by leo Schuman
POLITICS
Rep. Tina Kotek
Superheroes Rising
Ummm, a tightly focused political geek into spandex-wrapped
warriors for good? Awesome! We had to know more.
Tina dropped out of Georgetown University to move across coun-
try and “be who you want to be” in Oregon, where she walked her
first Pride Parade in 1987, “back when everyone would jump in.”
Typically, coming out was harder for her than her family, with her
Mom commenting, “well, it took you long enough.”
Political activism didn’t start until graduate school at the University
of Washington, spurred by her response to anti-LGBT discrimina-
tion. Tina and her partner at the time applied for married student
housing, but were denied, even though they were registered as do-
mestic partners under the weak law available at that time in Wash-
ington. She got mad. Not just mad, though: mad and organized.
She helped build and lead a coalition all the way to Olympia. By the
end of the fight, LGBT faculty and students across the Washington
University system had equal housing and insurance rights. Tina
herself had all that, plus a Master’s Degree in International Stud-
ies, and her first elected role as president of the graduate student
government. She was hooked.
She ran her first public race in 2004, for Oregon House District
43, in inner Northeast Portland. Or, to be specific, Aimee Wilson
ran the race as Tina’s campaign manager, while Tina served
as door-knocker and policy wonk. Tina lost that race, but
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won Aimee’s heart, and the two have been together ever since.
They were among the first to register as domestic partners once
Tina helped drive the Oregon Family Fairness Act through Salem
in 2007.
While she very proudly represents the solidly blue House District
44, covering much of North Portland and St Johns, when asked
if she also represents the LGBT community in Salem, she readily
says, “yes, I do.” She says her district “…has many, many gay house-
holds, but when we get LGBT issues in Salem from anywhere, that’s
my job too. I believe any person of color would feel the same way,
because we don’t have a lot of diversity in Salem.”
While work remains, Tina played very significant roles in land-
ing three solid wins for LGBT Oregon: the Oregon Family Fair-
ness Act, the Oregon Equality Act, and recent enhancements to
Oregon’s laws protecting against bullying in schools. Notably,
alongside the Democratic Party of Oregon, she proudly champi-
oned protection for “gender identity” as well as “sexual orientation”
in the Oregon Equality Act. She continues to do so, because even
some lesbian and gay people forget the critical importance of the
“T” in the “LGBT” coalition, and that gender identity and sexual
orientation are complementary, not identical, aspects of the hu-
man experience.
Because Tina is an even bigger political policy wonk than her stunt
double, Rachel Maddow, she carries particular passion for health-
care policy, because healthcare is an issue which touches absolutely
everyone. She’s working alongside a broad coalition pushing to
make cultural competency education, including LGBT culture,
available to healthcare workers; because doctors provide better
care when they understand their patient’s life. She also sees a need
to work with Oregon’s Department of Human Services (DHS) to
recruit and improve foster care for LGBT homeless youth, even in
the face of strapped resources, given the very high percentage of
homeless youth who reach the streets due to anti-LGBT discrimi-
nation at home. And, while full marriage equality for Oregon must
Continues on Pg. 13
September 2012
Photo by Horace long
over six fast-moving years, Tina Kotek has
carved a sharply rising arc in Salem, driv-
en by razor-sharp intelligence, compas-
sion, and a deep capacity for practical po-
litical work. when asked what she’s into
beyond politics though, she responds
with “silent films”, “superheroes”, and ... “a
democratic majority in Salem.”