Stonewall Oregon

If Our Nation is Great, Why Do We Discriminate? ENDA Pass It Now!

admin — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 23:07:30 +0000

Making the rounds of viral videos:

For too many LGBT people across our nation being denied a job is a reality. Especially at a time when Jobs, Jobs, Jobs are a priority for many of us.

GLBT Caucus’ First Annual House Party Celebration

admin — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 20:06:52 +0000

You’re invited!

Join us for the Oregon Stonewall Democrats & the GLBT Caucus’ First Annual
House Party Celebration
to benefit the
Democratic Party of Oregon

Join us for the Oregon Stonewall Democrats & the GLBT Caucus’ First Annual House Party Celebration
to benefit the Democratic Party of Oregon
Thursday, September 9, 2010
6:00 pm
at Bill & David’s house in Southwest Portland
Enjoy hosted wine and hors d’oeuvres, great company, & special guests
– and –
help ensure we elect progressive leaders who will stand up for the rights of ALL Oregonians
Suggested donation $50 – $100 (sliding scale)
Space is limited; RSVP soon to farley@dpo.org, 503-239-8695
Address & directions provided upon RSVP

Meet the Host Committee

Bill Dickey & David Wagner Tireless supporters of equality and progressive causes of all kinds
Congressman Jarod Polis Representing Colorado’s 2nd District; the first openly gay Congressman in the U.S.
Representative Tina Kotek Oregon House Majority Whip; the only openly gay member of the OR Legislature
Carl Wolfson KPOJ radio personality and wildly entertaining stand-up comic
Maura Roche The crown jewel of Oregon’s progressive lobbyists
Terry Bean “One of those behind the scenes people you rarely hear about in American politics that gets more done than most elected officials.”-David Mixner
Byron Beck Former reporter for Willamette Week and now Oregon’s Perez Hilton
Don Powell Owner of Powell Phones and trusted by progressive campaigns nationwide
Frank Dixon & Dan Volkmer Democratic Party of Oregon Vice-Chair and partner
Laura Calvo DPO Treasurer, GLBT Caucus Chair, Oregon Stonewall Democrats Chair
Eddy Morales Political consultant and past speaker at Creating Change, DNC events
Cris Land Democratic Party of Oregon GLBT Caucus Treasurer
Jim Freed & Michael Sjoberg GLBT Caucus members with a passion for the repeal of DADT
Michael Miles & Ben Allen GLBT Caucus/Marion County Democrats Vice-Chair and partner
Mike Schryver GLBT Caucus Communications Officer
Carla “KC” Hanson Multnomah County Democrats Chair and GLBT Caucus Secretary

Contributions are not tax deductible for federal income tax purposes. Your contribution will be used in connection with federal elections and is subject to the limitations and prohibitions of the Federal Election Campaign Act.

Prop 8 Stay Ordered By 9th Circuit Court of Appeals

admin — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 19:08:04 +0000

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a stay on Judge Walker’s ruling on Prop 8.

Interesting to note is that the court ordered an expedited hearing schedule and also ordered the appellants to give specific arguments to show why they may have standing in the case.

Some of the legal opinions expressed suggest that the appellants may not have standing in the case as actual defendants since the proponents of Prop 8 have no authority to enforce Prop 8 in California. Since the Governor, Attorney General of California, and the other government agencies charged with enforcing Prop have not appealed Judge Walker’s decision and did not defend themselves in Judge Walker’s federal district courtroom, the appellants will need to give compelling reasons why they have the right to appeal Judge Walker’s decison.

From the LA Times

Loyola Law School professor Richard Hasen said Monday’s order was strategically advantageous for supporters of same-sex marriage, no matter how disappointed many couples may be. If the panel had refused to place a hold on Walker’s ruling, the supporters of Proposition 8 were prepared to seek a stay from the Supreme Court. The court is believed to be divided on the question of gay marriage, with Justice Anthony Kennedy considered a swing vote. A vote on a hold might have pushed the justices into taking an early position on the question.

