BY SALLY SHEKLOW
Staying on Message
Hanging on to our tongues.
Our Constitution is designed to protect people, not hurt them. Constitutional
Amendment 36 hurts real Oregonians by putting unequal treatment for gays and
lesbians in our Constitution. It would deny many families health care, inheritance
rights and the ability to make life-saving medical decisions. We may disagree about
social issues such as marriage, but those disagreements do not belong in our
Constitution.
— Official No on Constitutional Amendment 36 Campaign Message
R
ebekah stands in front of the small university
classroom. She welcomes us No on
Constitutional Amendment 36 Speakers
Bureau volunteers to our training session. “Our polls
show this is winnable if we stay on message,” she tells
us. While she explains the strategy to challenge
Oregon’s latest anti-gay attack, her fingers tug the
hem of her black knit shirt over the waistband of her
slacks. Like Sisyphus and his rock, she keeps at it and it
keeps rolling away.
WHEN DO I GET TO CALL OUR OPPOSITION
BIGOTED RIGHT-WING
DOO-DOO HEADS?
“If we get our message out early, we can win.” Rebekah pushes her long, dye-
streaked bangs aside, another Sisyphean effort. Rebekah has a tough job. Not only
does her shirt ride up and her hair fall forward, but as campaign Communications
Director, this savvy young politico must convert us forty-some volunteers into on-mes-
sage speakers in one short session.
Easily 20 years my junior, Rebekah reviews the Speakers Handbook with our group
— mostly old war horses like me who have fought against (and won, by the way)
Oregon’s last three anti-gay initiatives. She explains how important it is to use the
exact language specially crafted to reach undecided voters.
We learn to say unequal treatment, not discrimination. We learn to call proponents
of Constitutional Amendment 36 our opposition. Am I the only one boiling inside,
thinking up more accurate terms for the folks pushing a same-sex marriage ban?
Rebekah stays on message, modeling how to bring the discussion back to moving
undecided voters to vote no. “Oregonians don’t like amending our Constitution,” she
emphasizes.
This is hard. I’m eager to toss Amendment 36 onto the scrapheap of Ballot
Measures 9, 13, and 9 again — the anti-gay initiatives Oregonians defeated in ‘92, ‘94
and 2000. But inside me simmers a tirade affirming gay, lesbian, bi, trans, and queer
people’s right to equality under the law — we have families we want to protect, too. I
force myself to focus and memorize the official message.
“Now turn your desks around and practice in small groups.” Rebekah tugs her shirt
down and pushes her bangs aside for the hundredth time. This up-to-now attentive
group of queers and our allies breaks into chatter while we scoot our wooden desks
across the shiny linoleum floor.
We visit and laugh a little in this so-far humorless session. Everyone needs to let off
steam. The training material is a lot to absorb. We must talk about health care, inheri-
tance rights, and life-saving medical decisions. We aren’t supposed to say it’s about
denying fairness, democracy, and justice for all, even though is. We can’t mention lov-
ing each other and wanting to marry our lifemates, even though we do.
T
his is politics — bite the bullet and say what needs to be said to win. There’s
no room for anything along the lines of a Dick Cheney f-word comment,
which in the case of people trouncing our very humanity seems appropriate.
We sit in our desks and practice saying the message. Nobody mentions it, but every-
one here knows Measure 36 is mean-spirited, stupid, and totally discriminatory, that
it’s based on fear and perpetuates big fat lies. I ache to protest the queer-hating nar-
row-mindedness of the one-man/one-woman frothing-mouthed hate-mongers, er, I
mean our opposition. When do I get to call our opposition bigoted right-wing doo-doo
heads? I keep that thought to myself and stay on message.
This crowd would normally be much more cheery, jovial, and — you know — gay.
Unfortunately, not much is funny about putting unequal treatment into our
Constitution.
The local No on Constitutional Amendment 36 campaign office is at 1615 Oak St. in Eugene. To learn more,
volunteer, or make a contribution, drop by or call 344-2811. For more info see www.noon36.com,
www.basicrights.org, and www.mytribeeugene.bravehost.com Writer and equality advocate Sally Sheklow teaches
writing at LCC Downtown Center.
6 AUGUST 19, 2004
TO THE EDITOR
lems in unborn fetuses and young children
whose brains are still developing.
Mercury goes through a process called
bio-accumulation. Mercury is first released
by the smokestacks of old power plants and is
then absorbed by the atmosphere and spread
throughout waterways across the county. As
mercury makes its way up the food chain
from plankton, to forage fish and then to
predatory fish, it is unable to break down and
is thus consumed by thousands of people who
eat fish. However, it doesn’t stop there, it then
moves on from childbearing mothers to un-
born fetuses to newborn babies through
breast milk.
