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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (March 18, 2011)
JÄ _ Ü MARCH 18. 2011 W W W .JUSTOUT.CO M PROUD TO BE YOUR COMMUNITY Adoptions S u rro g a cy D ivorce C ustody W ills/Estate Planning Em ploym ent B usiness Law 503 . 241.3103 w w w .bethallenlaw .com Beth Allen I aw Beth A. Allen, founding partner: winner of the Oregon Gay & Lesbian Law Association (OGALLA) Silver Jubilee Award; OGALLA Award of Merit; and the Basic Rights Oregon Superhero Award. Selected as a 2010 Oregon Super Lawyer. Founding member of the BRO Legal Group; author of Same-Sex Marriage: a Conflicts of Law Analysis for Oregon; frequent local, state and national speaker on marriage equality. H o m e S w eet H o m e T re n d y S altb o x 6046 SE Lafayette 215 NE 79th Ave 4 bedrooms. Spacious kitchen with new tile counters. New floors in hath & laundry. New roof. Cheery and bright. 3 bedrooms, 1.1 baths. Hardwoods, great floorplan, big yard. New fltxm» kitchen & dining room. New roof. $ 239,000 $ 259,900 Cdid J. Lyon, Principal Broker ( licensed in O regon ) cell 503-260-6231 office 503-238-1700 ext. 635 fax 503-296-5540 email CeliaLyon@aol.com 1902 SE Morrison St. Portland, O R 97214 MeadowsGroup.com ]y|EAD0w§[ practicing sustainability CeliaLyon.com ¿veartb THE JENN-AIR® COOKING AND REFRIGERATION EVENT Ja n u a ry 1-A p ril 30. 2011 R e ce iv e up to a During the Fire & Ice event, you have the opportunity to bring superior craftsm anship and premium styling to your kitchen. Visit our showroom today to make advantage of this exclusive offer. brewing for a ballot initiative that would do thority to grant marriages in Oregon. An initiative to ban same-sex marriage in the same in Oregon. So leaders from BRO met with select Oregon, Ballot Measure 36, also went to vot Multnomah County commissioners in Janu ers, who approved it in November 2004 by 57 ary 2004. They made a plan to bring gay mar percent. For Linn, the ordeal was the beginning of riage to Oregon’s most-populous county while the issue was hot—and before it could be the end of her political career in Oregon, she says. Two years later, she lost her bid for roadblocked like it had been in other states. “We were trying desperately to put the issue reelection. “If I had to do it over again, I would make in f ront o f the public in a positive way, to put a face on the issue of same-sex marriage before the same decision,” says Linn, who now works it hit the ballot,” says Diane Linn, who was for the Ritter Center, a nonprofit in the San Francisco Bay area. then Multnomah County chair. “I stand unequivocal in my support o f my Their plan hinged on opinions they sought from County Attorney Agnes Sowle and con decision on same-sex marriage,” Linn says. “I stitutional lawyer Charles Hinkle, who both wish it had been possible to do it better.” A New Push decided that denying marriages to same-sex BRO is preparing to take another swing at couples would be a violation o f equal rights marriage equality. under Oregon law. Public opinion on the But because of the sen "It was overwhelming. issue has swayed dramati sitive nature of the talks, they were kept secret— Not only was I not going to cally during the past seven even from one county get fired or get beaten up, years. Last fall, 52 percent commissioner, Lonnie of respondents to a CNN poll said same-sex couples Roberts, who supported but I was actually going to civil unions for gay couples, should have the right to be legally recognized for marry. Only 33 percent re hut not marriage. sponded the same way to a So when news broke who I was.” — PAT E M M E R S O N similar poll in spring 2004. March 2, 2004 that the county would begin issuing marriage licenses “It’s clear that change is headed in the right to same-sex couples, critics cried foul not only direction,” says Frazzini o f BRO. “It’s just a on the principle of gay weddings, hut on the matter of accelerating that change.” lack o f public disclosure. Frazzini points to the five states (Massa “The reaction both nationally and locally hit chusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and us between the eyes pretty hard,” Linn shares. New Hampshire) and the District o f Colum Linn says she wasn’t technically required to bia where same-sex marriage is now legal. No disclose the plans. But she admits that looking state had full-fledged marriage in spring 2004. back, strategic public dialogue could have ben Sixteen states now have some form o f same- efited the effort. At the time, though, she sex relationship recognition, like civil unions. feared any disclosure would have prompted Also, the Coquille Tribe in Oregon legalized someone to file a court injunction before li same sex-marriage in 2008. censes could be issued. Though 42 states ban same-sex marriage, “Not a single couple would have been mar Oregon passed its ban, Ballot Measure 36, by ried that spring,” she says. “There would be no the smallest margin o f any vote in the country. anniversary to celebrate.” Frazzini attributes part o f the loss to the After the announcement, a court case was heated debate surrounding the vote. opened and marriages were stopped seven “Voters had a very short time to consider weeks after they had begun—hut not before this issue in the context o f a political battle 3,022 couples were able to marry. The case with both sides hollering their issues,” she would eventually end with the court ruling says. that Multnomah County did not have the au But now, BRO believes Oregon can reverse 4 M asterCard Prepaid Card by mail with purchase of select Jenn-Air appliances R e b a t e o n a s e le c t R e b a te o n a s e le c t R e b a te o n a s e le c t M ic r o w a v e H o o d C o m b in a t io n Range R e fr t g e r a to r H a m ilto n ’s 19790 S.E. McLoughlin Blvd Gladstone, Oregon 503-656-0866 hamiltonsappliance.com Bonus! ON INSTALLATION. 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