PUBLISHER'S GUEST | Jeana Fr azzini, Basic Rights Oregon
T
HE 2012 ELECTIONS DELIVERED UNPRECEDENTED
VICTORIES FOR THE LGBT COMMUNITY.
voters at their doors and on their phones, accounting for 10% of
the volunteer hours on the Washington campaign!
I am filled with joy for the families in Washington, Maine and
Maryland who have won the freedom to marry the person they
love — and did so, for the first time ever, by a vote of the people.
I am also glad for the people of Minnesota who successfully
blocked a constitutional ban on marriage equality for the first
time.
Here in Oregon we still have work to do, and we know it won’t
be easy. Oregon is one of 30 states with constitutional amend-
ments banning marriage for gay and lesbian couples. Oregon
stands ready to be the first state to overturn a constitutional
amendment at the ballot. Basic Rights Oregon is committed to
leading this effort, and our education campaign has already in-
creased support for the freedom to marry by double digits in
the past three years.
The list goes on: our country re-elected the first sitting presi-
dent to support the freedom to marry, elected the first openly
gay U.S. senator, and four new out members of the House of
Representatives (including the first out person of color and first
out bisexual)! In New Hampshire, the first out transgender per-
son was elected to the state legislature.
And right here in Oregon, we championed the re-election of
Secretary of State Kate Brown and Labor Commissioner Brad
Avakian and helped secure a pro-equality majority in the Or-
egon house, where Rep. Tina Kotek will become the first-ever
lesbian speaker of a statehouse.
These are a lot of firsts and there is no question that the tide has
turned irrevocably toward equality — and toward the freedom
to marry, in particular.
As more and more Americans are having conversations with
LGBT, and allied friends and family, they're coming to realize
that committed couples, whether they are gay or straight, hope
to marry for similar reasons — to make a lifetime promise to
share the joys and sorrows that life brings.
The victories on election night have bolstered our confidence
and confirmed that we are exactly where we need to be. We
know that we are on the right path. The education campaign
Basic Rights Oregon has undertaken over the past three years is
winning hearts and minds. And our movement has proven that
we can win marriage through legislatures, in the courtrooms
and, finally, at the ballot. Now is the time to begin repealing
these discriminatory amendments.
We’re also keenly aware that none of our victories have been a
slam dunk. In Washington alone, it took over 12 million dollars
and more than 30,000 volunteer hours to eke out a four-point
victory – despite going into the campaign with greater public
support for marriage than there currently is in Oregon. For two
months, Basic Rights Oregon dedicated staff and volunteers to
the campaign to run the Southwest Washington outreach. Our
volunteers had thousands of conversations with Washington
December 2012
While the movement now turns to states with constitutional
bans, we must also continue working at the federal level. Next
year, the Supreme Court could finally overturn the federal De-
fense of Marriage Amendment. We cannot win only at the state
or only at the federal level. Either victory would be incomplete
without the other. Winning at the federal level will not provide
the freedom to marry in Oregon until we change our state laws,
and winning in Oregon will not provide Oregon couples with
any federal recognition until DOMA is gone.
Now is the time for every fair-minded Oregonian to stand with
us in order to complete this journey to the freedom to marry.
We need you to GET ENGAGED today.
A November 13th New York Times article described how the
wins on the ballot this year were achieved through “patient,
labor-intensive personal dialogue.” Mainers United for Mar-
riage, the article explained, “phoned some 250,000 residents or
knocked on their doors, engaging many of them in 20-minute
conversations about love, marriage and commitment and per-
suading some to rethink their views.”
The only way we will win the freedom to marry in Oregon is
through heart-felt conversations. We must continue to have
the courage and honesty to talk to friends, family and cowork-
ers about why marriage matters for all caring and committed
couples — gay or straight.
Please go to our website and sign our pledge to have 10 conver-
sations before the end of this year with friends and family about
why marriage matters to you.
In the next few weeks, we'll be on the road for a
Victory tour through Oregon. We want to celebrate our
victories and get to work for 2014. Look for details soon. §
Jeana Franzinni is the Executive Director of Basic Rights Oregon.
For more information about Basic Rights Oregon, basicrights.org
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