News
Page 8
Street Roots • May 8-14, z u io
lancy Haque, left, and Jeana Frazzini lead Basic Rights Oregon. The nonprofit recently opted to employ co-directors instead o f a single executive director.
BY JARED PABEN
STAFF W R ITE R
dvocacy group Basic Rights Oregon
sees this as a “transformational
moment” in the fight for equality for
lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and
queer people.
Gay marriage is legal in Oregon and 36
other states, and the lLS. Supreme Court
will rule on a case m June that could bring
marriage equality to the entire union - or it
could prolong the fight. At the same time,
discrimination persists, and day-to-day life .
doesn't always align with the aspirations of
legislation.
“We have so many of these overarching
legal protections aimed at addressing the
barriers for LGBTQ people to fully
participate and find dignity and respect and
safety and support in every community in
Oregon,” Basic Rights Oregon co-director
Jeana Frazzini said in a recent interview.
“And yet, what’s happening on the ground
and the lived experience of LGBTQ people
is still very far from the ideal and from the
promise of those laws.”
For its next chapter of advocacy, the
Portland-based nonprofit organization is also
in the midst of changes,-It recently opted to
employ co-directors, instead of one
executive director. Frazzini, who served as
executive director since 2008, has been
S
joined by co-director Nancy Haque, who
brings expertise in organizational
development in a social justice advocacy
context.
A new strategic plan will direct Basic
Rights Oregon to focus on LGBTQ youth,
people of color, those living outside of
Portland and transgender Oregonians, steps
the organization sees as necessary to
ensure the community feels equality, not
just reads about it.
“We’re thinking at Basic Rights Oregon
about all the folks who have been sorf o f
pushed to the margins for a long time in the
LGBTQ movement and thinking about how
we can center them in our work,” Haque
told me. “Really thinking about how we not
only put their issues front and center but
how we move our base to see how those
issues are central to our collective
liberation.”
Jared Paben: The Supreme Court recently
denied the petition from the National .
Organization for Marriage challenging gay
marriage. I was hoping you could reflect on
the victory in Oregon and then, as well, talk
about the upcoming Supreme Court decision
for other states.
.
Jeana Frazzini: The news ... was that
the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the
petition from the National Organization for •
Marriage challenging the federal district
court decision in Oregon that confirmed the
freedom to marry. It’s interesting because it
came just one week before the Supreme
Court (would) hear arguments in a couple of
cases that will impact the issue more
broadly, outside of Oregon. It was exactly a
year from the oral arguments that we had
here in Oregon, as well, so timing was .
interesting. It wasn’t a surprise that the
Supreme Court refused to consider their
petition. Every step of the way, the National
Organization for Marriage has been turned
back by the courts. They represent few, if
any, Oregonians and were found every step
of the way to have no standing to intervene
in the case. But it is reassuring to know that
the case here is settled. (On April 28), the
Supreme Court (heard) the oral arguments
in the marriage case. It’s impossible to
speculate what the outcome will be. I think
the highest hope for this case is that it will
once and for all affirm the freedom to marry
for all couples in the United States and will
finally put an end to a complicated,
confusing and difficult patchwork of laws
that exist right now, where you have
30-some states with the freedom to marry,
some with no recognition at all, others with
domestic partnership laws at the local level.
Ultimately, no matter where you live or