< n wnews *
Oregon District Judge
Rules Denial of Health
Care Benefits for Same-
Sex Couples Constitutes
Discrimination
C h iefju dge Ann Aiken o f the U.S. D is
trict Court for the District o f Oregon
ruled July 25 that the denial o f health care
benefits to the same-sex partner o f a U.S.
District o f Oregon court employee consti
tutes unlawful discrimination.
Per a press release from Stoel Rives
L L P — whose retired attorney Pamela
Jacklin represented the plaintiff pro-
bono— Margaret Fonberg, a longtime law
clerk now working for U.S. District M ag
istrate Judge Thom as M. Coffin, filed the
discrimination complaint after she tried to
enroll her domestic partner in her employ
er-offered federal health care plan during
the 2009 annual enrollment period, but
was declined by the U.S. Office o f Person
nel Management (O PM ). The O PM cited
the Defense o f Marriage Act (D O M A ) as
the basis for its decision. D O M A defines
“spouse” as an opposite-sex partner in a
legal marriage, and O PM determined the
federal family health benefits plans that
covered employees, spouses and other fam
ily members could not be extended to
same-sex couples.
Judge Aiken ruled that the denial o f
benefits to Fonberg and her partner con
stitutes sex discrimination and discrimina
tion on a basis unrelated to job perfor
mance. The decision breaks
new ground in the ongoing
legal argument over same-
sex benefits, as it finds
D O M A s denial o f benefits
discriminatory even though
Fonberg and her partner
are not legally married.
Per the release, Aiken
agreed with Fonberg’s ar
gument that if either Fon
berg or her partner were
male, not female, “Fon
berg’s compensation would
include insurance benefits
for her partner.”
Punk Start My
Heart Takes to Kickstarter
to Kick Label into Gear
Upstart queer/feminist punk rock record
label Punk Start My Heart Records seeks
help to get its fledgling imprint o ff the
ground.
P SM H began as a booking collective
dedicated to setting up shows for women,
people o f color and queer-identified musi
cians. The group’s influence eventually
paved the way for the First Annual Not
Enough! Festival in 2010. Following the
festival— a two-day queer music and art
fest in which performances, bands and art
pieces are created specifically for the event
for first-time exposure— many o f the bands
involved stayed together and continued to
play. This led to an influx o f queer-identi
fied punk groups with few options for re
leasing their particular brand o f music.
Enter: Punk Start My Heart “ Records.”
The crew behind the label is accepting
donations via online fundraising site Kick-
starter, with a goal o f raising $6,000 by
August 26 to fund the release o f their first
three records. Through the Kickstarter
campaign, the label would utilize funds to
cover pressing and printing costs for a
7-inch vinyl release from Fagatron, a split
7-inch from Fucking Lesbian Bitches and
N O /H O /M O , and a full 12-inch LP by
Forever.
Incentives for donations to fund the
project range from P SM H tote bags and
mix tapes to larger goodies like a digital
scrapbook o f a recent tour by N O /H O /
M O, Fucking Lesbian Bitches and
Forever.
Just a few weeks after the deadline hits
for P SM H ’s fundraising goal, the second
installment o f the Not Enough! Festival
gets underway September 17-18 at an as
yet undecided location. The all-ages event
is slated to feature brand new film, visual
art, music and more.
AUGUST 5. 2011
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home to another, "We found that many foster youngsters are faced with pocking
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plastic garbage bags,' said Portland Metro Rotary Secretary Douglas Porter
Both Portland Luggage locations offer up to 20%
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Usable or repairable items will be refurbished and
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An email sent to Just Out once again out
lined the dire need for volunteers with avail
ability to contribute to Portland’s Q_Patrol.
Q_Patrol has experienced a steady decline o f
available volunteers to stoke its numbers on
weekend patrols.
“If Q_Patrol is going to survive, we need a
better response to our availability requests,”
read the email to Q_Patrol volunteers.
A recent gathering at Red Cap Garage to
generate new volunteers and promote (^ P a
trol’s monthly trainings yielded no new vol
unteers, reported co-founder Samuel
SAVE
STOREWIDE |
To donate to the Kickstarter campaign for
Punk Start My Heart Records , search fo r
“Punk Start My H eart ” at kickstarter.com.
For updates on the Not Enough! Festival
happening in September ; visit notenoughpdx.
tumblr.com.
Q Patrol Struggling to
Get Volunteers Out on the
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