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Imagine the power of a movement for justice that is united across identity. Where advocates for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) justice work side by side in the struggle for immigrant rights and for racial and economic justice…

MEDIA RELEASE Contact: Thomas Wheatley

503-222-6151 x103 (w)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 503-888-4988 (c)

January 8, 2010 Thomas@basicrights.org

critical services for gay community face major cutbacks

New report documents devastating impact for gay and transgender Oregonians if Measures 66 and 67 fail

(PORTLAND, oregon – FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2010) – As ballots begin arriving in mailboxes around the state, Basic Rights Oregon today distributed a new report documenting the impact of budget cuts expected if Measures 66 and 67 fail.

According to the study, released by the Williams Institute at UCLA, tens of thousands of lesbian, gay and bisexual Oregonians face severe cuts to critical services like HIV treatment and prevention, civil rights enforcement, mental health programs, education and public safety if Oregon voters do not pass Measures 66 and 67 in the January election.

In a dramatic illustration of the impact of failing to pass Measures 66 and 67, the Oregon Department of Human Services predicts that cuts to HIV testing and treatment program could result in 35 additional Oregon deaths.

“For many gay and transgender Oregonians who will lose critical services, this is literally a life or death election,” said Jeana Frazzini, executive director of Basic Rights Oregon. She added, “We can’t afford to lose. We have to vote Yes on Measures 66 and 67.”

Highlights of the report include an analysis of the American Community Survey and other sources indicating that 12,000 poor and low-income LGBT Oregonians rely on public services that face cuts.

“It is critical that Oregonians vote yes on Measures 66 and 67,” said Michael Kaplan, executive director of Cascade AIDS Project. “Should these measures fail, we will be looking at drastic cuts to a broad net of services that our communities and our clients rely on.”

Basic Rights Oregon is the state’s leading advocacy organization working to ensure that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Oregonians experience equality. The Williams Institute at UCLA is the nation’s leading research organization studying sexual orientation law and public policy.

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The Real Facts About Carol Marie Leuthold’s Dairy
This weekend, many Oregonians received a letter that claimed to be from an Oregon dairy farmer opposing Measures 66 & 67. This letter was both factually inaccurate and deeply misleading.

Read More

Tickets are $10 all pre-event ticket buyers will be entered to win a Marriott/The Original New Year’s Eve package!

Tickets will be available at these locations:

Funny Bone

Just Out

The Original

Basic Rights Oregon office

In the days leading up to my departure for Maine, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the people I’d meet here. I’m no stranger to ballot campaigns; we’ve had our share of those in Oregon. I rode on Tuesday to a suburb outside of Portland, Maine with another volunteer staff to meet with nine high school students about their interest to get involved with the No On 1 campaign. Our goal was to start a “Friends and Family” Volunteer Recruitment Phone Bank with them on the spot, and to organize a few times when they and their friends could volunteer together, canvassing door-to-door the weekend before Election Day.

We rolled up to their neighborhood Starbucks at about 3 o’clock and met the students inside. They’d come straight after school, and had heard about the campaign at an all-ages concert, where they’d been watching their favorite local band. Three of the youth were band members! A few of them had worn their No On 1 buttons to school that day, and mentioned that they’d started conversations with other students about the issue, and what it meant to them.

After introducing ourselves and briefly describing the state of the campaign, we read through a script and role-played it, making sure to arm the students with the facts needed to express to their friends and family members how much this means to them and why we need their help in the last two weeks of the campaign. When we asked the students to get out their mobile phones and start calling to sign their friends up for volunteer shifts with the campaign, they excelled at the task! After about a half hour, the students made a plan to gather together with their newly signed up volunteers for a morning canvass on Halloween, knocking on doors to get out the vote.

None of the nine students were affiliated with the Gay Straight Alliance at their school, (and none mentioned that they identified as LGBT,) but all shared a sense that whoever you are and whomever you love, couples deserve to be recognized equally under the law.

We are 11 days away from the November Election. The Portland, Maine office is humming with volunteer activity. Every day, volunteers drop off food provisions for all the other volunteers. The first day we had homemade chili, yesterday egg salad sandwiches, and this morning someone brought in some carrots from their own yard. Mainers are chipping in any way they can.

My time has been spent in the office working in the communications department while Travis Prinslow and Meleanie Altaras have been adopted into the Data and Campus Outreach departments. We work 9 to 9, when we’re lucky and have been working on a variety of projects. From confirming volunteers, to getting people to vote early and in person volunteer recruitment. The amount of work that goes into a campaign is astounding. You walk into any office and you hear typing, people on the phone, stapling, paper shuffling and people being directed. It’s a small preview of what Oregon will be dealing with soon enough. However, Oregon’s fight will be much larger– Maine’s population is a third the size of Oregon’s. I’m grateful that Basic Rights Oregon is starting early and getting all our ducks in a row before we enter our own fight.

