Two Republican state legislators have filed a proposed initiative with the state to repeal a law banning discrimination against gays in work and housing. Rep. Kim Thatcher, R-Keizer, and Sen. Gary George, R-McMinnville, along with Victor Vityukov of Salem, are chief petitioners for the initiative filed Monday with the secretary of state’s office. Two other Republican legislators - Sal Esquivel of Medford and Sen. Fred Girod of Stayton - filed a proposed initiative Friday to repeal Oregon’s new domestic partnership law, which gives same-sex couples nearly all state benefits of marriage. The law banning discrimination against gays in work, housing and public places went into effect Jan. 1. Vityukov said he wants to repeal the law because gay and lesbian relationships are wrong and should not be protected by government. The law “is not good for anybody,” he said.
One of the things I’ve always admired and enjoyed about living in Oregon is that Oregonians tend to go through life operating with a “live and let live” code. Tolerance is the rule rather than the exception, and alternative lifestyles rarely raise an eyebrow…at least in the Willamette Valley. If you go to eastern and central Oregon, as well as the southwestern part of the state, it might as well be a suburb of Idaho…with the ignorance, hatred, and prejudice to match. Fortunately, most of the state’s population lives in the Willamette Valley.
Yes, even here in Blue, granola-eating, earth-tone Oregon, we have haters…and they’re not afraid to let you know about it. As of January 1st, Oregon law recognizes domestic partnerships and criminalizes discrimination against homosexuals in the workplace, housing, and public places. This would seem to be a good thing, no? After all, what could possibly be wrong with NOT treating a certain class of people as second-class citizens?
There has always been a subculture of virulent haters here in Oregon (Lon Mabon, anyone?). They may be a minority, and they may be horribly out of step with the majority, but they’re loud and they’re proud. For whatever reason, these trolls obsess over a group of people who really only want the same rights other Americans enjoy. This isn’t about “special” rights; it’s about equal rights.
I wonder if, forty and fifty years ago, these knuckle-draggers would have made the same arguments about opposing “special rights” for African-Americans? Somehow, I think they would have been just as vocal and virulent then as they are now. Haters love to hate, and they can always find a group to focus their antipathy on. It’s just sad to see that still happening in a place that’s always prided itself on tolerance.
