W
hen it comes to gay rights,
Oregon state Sen. Frank
Morse, a vocally Christian
Republican, doesn’t toe
the party line. Instead he
bases his actions in the Legislature on per-
sonal experience, his desire to represent his
constituents and his own interpretation of
the Bible and its teachings. During the 2005
legislative session he co-sponsored SB 1000
to legalize civil unions and stepped right
into the crossfire.
Morse admits that before he ran for of-
fice he had “tendencies of intolerance”
around the issue of homosexuality. “I’ve
held biases with respect to homosexuality
that on deeper reflection, I don’t think were
valid,” he said.
Convictions that come out of that kind of
reflection have helped Morse earn the re-
spect of his peers and colleagues, whether or
not they agree with him on all the issues.
“People have great confidence in Sen.
Morse’s integrity,” said Patty Evans, pastor
of Morse’s church, First Christian Church in
Albany. “It comes from a place of deep
faith, so even those who disagree with him
respect him.”
Republican state Sen. Jason Atkinson,
who recently announced his candidacy for
governor, didn’t vote for SB 1000 but has a
great deal of respect for Morse’s ability to
build bipartisan consensus. “He’s a good
Sen. Frank Morse
Corvallis’ maverick Republican
BY AARON BURKHALTER
gion and protected status for sexual orienta-
tion.”
Some of Morse’s constituents, especially
Christians for whom the Bible is central
when discussing homosexuality, were also
critical of his decision to support the bill.
“The state gave us a chance to vote for our
convictions and we did,” said John
Breitmeier, senior pastor at the South
Albany Community Church, who opposes
civil unions. “My faith community believes
there is a distinction between marriage and
homosexuality. One is affirmed by God and
another isn’t.”
But Morse’s convictions are also bibli-
cally rooted. “When the opposition came out
so strong and the attacks on me occurred
from, by and large, the faith community … I
felt very comfortable in coming forward
with my own faith,” Morse said.
It became a battle of conflicting Christian
views and for Morse, the belief in love and
acceptance is vital to Christianity. And while
many openly opposed his stance, Morse has
found others who were more willing to look
at the issue in a different light. “I respect him
for his courage to let it be known where he
stands,” said Dick Busic, a friend and for-
mer pastor to the Morse family. “My under-
standing is this comes from his understand-
ing that God’s love is for everyone.”
This isn’t the first time Morse has taken a
sometimes unexpected stand on controver-
sial social issues: When he ran for the Senate
‘When the opposition came out so strong and the attacks on me occurred from, by and large, the faith community . . .
I felt very comfortable in coming forward with my own faith.’ — Oregon State Sen. Frank Morse
friend of mine, and a fantastic hardworking senator,” Atkinson said. “His appeal to peo-
ple crosses all kinds of political issues.”
But when Morse sponsored SB 1000 after voters overwhelmingly passed Measure
36 amending the Oregon Constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and
a woman, many of his constituents, supporters and other Republicans questioned his ac-
tions.
In May 2005, Randy Killen, chair of the Benton County Republican Central
Committee, wrote a letter that was later posted on the Benton GOP website urging
Morse to withdraw his support for SB 1000. “The voters who supported Measure 36 be-
lieved that they were preserving the marriage relationship, not just the name,” Killen
wrote in the letter. “In our view, SB 1000 is in violation of the state Constitution as
amended by Measure 36. We also see a direct conflict between protected status for reli-
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in 2002 he supported civil rights for gays based on his belief that sexual orientation is
determined at birth, and he also supports abortion rights. In a statement he mailed to his
constituents prior to running, Morse wrote, “we are called to treat one another with dig-
nity, respect and love.”
It was during the process of clarifying his own views for himself as he prepared to
run for the state Senate that the issues surrounding civil rights for gays really came home
for him. Morse’s wife, Laura, called her sister and read her the statement over the phone
— for years, they had thought that maybe Morse’s nephew (Laura’s sister’s son) was
gay. Laura’s sister “broke down and was emotionally overcome,” Morse said.
“Why was that never shared?” Morse asked, rhetorically. Why, in a loving and sup-
portive family, hadn’t they openly discussed these issues? “It was, I believe a fear that
Bob would not be accepted,” Morse said.