Maine’s latest YouTube celebrity goes by the name of Phillip Spooner. Mr. Spooner is 85 years old, a WWII vet, and a lifelong republican—he is also in favor of marriage equality. Click here to watch his testimony in April during the Marriage hearings. His video has officially gone viral, with close to 500,000 views. Mainers are excited to have someone like Mr. Spooner speaking up for equality, so much so that he has unofficially become the face of the campaign. Click here to watch a segment of Mr. Spooner being interviewed about his views on Marriage Equality.

The opposition is using children to scare voters into voting against equality. They are running ads claiming that “gay sex education” will be taught in schools. Fortunately, the Maine campaign has been very diligent about countering their ads and has caused a stir by featuring a French catholic woman who supports her son’s right to get married. Yolande Dumont is also a Maine celebrity and has inspired Catholics and other religious denominations to come out and support the No on 1 campaign. Of course the Catholic DIoces is bankrolling the opposition’s campaign along with National Organization marriage and Shubert Flint of prop 8 fame. When Yolande first came on the airwaves the Catholic Diocese was up in arms and started to spend resources countering Yolande’s message.

This is exciting because the opposition is now on the defensive. Not only do they have to counter multiple legislators, and educators on the whole “Teaching gay in Schools” issue, now they have to make sure that other fair minded Catholics reject Yolande’s message. If the No on 1 Campaign wins on Election Day it will be a model on how to defeat the oppositions’ vitriol and lies.

Although, Maine is literally the farthest place from Oregon in the country, their efforts will have a huge impact on our work. They need all the help they can get. If you have not donated to the NO on 1 campaign you can do so by clicking here. If you cannot afford a donation but have some extra time on your hands you can phone bank from Oregon with their Call for Equality Program sign up here.

I’m going to get back to work now but feel free to shoot me an email if you have any questions about getting involved in the Maine campaign.

In solidarity,

Alejandro Juarez
Communications Coordinator
Basic Rights Oregon
(503) 222-6151 x 105
alejandro@basicrights.org

The play is called Stop Kiss and the description is as follows:This alternately tender and tense love story highlights the power of love to withstand the demons of hate and prejudice. After a dangerous public “outing,” the deepening friendship between two women grows into a courageous declaration of love…

The benefit performance will be held on October 20, at 7:30 at Pentacle Theater, which is set in a lovely woodland just west of Salem. The performances there are usually excellent. The cost is $20 per ticket. Proceeds benefit the Polk County Democrats.

If anyone is interested in buying tickets, they can contact Lisanne Pearcy at 503-838-2500.

COMMUNITY VIGIL FOR COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM

VIGILIA COMUNITARIA PARA UNA REFORMA COMPRESIVA DE LAS LEYES DE INMIGRACIÓN

Friday, October 23, 2009

viernes 23 octubre de 2009

7:30 to 8:30 pm.
St. Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church

1704 NE 43rd Ave., Portland

This bilingual community service will include songs, prayers, stories, and Scripture reflections, followed by a candlelight procession to the Hollywood MAX station.

Este servicio comunitario bilingüe incluirá cantos, oraciones, comentarios y reflexiones Bíblicas. Después iremos en procesion para la Estación de MAX para una vigilia con velas.

For more information please contact:

Deacon Marla McGarry-Lawrence

St. Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church

1704 NE 43rd Ave.

Portland, OR 97213-1402

503-284-7141 ext. 314

CAUSA (Oregon’s Immigrant Rights Coalition), the largest Latin@ civil and human rights and advocacy organization in the Pacific Northwest

Already six states embrace the freedom to marry. Will Oregon be next? How can we win marriage for same-sex couples in Oregon, and how long will it take?

Evan Wolfson is founder and Executive Director of Freedom to Marry, a national gay and non-gay partnership working to win marriage equality across the country. In 2004 TIME magazine named Wolfson one of the “100 most influential people in the world.” Wolfson is the author of “Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality and Gay People’s Right to Marry”. He wrote the book on marriage, literally.

Monday, November 2

6:00 PM
SEIU Local 49
NOTE – NEW LOCATION! This event will now be at Portland State University – Smith Memorial Student Union in the Vanport Room (#338).
Click here to RSVP

Thanks to co-sponsors PFLAG State Council, Community of Welcoming Congregations, Rural Organizing Project, Equity Foundation and APLG/Asian Pacific Islander Pride of Portland.

Tuesday, November 3

7:00 p.m.
Old Stone Church in Bend
157 NW Franklin Ave.

Light refreshments will be served. Click here to RSVP

Thank you to the following co-sponsors: Unitarian Universalists Fellowship of Central Oregon, ACLU of Oregon, Basic Rights Oregon Education Fund, Human Dignity Advocates of Crook County, GLBTbend.com, PFLAG Central Oregon, Human Dignity Coalition & Spice Trader Records

Wednesday, November 4

6:00pm
Eugene Public Library
100 W 10th Ave
Eugene, OR 97401

Sponsored solely by the Eugene Public Library