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March 10.2004
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Civil Unions are Not Enough
Full citizenship
must convey
right to marry
V era K atz
I ant som eone who, throughout
my public career, has cham pioned
the dignity o f all people, including
gay men and lesbian women.
Human dignity requires that we
be who we are, and that we be
accepted for who we are. All o f us
should have the right to live in the
The right to marry conveys
fu ll citizenship. At the federal level
alone, there are more than one
thousand benefits that married
couples enjoy, which those in a civil
union could not access.
by M ayor
-M a y o rV e ra Katz
light o f day.
We know that throughout his
tory there have been gay and les
bian couples. This is not som e
thing new.
IMAGINE
ASPIRE
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For more information:
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P o rtla n d
> C o m m u n ity
C o lle q e
W hat is new is that over the past
50 years, we have becom e more
enlightened as a society. O ld barri
ers aro u n d the issu es o f race,
ethnicity, or gender have crumbled.
It was only in 1967, forexam ple, that
the Suprem e C ourt struck down
laws that prohibited interracial m ar
riage. It is now tim e that the barrier
to the right o f two consenting adults
to marry also com es down.
Surveys show m ost Am ericans
support the concept o f civil unions.
Even President Bush im plied re
cently that states should be free to
sanction civil unions.
It is now a w idely held belief that
every adult ought to have the right
to determ ine w ho is the beneficiary
o f their insurance, who has the right
to visit them in a hospital, or who
should be in the position to make
end-of-life decisions.
But ci vil unions are not enough. It
still implies second-class citizenship.
The right to marry conveys full
citizenship. At the federal level
alone, there are more than one thou
sand benefits that m arried couples
enjoy, w hich those in a civil union
Vera Katz is the mayor o f Port
could not access.
land and a long-time activist so
But to talk only o f financial ben cial justice and civil rights.
SAFEWAY
Attention
SENIORS
Safeway Senior
Shuttle Service!
our neighborhood senior citizens
fig h tin g fo r gun a c c o u n ta b ility
A fter y ea rs o f e x e rc isin g a
chokehold on W ashington D.C.
and state capitals throughout the
country, gun m akers and The N a
tional Rifle A ssociation w ho do
their bidding, experienced a rare
loss recently.
The U.S. Senate was forced to
abandon efforts to pass legislation
w hich w ould have protected gun
m anufacturers from law suits by
crim e victims. T hey were forced to
retreat after 12 Republican Sena
tors decided to jo in D em ocrats in
calling for an extension on the as
sault w eapons ban and background
checks on gun purchasers at gun
show s, as a condition o f passing
the gun m aker protection bill.
Instead ofcom prom ising, the gun
lobbyists decided to w ithdraw and
reload, perhaps for next year. Rest
assure they have not given up on
their effort to protect gun makers.
Indeed this is ju st the latest effort to
protect gun m anufacturers from
being sued by victim s o f gun vio
lence, cities and organizations w ho
w ant m anufacturers to be held li
able w hen they negligently distrib
ute guns into the w rong hands.
The N A ACP, Chicago, and other
cities have sued gun m anufactur
ers because o f the death and car
nage that assau lt w eapons and
handguns have caused
in
A m erica’s inner cities. Certainly, if
tobacco com panies can be held li
able for diseases and deaths caused
by sm oking, gun m akers should be
liable for the negligent distribution
o f guns.
W hy then are some elected offi
cials fighting to protect gun makers
instead o f fighting to protect the
lives o f the citizens they represent?
W ell, like m ost legislation in W ash- >
ington, the lobbyists and corpora-»
tions w ho spend the m ost tim e and
m oney in W ashington usually get
w hat they ask for. T h at’s why the>
defeat o f the legislation is such a<
great victory, albeit tem porary.
W e must be as vigilant in fighting i
for gun accountability as the NRA i
and the gun manufacturers are ini
protecting the sale o f assault weap-1
ons. AK47 rifles and M AC 10 ma-i
chine guns continue to kill thou
sands o f inner city youth each year, i
These guns have no place in society.
You can ’t even hunt animals with
them because the bullets would shred
the kill. W e must call and write our
Federal elected officials and let them
know we expect them to protect vot
ers and not gun makers.
Judge Greg Mathis is chairman
o f the Rqinbow PUSH-Excel Board
and a national board member of
the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference.
Green
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efits and rights m isses a larger
point. M arriage is far m ore than a
business arrangem ent. It is a cov
enant o f love, the prom ise o f two
people w ho pledge to rem ain faith
ful to each other for a lifetime.
M arriage is the place where we
create a hom e for children - and
gay men and lesbian w om en have
children and throughout history
have had children. T hose children
have the right to be raised within
the loving confines o f a marriage,
not w ithin an am biguously named
civil union.
In a world w here we worry that
promiscuity is rampant, why would
we not em brace those w ho are
pledging fidelity?
In a w orld racked with instabil
ity, w hy would we not em brace
those w ho seek perm anence?
In a world where we worry about
a lack o f com m itm ent, why would
we not em brace those building a
lifetim e o f devotion?
The action taken by M ultnomah
County com m issioners puts a hu
man face - the face o f our sons and
daughters, our friends and neigh
bors — on the issue o f sam e-gen
der marriage.
T hese faces, beam ing as they
prom ise to love, honor and cher
ish the one person they have cho
sen to spend their lives with, show
that w e have nothing to fear from
thisexpansion o f marriage. Rather,
there is m uch to love.
Gun M akers
Run for Cover
4
TWICE a M o n th 1
seniors age 60 and over
OF EQUAL OR LESSER VALUE
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