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  Gay gang?
Welcome to the first new 2 girls, 1 podcast of 2012 with qPDX’s Lyska Mondor and Alley Hector. And don’t forget you can subscribe in iTunes! Don’t miss an episode! Get it downloaded automatically.
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 When you mix queer drama and local politics what do you get? Some pretty interesting news for a city that keeps it weird. […]
 qPDX likes to keep the focus local but we are also queers in this big bad world with national and international news that affects us all. These are my picks for the most important ones of 2011. […]
  Gov. Chris Gregorie-D-WA Speaks up for Gay Marriage
Could Washington State be the 7th state to legalize gay marriage? With the help of Gov. Chris Gregoire, it is entirely possible! She announced Wednesday that she will put forth legislation to legalize marriage between lesbian and gay couples. The proposal will be introduced on Monday, January 9th during the legislative session.
In the past, Gregoire has supported same-sex partners having the same rights as married couples, however, has never advocated it publicly. While running for Governor in 2004, she announced that she did not think that Washington was “ready to support gay marriage.”
When she ran for a second term in 2008, she spoke in an interview, stating, “To me, the state’s responsibility is to absolutely ensure equality. The other is a religious issue, and I leave it to the churches to make that call about marriage.” But, this week Gregoire spoke for 20 minutes about her reasons to move forward, now.
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 Last week the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill that would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. The Human Rights Campaign successfully delivered over 135 thousand petitions calling for this repeal. The bill’s main sponsor, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California (D) fears that the bill will have no chance in the House that is controlled by Republican conservatives. Even with 31 Democratic Senate sponsors, there is Republican hindrance.
President Obama announced this past February that the law would no longer be defended by his administration. He stated recently that he supports “civil unions” but, what about “same-sex” marriages? This federal law has economically impacted all gay and lesbian couples around the nation, not giving them the same government privileges as heterosexual couples. There are currently six states which now recognize gay and lesbian marriages (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire) however, couples’ rights are still limited. They cannot file for joint federal tax returns, nor do they have spousal Social Security benefits. Also, couples are not a part of the Family and Medical Leave Law or protected from estate taxes if their partner dies.
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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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The marriage equality campaign currently underway here in Oregon has a limited amount of time to reach and persuade voters who are still on the fence in order to gain the support needed to move forward to the ballot.
This video shows real Oregonians talking about why marriage matters — watch it and spread the word by sharing it through your social networks!
The most important way to […]
 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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