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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2018
Astoria declares
June Pride Month
Proclamation a
first for the city
By KATIE
FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
Astoria Pride, a week-
long celebration honoring the
LGBTQ community, kicked
off Saturday but a proclama-
tion Mayor Arline LaMear
read at a meeting Monday
night marked the first time city
leaders have officially recog-
nized Pride Month in June.
The proclamation noted
that while there have been
advancements toward equal
treatment, “there continues to
be some opposition against
people from this community
and around the world mak-
ing it important for cities like
Astoria to stand up and show
support for our residents who
are affected.”
In May, Astoria Pride
committee members viewed
the City Council’s decision
to allow the Astoria Column
to be lit for Pride Week — an
exception to a city policy that
the Column be lit for causes
only twice a year — as an
important act of solidarity.
The proclamation is
another such moment, they
said Monday.
“I think it’s recognition
that we’ve arrived,” said
Tessa Scheller. “This is part
of the visibility that we’ve
sought for a long time. For
people like myself and (Asto-
ria Pride chairman Marco
Davis), we grew up in an era
where we were kept invisible,
where we were kept in clos-
ets. No one was out. So for
now to be here with young
people, with the entire city
celebrating with us, it’s just
fantastic.”
Davis, a native Astorian,
agreed. “We don’t have to feel
like we’re apologizing for our
existence,” he said, “and it
makes it a little easier to be a
part of our community in the
way we’d like to be.”
In Astoria, the first Pride
Week was held in 2016 and
is now an annual celebration.
It is organized by the Lower
Columbia Q Center.
LaMear said she decided
to include the proclamation
after Astoria Pride Commit-
tee member Cameron Toman
asked her if she would con-
sider it.
“Many of them have been
through some pretty harrow-
ing times, with threats and
harassment and that kind of
thing,” LaMear said. “I love
the fact that this is an inclu-
sive city. … I think it’s a really
important step forward to
make a proclamation and also
to have the Column lit.”
City Councilor Zetty Nem-
lowill said it felt good “to be
in a room with a friend, Marco
Davis, and lots of other people
I know throughout the com-
munity who are truly happy
that the city is embracing
everyone.”
“Marco and I went to a
high school that didn’t seem
so inclusive as our culture and
our city does now,” she told
LaMear. “I really appreciate
you reading the proclamation
and I am proud to live in such
an inclusive city.”
Colorado cake decision likely won’t
settle same-sex bias case in Oregon
Sweet Cakes
owners were
fined in Oregon
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
A U.S. Supreme Court rul-
ing Monday in favor of a Col-
orado baker who refused to
sell a custom wedding cake
to a gay couple because of his
religious beliefs is unlikely to
resolve a similar case that has
been appealed to the Oregon
Supreme Court.
The opinion by Justice
Anthony Kennedy deter-
mined that members of the
Colorado Civil Rights Com-
mission showed anti-religious
bias toward Jack Phillips,
owner of Masterpiece Cake-
shop, in its enforcement of
anti-discrimination laws.
But the court’s deci-
sion stopped short of resolv-
ing whether merchants who
have religious objections to
gay marriage can refuse com-
mercial services to same-sex
couples.
“Importantly, the Supreme
Court today protected the core
principles of our nondiscrimi-
nation laws, expressly recog-
nizing that states can seek to
prevent the harms of discrim-
ination in the marketplace,
including against LGBT peo-
ple,” said Diane Goodwin in
a joint statement from Basic
Rights Oregon and the ACLU
of Oregon. “The court did
WANTED
Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA
not give businesses the broad
right to discriminate.”
The Supreme Court ruled
7-2 in favor of Phillips’ argu-
ment that Colorado civil rights
commissioners made state-
ments that showed anti-reli-
gious bias. Phillips declined
to sell a custom-made cake to
Charlie Craig and Dave Mul-
lins for the couple’s commit-
ment ceremony. The Supreme
Court opinion departed from
Justice Kennedy’s history of
supporting gay rights, includ-
ing the court’s 2015 rul-
ing legalizing gay marriage
nationwide.