Here is the court ruling:

Prop8StayOrderCTA9-081610

Prop 8: Weddings Start August 18th

admin — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 20:58:31 +0000

Judge Vaughn Walker ruled to deny a motion to stay marriages in California. Wedding may begin at 5:00pm on Wednesday, August 18th, 2010, unless the Federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals steps in to rule otherwise.

But for now, all the couples who were lined up today at California Clerks Offices around the state to get licenses today will have to wait until August 18th.

In reading Judge Walker’s decision, three things seem to jump off the page.

First, the thoroughness and ease of understanding the legal merits of the ruling. Judge Walker makes reading legal opinions interesting and informative.

Two, the continued apparently weak legal arguments of the Prop 8 supporters.

Three, most impressively are the statements of the Governor and Attorney General of California cited by Judge Walker.

Here is a copy of the actual ruling by Judge Walker:

Stay.order

Prop 8 Unconstitutional!

admin — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 21:02:59 +0000

Prop 8 was found unconstitutional.

Here is the full ruling from Judge Walker:

Prop 8 Ruling FINAL

SCOTUS: Upholds Non-Discrimination Policy And De-Cloaks Anti Gay Petition Signers.

admin — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 07:57:07 +0000

Laura Calvo
Portland OR

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issued a 5 to 4 ruling upholding Hastings College’s non-discrimination policy. The ruling in the case, Christian Legal Society v. Martinez (CLS V. Martinez), may well have been off the radar for many. However,the ruling may well be the crystal ball for all. No one knows for sure the full future implications for sure, but both sides of the issue have been watching from the edge of their seats in anticipation.

The National Center of Lesbian Rights (NCLR) issued the following statement:

Today, in a 5-4 decision authored by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the United States Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the University of California Hastings College of the Law’s policy of requiring all funded student groups to be open to all students. The policy was challenged by the Christian Legal Society (CLS), which argued that the policy violated its right to freedom of association. In Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, the Court held:

“In requiring CLS—in common with all other student organizations—to choose between welcoming all students and forgoing the benefits of official recognition, . . . Hastings did not transgress constitutional limitations. CLS . . . seeks not parity with other organizations, but a preferential exemption from Hastings’ policy.”

The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and Paul Smith of Jenner & Block LLP represent Outlaw, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender student group which intervened to defend Hastings’ non-discrimination policy.

The Court affirmed that the First Amendment does not require public universities to subsidize discrimination: “The First Amendment shields CLS against state prohibition of the organization’s expressive activity, however exclusionary that activity may be. But CLS enjoys no constitutional right to state subvention of its selectivity.”

“Today’s decision affirmed the longstanding doctrine that university non-discrimination policies do not violate free speech when applied in a consistent and even-handed way,” said NCLR Senior Attorney Christopher Stoll. “The Court rejected the dangerous argument that anti-gay groups must be given a special exemption from non-discrimination policies.”

While SCOTUS just ruled on CLS v. Martinez, the ruling comes on the fresh heels, as fresh as of 5 days ago, of a recent federal court jury verdict in Philadelphia regarding the Cradle of Liberty Council of the Boy Scouts versus the City of Philadelphia (AKA The City of Brotherly Love) . Cradles of liberty and cities of brotherly love seem to have clashed in what can only be related to as a boy scout version of Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell complete with a Dan Choi like 18 year old gay Eagle Scout coming out of the closet on television. The gay Eagle Scout had his wings summarily clipped. Ironically the Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that organizations like the Boy Scouts may freely limit (legally discriminate against gays) membership, thereby creating a lawful ban on gays serving in the Boy Scouts. The Cradle of Liberty Boy Scout Council at odds with their national charter and Philly’s non-discrimination policy came to adopt an unofficial Don’t Ask- Don’t Tell like policy. However, the city of Philadelphia ruled that the DADT like policy did not satisfy the city’s non-discrimination policy.

