living
legislators? Probably a combination of all three. But
room, we awoke and watched HGTV (otherwise
once the final tally was announced, 1 bounded out of known as How Gay TV). With my boyfriend,
my chair and raced over to former Gov. Barbara
Marc Acito, frying bacon and eggs, Kelsey thought
Roberts (in honorary bold for more than 30 years of it would be fun to call his fiancé and tell him he’d
tireless effort on behalf of equality) so 1 could be the caught chlamydia.
• That can happen when you’re Out Going. ®
first to capture her reaction: “1 think the most signif
icant quote of the day was [Sen. Frank Morse,
R-Albany, who said,) ‘Today’s vote signals how much
heart Oregon has.’"
FLOYD S klaver wants to know about your event.
E-mail him at floydsklaver@comcast.net. ”