The EPA estimates that one in every six
women have unsafe levels of mercury in their
blood, which means over 630,000 babies are
born each year with high levels in their bod-
ies. It is our duty to speak up and prohibit
these levels from rising.
The Bush Administration has proposed to
declassify mercury as nontoxic, which will
allow companies to emit six to seven times
more mercury into our waterways.
It is crucial that we take a stand as a com-
munity, as a state, and as a country to stop
this from happening. It is with great despair
that I urge you to support me in reducing
mercury pollution by writing Sen. Smith to
oppose the administration’s mercury pollu-
tion plan.
Aislynn Blair
Cheshire
LEARNED NAMES
Tom Lininger says: “What kind of a name
is ‘Learned,’ anyway? “
I tell thee truly, it is a Quaker name. Many
of our founding fathers were Quakers; it is a
good and honest estate. It was not uncommon
for them to name their children after attrib-
utes that they aspired to: Prudence. Charity.
Temperance. Humility. Friendship. And a
couple of much longer ones that escape my
memory.
Oh, and by the way, your column rocked!
Laura Minnick
Portland
KEEP HIM HONEST
AVA Eugene, the new home of Anderson
Valley Advertiser?
Having another political player in our
midst reminds me of Johnny Musumucki
who infested Eugene politics back in the year
2001. Johnny M. considered himself a Gang
leader.
Anderson comes to Eugene amid accusa-
tions he is a deceitful muckraker. Musumucki
came to Eugene with a reputation founded
upon a long history of deceit, but curiously
was praised by a segment of Eugene’s politi-
cal power structure as being a savior of local
government.
Sounds like Bruce and Johnny would
make a good team! Johnny could use Bruce’s
advertiser for his next political cartoon pro-
gram, and Bruce could use Johnny for his
money. Or maybe their politics will clash and
we will learn more details about Johnny’s un-
derlying motives for settling into Eugene’s
political scene!
A good down-to-earth investigator could
keep quite busy in Eugene/Springfield, par-
ticularly writing about who’s who, and who’s
used, in the realm of land development.
After reading Anderson’s offbeat
“Oregon, First Impressions,” and some of his
other writings, I’m not certain who or what he
is politically. However, I did appreciate his
statement “I’m not here to swap huggy bears
with anybody”.
Because swapping huggy bears has domi-
nated Eugene’s political scene for so many
years, maybe the perspective of an outsider will
help clear the air. And unlike Boonville, we
have local writers like WINK’s Dinah; EWs
Pittman; and several R-G writers who (if ever
allowed) can help keep the newcomer honest!
John Fluent
Eugene
DEFINING HAMBURGER
I am writing in response to Steve Kyte
from Corvallis (8/5) who wrote that he did
not like Carl’s Jr. using “shock and awe” on
their sign because he said it conjured up war-
like images of “spattered blood and body
parts” that were not pleasant to eat with his
hamburger. Any vegetarian reading that was
likely to notice the irony and wonder what
exactly is the hamburger itself if not spattered
blood and body parts? I think we as conscious
citizens ought to force ourselves to think of
these “unpleasant” images especially if we
choose to participate in violence by buying
these animal products/body parts. See
www.meetyourmeat.com.
The butchers won’t stop slaying unless we
stop paying. If we are truly wanting to live
peacefully and conscientiously, consuming a
vegan diet is the best place to start as a way to
make a meaningful impact (both spiritually
and economically) multiple times a day. Even
more impactful than boycotting Carl’s Jr. —
although you can do that too. Good for you.
Why not?
Carrie Freeman
Eugene
IS U.N. THE ANSWER?
This letter of concern is in response to
Michael Mooney’s comments (8/5). I agree
with your resentment of G.W. Bush. But per-
haps more alarming than his shortcomings is
the public’s failure to recognize the U.N. for
what it truly is. It is sold to the blind-sheep
masses as the only means to world peace.
However, a close look at its creators, policies
and track record reveal these trends/facts:
• The U.N. was the global elite’s offered
“solution” to WWII, where their League of
Nations failed after WWI.
• The U.N. thrives on problem-reaction-
solution scenarios.
• The U.N. & NATO will likely be the
world army which New World Order re-
searchers warn about.
• The U.N. is designed in part to dissolve
countries’ sovereignty, as it seeks one world
government, army and currency (digital).
• The U.N. will soon be taxing the masses
for its “services.”
• The U.N. is indeed a global elite front,
and offers the world nothing except illumi-
nati dominance.
Please Mr. Mooney, don’t take my word
for it. Before supporting a person or thing, in-
vestigate much deeper than the Associated
Press. For much more detail, perhaps see
David Icke’s And the Truth Shall Set You Free.
Kevin Stacey
Eugene