At the time that Phil-
lips refused to sell the cake
to Craig and Mullins in July
2012, same-sex marriage was
not yet legal in Colorado.
The Oregon Court of
Appeals in December upheld
a $135,000 fine by the Ore-
gon Bureau of Labor and
Industries against Melissa and
Aaron Klein, owners of Gresh-
am’s Sweet Cakes by Melissa,
for refusing to sell a wedding
cake to lesbian couple Rachel
and Laurel Bowman-Cryer in
2013.
The Kleins have sought
review of their case by the
Oregon Supreme Court, which
is still under consideration.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s
ruling is unlikely to influence
the outcome of the Sweet
Cakes case because it applied
narrowly to the details of
the Colorado case, said Paul
Thompson, an attorney for
the couple.
“I believe the Colorado
case was more Justice Ken-
nedy saying that the Colorado
Civil Rights Commission was
not neutral and was more
animus against the baker,”
Thompson said.
Attorney Adam Gustafson,
who, along with national reli-
gious law firm First Lib-
erty Institute, represents
the Kleins, disagreed with
Thompson’s analysis.
“The Oregon Bureau of
Labor and Industries deci-
sion against the Kleins was
tainted by the same anti-re-
ligious bias that caused the
U.S. Supreme Court to rule
for Masterpiece Cakeshop on
free exercise grounds,” Gus-
tafson said.
Gustafson was referencing
Facebook posts by Oregon
Labor Commissioner Brad
Avakian. Court documents
show that Avakian posted a
link to a KGW article about
the case and wrote: “Every-
one has a right to their reli-
gious beliefs, but that doesn’t
mean they can disobey laws
that are already in place.”
Jim Oleske, a professor at
Lewis & Clark Law School
who filed a friend-of-the-
court brief in the case, said
the kind of bias the Kleins
are alleging is different from
the antireligious statements
by members of the Colorado
civil rights commissioners
and would have a higher stan-
dard of proof.
Please join us in a
Celebration of
Dale Larson’s life
Saturday, June 9, 2018 at the
Clatsop County Fair Grounds
at 11:00 am
We will have a coned off area for those who want to bring their Ford Trucks. We
also ask of those who wish to, please bring a written memory or thought of Dale
to be gathered and shared with family and friends in the days ahead. We have
heard from so many of you and find this to be comforting. He was a humble,
kind and generous man that will live on in our hearts for years to come.
Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500
Local
advantage
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Astoria Public Library
Warrenton Community Library
Seaside Public Library
Hilda Lahti Elementary
Jewell School
Ask about free library cards for kids!
Medicare Special
2A/1A STATE CHAMPIONS Enrollment Event
Show your support by putting a message to the state champs
in The Daily Astorian’s Special congratulation page.
Your 3-line message to
tbe Loggers championship
team and your business name
Deadline: June 7th
Runs: June 8th
in Daily Astorian
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Contact Holly Larkins •971-704-1712
hlarkins@dailyastorian.com
Those losing their FamilyCare Medicare Advantage Plan
This will be a review of Medicare supplement insurance options to replace
your FamilyCare Medicare Advantage Plan that is being cancelled July 1, 2018.
SHIBA counselors and local agents will be preset to help you.
MEDICARE SPECIAL ENROLLMENT EVENTS
June 6th 2-3:30 CMH Coho Room
2021 Marine Drive, Astoria, OR 97103
June 13th 2-3:30 Bob Chisholm Center, Seaside
1225 Avenue A, Seaside, OR 97138
June 20th 2-3:30 CMH Coho Room
2021 Marine Drive, Astoria, OR 97103
July 2nd 2-3:30 CMH Coho Room
2021 Marine Drive, Astoria, OR 97103
Registration preferred, call 503-861-4200, drop ins welcome.