Current Headlines

BRO PAC Endorses Sam Adams, Issues Green Light for Sho Dozono

Basic Rights Oregon PAC endorses Sam Adams for Mayor
Issues Green Light Rating for Sho Dozono

On behalf of the Basic Rights Oregon Equality PAC, we are pleased to announce our endorsement of Sam Adams for Mayor of Portland. We have also issued a Green Light for Sho Dozono. When Portland Commissioner Sam Adams and longtime ally Sho Dozono each came seeking the endorsement of our Equality PAC in their campaigns to become the next Mayor of Portland , we knew it would be a competitive process.

Commissioner Sam Adams is a smart and effective elected leader and a well-respected champion of equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Oregonians. Business owner Sho Dozono has an admirable history of advocacy for our community, and plays a significant role in encouraging all Oregon businesses to stand up for equality.

But after carefully weighing our options in this race, our choice was clear. Basic Rights Oregon’s Equality PAC is proud to issue a full endorsement of Sam Adams. We have also issued a Green Light for Sho Dozono.

What our endorsement of Sam Adams means
We endorsed Sam Adams back when he was a candidate for the City Council in 2004, and he has continuously impressed us with his leadership and vision on issues ranging from the arts to public transportation to cultural diversity. And Sam Adams’ candidacy represents an historic opportunity for the LGBT community. Not only is he an effective champion for full equality, but he would be the first gay mayor of one of America’s top 25 cities. Adams is a former member of the Basic Rights Oregon Board, a principle player in our legal strategy as a plaintiff in Adams V. Eddy, and also a co-founder of Portland’s Q Center. As City Commissioner, he championed Portland’s Equal Benefit Ordinance that ensures that employees of city contractors have access to equal health care. The list goes on and on.

Our endorsement of Sam Adams is a reflection of his tremendous leadership in the struggle for equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Oregonians and his strong leadership in the City of Portland. We look forward to working closely with his campaign in the coming weeks and months

What our Green Light rating of Sho Dozono means
Our Green Light rating is an acknowledgment that the LGBT community and our allies have a friend in Sho Dozono. Sho Dozono’s support of LGBT equality dates back to the anti-gay Ballot Measures 9 and 13 in the mid-1990s. As a board member of the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, he helped secure business support for the No on 9 and No on 13 campaigns, and he championed AIDS awareness in the workplace by chairing the CAP AIDS Walk. During the Ballot Measure 36 marriage equality campaign, Dozono opened the doors of his business offices around the state for volunteer activities. More recently, in 2006, Governor Kulongoski recognized Dozono’s leadership by appointing him to the Governor’s Task Force on Equality.