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consult with local attorney Beth A. Allen.
“I believe Jake was concerned about the
enactment o f Oregon Senate Bill 2, which
prohibits discrimination on the basis of
sexual orientation or gender identity, which
went into effect in 2008, and the fact that
the teams played on public city fields,” says
Allen. But, according to Allen, Portland and
the other cities on whose fields the RCSA
has played have long benefited from the
same protections that S.B. 2 provided at the
state level.
“Jake expressed concern that the league
could be sued if it did not change its policy,”
says Allen. At the request o f Bias, Allen
prepared a memorandum, and presented
her analysis to the R CSA board before last
February’s vote.
Allen explains that since the RCSA is a
private organization and not a commercial
one held to non-discrimination rules, they
can limit membership as they please, cit
ing the constitutional right to freedom of
association. “I told the RCSA, even if the
city was violating S.B. 2, the league and its
individual board members and players would
not be somehow tangentially liable,” she
says. “I did suggest that if they want to cover
their bases (pun intended) they could modify
their mission statement to be clear that one
o f its primary purposes is to provide a venue
for the G L B T community to play together
without fear of facing the discrimination
they may experience elsewhere and to play
together in the company o f one another—
but that would just be hitting the ball out o f
the park and into next week.*-
Allen says she asked several of her col
leagues to review the memorandum and her
analysis; each agreed with the memorandum’s
conclusion. According to Allen, an unnamed
lawyer with the City of Portland’s Parks
Department told her that he also believed
the league had the right to limit their players
based on sexual orientation and that the city
would be in violation of the U.S. and likely
state constitutions if it prohibited softball
leagues from play based on their organizing
principle, “so long as they got the right per
mits and paid the right fees,” she relays.
Allen doesn’t believe the league will face
legal liability, nor would there be justifica
tion would a suit be brought. “Here,” she
observes, “it seems the RCSA leadership is
immobilized by fear.”
To Allen the issue goes much deeper.
“This kind of situation really exemplifies
the tension between the U.S. Constitutional
right to associate with whomever you please,
and the right not to be excluded based on
your status o f belonging to a class o f people
who have faced discrimination in this coun
try,” says Allen.
For Bias, the greater concern is that those
teams wishing to participate at the national
level (NAGAAA World Series) will not be
permitted to play due to
the maximum limit on
hetero-identified players
(two per team). “With
the R CSA now not being
a gay-only league— and
a member o f the na
tional organization for
16 years— it goes against
the grain o f what we have been and what we
are a part of,” says Bias. “[And] when a gay
player comes out to join us under the idea
we are gay and finds we are not, where is he
going to go play instead? Nowhere.
But for a straight man, if he did not want
to play with us, he has over 500 teams in the
metro area where he can go play. The RCSA
is a private organization, period. We can
have whatever kind of membership we want.
And we want it to be gay!”
Though Burke says he feels “more at home
as a straight player in this gay and lesbian
league than I have in any other team in my
life,” he acknowledges “really valid points”
on both sides o f the debate. “I’m wholly
supportive o f whatever way the issue gets
solved,” he adds, “even if that meant that I
couldn’t play any longer. I’d still come out to
root for everyone. And I’d still get something
powerful out o f that.”
Packer stands by the decision. “The Open
Division has recently (as of our early Febru
ary meeting) reaffirmed our commitment that
we are on the right path to our goals. We are
still growing, and we are doing so with the
right intent: to make the RCSA a safe, fun
environment where the LGBTQcommunity
can come and be free to be themselves and
be embraced for our diversity and enjoy the
sport of slow pitch softball. But we choose to
do so without limiting the support and par
ticipation of our heterosexual allies.”
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