•community
NOVEMBER II, 2011
15_J«
THE
ULTIMATE
N. PORTLAND
“[Judge Wilson] made the point...
ADDRESS
that she was looking forward to the
(FOUND AT
THE CORNER OF
INTERSTATE &
KILLINGSWORTH)
time when saying someone was a
‘lesbian judge’ sounded as awkward
and wrong as saying someone was a
‘lady doctor.’”
— SARAH ADAMS, CHAIR, OGALLA
saying someone was a ‘lady doctor,”’ ex
plains Adams. “She said she felt like she
had gotten to that time, at least in Portland
and in Oregon. I think so, too.”
The status achieved by Kistler, Linder
and Wilson is an indirect result of
OGALLA’s work. More directly, the or
ganization was tapped by the Oregon A t
torney General’s office last year for feed
back on the equality agendas of candidates
running for office. As a result, the group
formed the Judicial Endorsements Com
mittee to review candidates being consid
ered for judicial office.
OGALLA has als« created a lawyer re
ferral directory on the organization’s web
site, which contains a list of LGBT-
friendly professionals listed by practice
area across the state. That effort is, some
what disturbingly, the only step at the mo
ment to expand OGALLA’s reach beyond
the Portland metro area and the 1-5 corri
dor to rural locations that would ostensibly
require more of the group’s educational ef
forts. Adams says that expanding their ac
tive base to include those regions is a pri
mary goal.
“There’s still a great need for education,”
says Adams. “I t’s surprising how few people
know what rights they have. But we’ve been
accomplishing a loj.”
Adams believes that, by continuing to re
cruit new members, OGALLA’s influence
and community presence will grow in the
years to come. Two decades after first lead
ing the way, a steady influx of law students
working with the organization brings with
it a renewed focus on education and aware
ness, in what’s only the beginning for the
next class of activists. JM
Rights Oregon and the Oregon Safe
Schools and Communities Coalition to
foster educational opportunities. A main
component of that outreach has been to
lobby for school districts in Oregon to
adopt policies that comply with the state’s
anti-bullying legislation, passed in 2009.
OGALLA’s members have tabled at events
like Portland Pride and Portland State
University Queer Resource Center’s Queer
Youth Summit to share facts about LGBT
people in the legal profession, and the suc
cess stories of LGBT judges, lawyers and
more in the state.
“[Students] don’t really care often about
what lawyers are doing,” says Adams. “But
telling young people about how many openly
gay or lesbian judges and Oregon Supreme
Court justices there are can be really inspir
ing to them—sometimes also to the parents
who are worried that their kids’ lives are ru
ined because they come out.”
Adams is alluding to openly gay Oregon
Supreme Court justices Rives Kistler and
Virginia Linder, as well as 20-year veteran
of the Multnomah County Circuit Court
Judge Janice Wilson. At OGALLA’s an
nual dinner ajid silent auction fundraiser in
October—the proceeds of which benefit
the Bill and Ann Shepherd Legal Scholar
ship Fund—Wilson was a guest of honor.
She took the opportunity to express her
hope for the future of LGBT professionals
in the field.
“[Judge Wilson] made the point at the
dinner that she was looking forward to the
time when saying someone was a ‘lesbian For more inform ation about O G A L L A : The
judge’ sounded as awkward and wrong as L G B T B ar Association o f Oregon, v isit ogalla.org.
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