In that case, the city had been leasing a city owned building to the boy scouts for $1 per year since 1928 (see picture to see what $1 per year gets the boy scouts in Philly). When the city adopted its non-discrimination policy, the boy scouts ban on gay scouts and leaders was immediately at odds with the city’s non-discrimination policy. Since the boy scouts held a long standing discriminatory policy against gay scouts, the city could no longer subsidize any organization which did not have an appropriate non-discrimination policy. The city asked the boy scouts to pay the fair market value rent of $200,000 per year rent for the building or vacate the premise if they did not adopt an appropriate non-discrimination policy. The boy scouts sued the city and won in a jury trial held in federal court just 5 days ago. (See Fox News Story) The boy scouts are now asking for $700,000 in legal fees and get to stay in the city owned building for $1 per year. Looks like the outcome of that trial, just 5 days ago, flies directly in the face of the CLS v.Martinez ruling by SCOTUS. It will be interesting to see if the Cradle of Freedom Boy Scout Council adopt a lawful non-discrimination policy so they can continue to benefit from the $200,000 per year tax payer subsidy or move out and pay fair market rent rent like any other “no gays allowed” exclusive private organization. The SCOTUS decision, if applied, says they can still exclude gays, but enjoys no constitutional right to state subvention of its selectivity.

When considering the tired and offensive anti-gay paradigm that gay rights are special rights, the SCOTUS ruling hearkens both a bright line and an irony that can not be overstated.

Quoted directly from the ruling:

“CLS seeks special dispensation from an across the-board open-access requirement designed to further the reasonable educational purposes underpinning the school’s student-organization program.”

“CLS, it bears emphasis, seeks not parity with other organizations, but a preferential exemption from Hastings’ policy”

While the SCOTUS only ruled on the CLS v. Martinez case, it will be interesting to see the legal maneuvering in the Philadelphia case now that the legal landscape has been freshly trimmed and mowed.

The ultimate arbitrators of the law of the land, the U.S. Supreme Court, have signaled that groups of people seeking special exceptions from laws which bar discrimination of gays are seeking special rights. All this time we’ve been told that gays are the ones who are seeking special rights.

The decision may well restore a bit of faith in the United States Bill of Rights and offer a glimpse of hope for the the future. At the same time, the 5 to 4 decision sharply points to extreme importance of a President’s privilege to appoint the justices when vacancies occur. The eagerly watched federal trial of Prop 8 has come to a close in the last week of June too. As we wait again on the edge of our seats for the court’s decision we all know it will be appealed. At the same time, today we see the beginning of Elena Kagan’s senate confirmation hearing as a Supreme Court Justice. Again on the edge of seats, the question is will Kagan maintain the 5 to 4 majority? Considering Justice Sotomayor appears to be comfortably joining the 5 to 4 majority on this case, the nomination of Kagan seems another hopeful sign, at least on this front.

And while we ponder the Kagan’s senate confirmation hearing which started on the same day the SCOTUS ruled on CLS v. Martinez there seems to be another quirky if not wholly ironic twist.

It is widely anticipated that Kagan will get grilled about upholding and enforcing Harvard University’s 1979 non-discrimination policy which barred any employer who discriminated against gays from recruiting on the campus. In 2003 Kagan refused to allow military recruiters on campus due to the discriminatory military prohibition of gays in the military.

The SCOTUS also ruled on another gay rights related case this week. The case of Doe v. Reed was decided by an 8 to 1 vote with the Chief Justice issuing the opinion of the court. As many will recall, we saw Washington state’s Referendum 71 uphold it’s domestic partnership law at the the ballot box at the same time we saw Maine’s Question 1 pass at the polls on the other side of the country taking away the freedom to marry in Maine. The Washington referendum was put on the ballot by citizen petition. The No on 71 proponents gathered over 137,000 petition signatures to try to overturn Washington’s domestic partnership law. The Yes on 71 campaign filed a public records request with the Washington Secretary of State to make public the names of all 137,000+ persons who signed the petition putting the referendum on the ballot. As one would expect the Yes on 71 campaign filed suit and won an injunction to prevent releasing the names on the petition. The case was heard by SCOTUS and the 8 to 1 ruling allows the release of the names of the people who signed the anti gay petition which would have repealed the state’s domestic partnership law.

It would certainly be interesting to go back to 2004 and publish the names and addresses of some of the anti gay initiative petitions filed in Oregon over the years.

