Our friends at BRO have had some tough turnaround in their top spot. It’s an important position in this state for all of us queer Oregonians. So here’s to hoping new director John Hummel is effective and stoked to stick around awhile. Keep reading for BRO’s press release.
Basic Rights Oregon is very pleased to announce that John Hummel will be joining our staff as Executive Director!
John Hummel
We deeply appreciate all of the input we received from BRO supporters throughout our search process, and we are confident that our extensive search has allowed us to find the right person to lead Basic Rights Oregon. John is a passionate advocate for the GLBT community and is equally passionate about the specific political, organizing and advocacy work of Basic Rights Oregon.
John has a long history of commitment to the GLBT community. He became actively involved with the GLBT civil rights movement in his native state Idaho. He was the first openly gay attorney in the state. Hummel helped organize Idaho’s first gay pride and activist organization, Your Family, Friends & Neighbors (YFFN). YFFN produced Boise’s first public pride celebration in 1990. Hummel served as president of YFFN and the Idaho AIDS Foundation, and was active as a cooperating attorney for the Idaho ACLU.
YFFN activists became the nucleus of the No On One Coalition, the campaign that defeated Idaho’s statewide anti-gay ballot initiative, Proposition One, in 1994. Hummel served on the staff of the No On One Coalition, and his companion Brian Bergquist, who died in 1998, served as the campaign’s chairperson.
John is currently the legal director of The Center’s Legal Initiatives Project (CLIP). CLIP is the legal services outreach program of The Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual & Transgender Community Center of Colorado, Inc., based in Denver. Its mission is to promote the equality, dignity, and human rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people, and those with HIV and AIDS.
John and his partner Ben Riggs will be moving to Oregon in May, and John will officially join the Basic Rights Oregon team on May 7th. At that time there will be opportunities to meet John through community meetings.
Sincerely,
Jim Morris & Cris Land
Board Co-Chairs
Basic Rights Oregon
