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  Following a decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that California’s Prop 8 is unconstitutional, Basic Rights Oregon Executive Director Jeana Frazzini released the following statement today:
“Today’s ruling is a victory for all loving and committed same-sex couples in California and across the nation,” “We applaud the 9th Circuit for standing on the right side of history. Today’s ruling, if upheld will restore the freedom to marry in California and add our nation’s largest state as another engine of progress for the country.”
“Here in Oregon this issue will be decided not in a courtroom by judges, but in the court of public opinion by the voters of our great state. The Court’s decision adds momentum to our effort to win the freedom to marry at the ballot box in Oregon.”
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 Basic Rights Oregon announced early yesterday morning that they will not be putting the legalization of gay marriage on the ballot for the 2012 general election. During the month of October, television ads were ran in support for the initiative. However, the Oregon equality advocates stated that there is just not enough of a majority to risk such a costly campaign. BRO has been advised since the beginning of the Marriage Equality effort to not move forward in 2012 without a solid chance of victory. After an online poll, which resulted in more than a 1,000 respondents, BRO stated that the increasing support for the freedom to marry will only get better in the next two years.
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"Love, Commitment, Marriage"
Basic Rights Oregon, the state’s largest nonprofit gay and transgender advocacy group, is finishing up a two year campaign educating the public on why marriage matters for all couples. In the next few weeks, there will be television ads featuring both gay and straight couples addressing the importance of the issue. The ads share the idea that committed couples marry for similar reasons, no […]
 (Mira pagina 2 para español)
New radio ads designed to reach out to Latino communities about the freedom to marry hit Oregon airwaves this week. The ad campaign also highlights the strong relationship between two statewide, grassroots organizations: Basic Rights Oregon, which advocates for gay and transgender rights, and CAUSA, which advocates for immigrant rights.
The ads, which will run on Spanish-language radio in the Portland region for four weeks, tell the stories of Latino families coming to terms with having a gay child, and underscore the importance of family supporting each other. You can listen to the ad (in Spanish) here: [display_podcast]
Excerpt from one ad (translated to English):
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  This is a re-posting of a Facebook message from trans advocate Tash Shatz.
When I was sixteen I woke up one night in a cold sweat in the worst pain I had ever experienced. I felt like I was being repeatedly stabbed in my abdomen. My only guess was that I was experiencing super heinous period cramps. I was nauseous and the pain washed over me in violent waves. My mom and I were soon on our way to the emergency room, and we found out I was passing the first of what would be many kidney stones.
That night at the ER my experience was typical of what would happen as I visited the hospital several times over the next few years. Staff members stumbled over pronouns, sporadically use my preferred name, and asked me what medications I was on. When I answered “testosterone,” the hospital staff launched into a line of questioning about my gender identity – what surgeries had I had? What did I plan to have? What did transgender mean? On more than one of my visits I heard nurses whispering behind the patterned curtain across the space which held my bed. They were talking about my gender.
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  Seth Stambaugh It was one of the biggest local LGBT stories of the year when student teacher Seth Stambaugh was let go from a position at a Beaverton elementary school for admitting to being gay. He was eventually reinstated to his position but it was unclear whether Stambaugh would pursue a lawsuit.
This week we got the answer when he reached a resolution with the Beaverton School District for $75,ooo. Stambaugh has said a significant portion of this award will go to Portland nonprofits p:ear, and Outside In.
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  Basic Rights Oregon recently produced a great ad campaign called “Marriage matters to me” featuring several Oregon couples both gay and straight. Four of these couples will get coverage on CNN this Valentines Day as part of Freedom to Marry‘s newest national campaign.
Via press release, BRO executive director Jeana Frazzini lauded the decision to show the ads on Valentine’s Day of all days.
“Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate love and commitment, and that’s true for all couples, gay or straight,” said Frazzini. “We’re reaching out to Oregonians to talk about the reasons we all want to get married: we want to publicly affirm the commitment we’ve made to the person we love.”
You can see the video below and more at a statewide themed website Marriage Matters Oregon.
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  Cazwell (and some jocks?) plays Sunday Thought you couldn’t fit any more in with the Portland Lesbian and Gay Film Festival along with Butch Voices? Well…you can try…
Tonight
Cafeteria‘s Jocks and Nerds edition – Fantasies about the high school quaterback are back but I’ll take some Daria nerd glasses too. Either way let’s fetishize all those hot jocks and nerds we still dream about at this hot (literally, it’s a small venue) new queer night in the hood.
Homo Deluxe – The ladies that bring you the wildly successful Gaycation and Bent (Mr Charming and Roy G Biv) are here to rock your Thursday. You know, even Gaycay used to be on Wednesdays. It’s going to be tough to choose between these two really great parties.
  Basic Rights Oregon just released a free handbook, Know Your Rights: Gender Identity, Gender Expression & Trans Oregonians’ Rights that can help gender non-conforming folks know what we are entitled to. Authored by Oregon attorneys, this guide provides in-depth information on laws and policies that deeply impact transgender Oregonians. Topics include identification, housing, family law, employment, health care and more.
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  Trans folks need healthcare too! Basic Rights Oregon has launched a survey of trans, genderqueer and gender non-conforming Oregonians who have experienced health care discrimination.
According to BRO, “All too frequently, trans Oregonians are denied insurance coverage of health care solely because of their gender identity. Working together, we can bring an end to discrimination and dramatically improve the experience of trans Oregonians accessing care. ”
More info and link to the survey under the cut.
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