Pride Event to Support Oregon House Democrats

admin — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 17:40:57 +0000

Greetings,

GLBTQ Pride season is almost here!

Bill Dickey, Carl Wolfson & Tom Barreto

Invite you to a special fundraising event with advocates and leaders for the GLBTQ Community

Rep. Mary Nolan
House Majority Leader

Rep. Tina Kotek
House Majority Whip

Tuesday, June 15
6:00 to 8:00 PM

To support the Oregon House Democrats

23Hoyt
529 NW 23rd Avenue, Portland

To RSVP Contact Andy Darkins at
503-239-8623 or andy@futurepac.org

About the Hosts…

Carl Wolfson is the host of KPOJ’s Carl and Christine Show, a Democratic activist and, according to Bill Dickey, “one of the most knowledgeable guys on the radio — and funny as hell.”

Bill Dickey has spent 20 years in the bar business and the last 15 years in the printing business as co-owner of Witham & Dickey, one of Portland’s premier print shops. Bill knows the dirt on everyone and can print it!

Tom Barreto is the Eye Doctor to the stars and Eye Candy for everyone else. Dr. Barreto owns Eyes on Broadway and has been a community leader for 25 years.

Rep. Mary Nolan was Basic Rights Oregon’s 2007 Equality Champion and serves as the Oregon House Majority Leader.

Rep. Tina Kotek, Portland’s very own Rachel Maddow, is the only openly gay member of the Oregon House and was instrumental in passing the Oregon Equality Act. Tina is the Majority Whip in the Oregon House.

If that is not enough there is more…….

Have you heard about Claudia Kyle? Claudia is a candidate running for House Representative in House District 19 and she openly identifies as lesbian. She’s running a tough smart campaign and needs our support. Claudia has been endorsed by the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Basic Rights PAC.Claudia is in Minnesota this evening at one of the most intense candidate training programs in the country which helps to elect LGBTQ candidates. However, she’ll be at this great event and you’ll have an opportunity to meet her.

Please RSVP today!

To RSVP Contact Andy Darkins at
503-239-8623 or andy@futurepac.org

Stand with the President, Repeal DADT

admin — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 22:00:59 +0000

Your Voice Matters

Laura Calvo — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 02:52:00 +0000

A message from Gov. Tim Kaine

Chair, Democratic National Committee

Today marks the beginning of Pride Month — a time not just to remember the brave Americans who stood up to hate and discrimination at the Stonewall Inn 41 years ago, but a time to stand with those who are committed to that same fight today.

LGBT Americans have helped build the Democratic Party into what it is today. And, as a leader of the party, I’m proud of our role in the struggle for equality.

That’s why it’s important to me — and to the future of this party — that we hear from you.

Take a moment to share your thoughts with us this Pride Month.

At times the pace of progress has not been as fast as some — myself included — would like. And, while equality cannot be achieved overnight, the President and our Democratic leaders in Congress have made important strides over the past 16 months to address barriers that LGBT Americans face.

– Last year, we passed the Matthew Shepherd & James Byrd, Jr., Federal Hate Crimes Act — which expanded the definition of hate crimes to include sexual orientation and gender identity and became the first federal law to provide protections for transgender Americans.

– In April, the President issued a directive, making critical changes to federal regulations and allowing gay and lesbian Americans to make medical decisions on behalf of their partners.

– And now we are on the verge of living up to President Obama’s pledge to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” The House just passed historic legislation to end this discriminatory policy, and the full Senate is getting ready to vote in the coming months.

But we are not satisfied. And we are not finished.

We must remain committed to making greater strides toward the fundamental American principle of equality.

Make your voice heard:

http://my.barackobama.com/PrideMonthVoices

Thanks, and happy Pride Month,

Governor Tim Kaine
Chairman

Paid for by Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National Committee — 430 South Capitol Street SE, Washington, D.C. 20003. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

Portland Latino Gay Pride Festival

admin — Sun, 30 May 2010 08:49:06 +0000

Events run from June 2nd through June 6th.

Click HERE for details and schedule.

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