Oregon Gov. Calls For Anti-Homophobia Law

[davidinalameda]

http://www.365gay.com/newscon05/01/011105oregon.htm

Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski is calling for gay civil rights legislation to outlaw discrimination against gays and lesbians.

In his "state-of-the-state" address to a joint session of the Legislature Monday Kulongoski said he would submit a bill this year to "defend social justice, tolerance and diversity."

The speech marked the opening of the 2005 session of the Legislature.



good for him

[WildClarySage]

1. The more some states seem to regress

there are some state sthat embrace civil rights progrss, which gives me hope.

[davidinalameda]

2. amen to that one

being a WV native, I'm appalled to see the turn the state has taken recently

[Lydia Leftcoast]

3. Oregon's a real mixed bag

They just passed a "defense of marriage" initiative, but I think the Dems gained strength in the legislature, so I think Kulongoski may be trying to do an end run around the bigots in the electorate.

[Robert Oak]

11. clearly, dems swept OR & at least to get civil unions going

or maybe to stop the new "it's ok to hate, abuse and discriminate
against homosexuals" philosophy that is sweeping the nation.

[AllegroRondo]

4. Illinois just passed a law yesterday

making it illegal to discriminate against gays. So there is progress being made.

[beam me up scottie]

5. I've been contemplating moving west and the more I hear

about it, the more I'm considering moving to Oregon.

Any suggestions from natives?

[TahitiNut]

6. Don't let 'em think you're from California.

:evilgrin: Stay in the Willamette Valley, I-5 corridor, or generally on the west side of the state. Portland, Eugene, or Ashland are extraordinary communities - diverse and energetic. Develop a fondness for rain and green scenery.

(No, I'm neither a native nor a resident - just a frequent visitor and one who likes and respects Oregon.)

[beam me up scottie]

16. I LOVE green scenery and don't mind rain. I currently live in Kentucky

and am ready to get the HELL out of here.

[classof56]

I'm not a native myself, though married to and mother of native Oregonians

I've been here since 1968, have lived in several different areas in the state and it's all great. Some places better than others, but as long as I'm living in Oregon I'm a happy camper. We have saved our beaches for public use, a big plus for a coastal state. Many of us work hard to assure environmental and land use laws are passed and followed. We have no sales tax and we don't have to pump our own gas (a big plus for this "old" lady!). I hear we have one of the highest unemployment and hunger rates in the nation, but we also have socially-conscious citizens who help those who need it. Not sure what happened on the "one-man-one-woman marriage measure" that passed in November, but the governor's commitment to ensuring gay rights is a positive step in the right direction. Plus the final outcome of the anti-gay marriage issue is now in the hands of our Supreme Court as to its constitutionality, so the book's not closed on that one.

I highly recommend Oregon as a place to live, work and play. It's not all perfect, but number one in my book. You are welcome here!

Class of 56

[beam me up scottie]

19. Thank you! I come from Vermont which is also an extremely

environmentally conscious state. It is horrible to see what Kentucky and so many other states have done to Mother Nature in the name of greed.
I love Vermont but the northern winters are just too brutal.

[classof56]

20. I was in Vermont a few years ago.

Attended a conference in Burlington. A lovely area, very rural (did I hear that Vermont is the most rural state in the nation?) and peaceful. That was in 1990. One of our excursions was to a park on Lake Champlain. Beautiful! This was early September, so I just missed "The Colors". You'll love Oregon. We have it all here: forests, deciduous tree stands that present some fall gorgeous colors that have been compared to the northeast, an amazing coastline, desert areas that'll knock your socks off, and mountain ranges that are simply awesome. Then there are the lakes, rivers, streams,not to mention the incomparably spectacular Columbia Gorge...well, when you get here, plan to set aside the time to explore every corner of our state. You won't be sorry! And no, I don't work for the tourist bureau. Have written some articles about various places in Oregon, though. Not hard--they almost write themselves!

Should also mention that our winters are most tolerable! Just fyi...

:) I welcome you in advance!

[beam me up scottie]

22. Quit it! You'll have me hitchhiking out there before the day's over!

Thanks again. I do believe Vermont was at the time the most rural state but I'm not sure of it's status now. One of the reasons I left was because it seemed like too many people were living there.
When I was a kid, I could ride my horse for miles without seeing another person or an automobile. I love nature and I want to live somewhere where I can get lost on the weekends (but I'll have wonderful people like you for neighbors)

[classof56]

27. Hate to sound like a broken record, but you're gonna love Oregon!

You can get lost on weekends in so many places, it's hard to keep track. As for wonderful people like me--thank you for saying that. There are lots of us tree huggers out this way and we welcome you with open arms!

Class of 56

[MarianJack]

8. I Have Nothing but respect for Oregon...

...but I always have to take the opportunity to plug my state. So, how about MAINE?

[beam me up scottie]

15. Maine is great but expensive. I'm originally from Vermont

and have a brother who lived in Portland. Maine is beautiful and rugged and I always recommend it to friends going on vacation!

[MarianJack]

28. VACATIONLAND!

I guess the expense never occurred to me. As a native of the Philadelphia area, I've found everything to be much LESS pricey here than where I come from.

When we moved here almost 3 years ago, we got a very positive sticker shock both over the realestate prices and the grocery prices. This was, however, compared to the Philly suburbs.

BTW, we love Vermont. We stopped once at a rest stop (I think on rte. 3 or 9) with a boardwalk looking out on the mountains and lost our breaths at the beauty!

[Robert Oak]

12. Eugene, plus

Look on any precinct by precinct or county by county "blue versus
red" 2004 voting map. Pretty much all of the cool places in OR
went blue. Cool as in beautiful, moderate weather and so on.

[beam me up scottie]

21. I made a mistake when I moved to the south. I knew that there

were progressive free-thinkers in all states and I thought I could find kinfolk in a college town. I found some, and they are some of the bravest people I've ever met. Dissent is not tolerated, it is viewed by some as treason. Sometimes at night when I go home, I keep thinking the villagers will come up the hill for me with torches.
I will do more thorough research next time.
So far I'm really liking Oregon.

[merwin]

7. Bush to Rove: Kulongoski is a homo!

[classof56]

9. Me to Rove: Shut your freakin' lying mouth!

I'm very proud of our governor for many reasons. One has to do with the fact that he attends and speaks at funeral services for all our troops killed in Iraq. Unfortunately, there have been far too many of those, thanks to Bush and Rove and all their evil compatriots.

Class of 56

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Oreegone]

13. Great Place To Live

Western Oregon where you can join so many activists and old hippies for creating change in government and environment you could work all day, every day doing just that. But don't let that fool you. Once you head out into eastern part of the state all bets are off, much of it is as red as red can be. I agree about the Willamette Valley Eugene and North with the exception of Ashland. Depends on what you do for a living whether you can make any money.

[beam me up scottie]

17. At this point, I don't care about money. I would rather sleep

on a park bench in a blue state than live in a mansion in a red one.
(it's the company one keeps)

[pdxmike]

14. Oregon is a funny place

My wife and I moved here in '90, and we love it. Portland is the most liberal medium to large sized city in the country. Salem and Eugene are also liberal. But when you leave the I-5 corridor, man, you might as well be in Utah. Serious wing-nut action.
I grew up in San Diego and never before lived in a place where there is a lot of rain. I was worried that I wouldn't be handle the winter gloom. But it's actually not that bad( we've had a nice run of sunny weather lately).
But I have to say, the summers up here are spectacular- even better than San Diego. From July through maybe mid-October it almost never rains. Dry, sunny and warm, with low humidity. Can't be beat.

WWI- Kongo's is a useless fool. The Democrats in Salem have little respect for him as they consider him to be a spineless wimp with no real vision.

[ConservativeDemocrat]

26. No real vision...

Kongo's is a useless fool. The Democrats in Salem have little respect for him as they consider him to be a spineless wimp with no real vision.

No vision. Which is why he's calling for an anti-homophobia law and civil unions...

Sure.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

p.s. I don't know much about "The Democrats in Salem", but the Democrats in leadership positions around the state consider Kulongoski to be an effective, albeit tightfisted, governor. Not much unlike the state's voters, actually.

[PleadTheFirst]

18. Great job, Ted!

Why am I shocked these days whenever I read about someone doing the right thing?

Thanks, Gov. Kulongoski, for making a big step towards showing the rest of the country that everyone deserves equal rights and equal protection under the law.

:thumbsup:

[UCLA Dem]

23. sweet. go OR and IL!

we will not stand for discrimination and intolerance. we will pull the south and midwest kicking and screaming (as is usually the case with such social progression) into the 21st century.

[AliciaKeyedUp]

24. The headline is wrong

It's not anti-homophobia. It's anti-discrimination. Homophobia is protected by the Constitution, discrimination is not.

[JohnOneillsMemory]

25. Important. No thought crimes, please. Just sanction ACTIONS. n/t

[HuckleB]

29. Finally something positive in Oregon.