CIVIL UNIONS RALLY TARGETS SPEAKER MINNIS

Cheering supporters of the State Senate's Civil Unions legislation packed the State Capitol steps Wednesday night. More than a thousand heard Governor Kulongoski, supportive legislators and other speakers make their case for passage of the measure. 

Dressed in light blue, every part of the state was represented, including at least sixty Democratic sign waivers from  Lane County. One blue-shirted advocate came all the way from Perth, Australia to join the rally.

Basic Rights Oregon (BRO) sponsored the event in an effort to move SB 1000 forward in the State House. Much of the rhetoric criticized House Speaker Karen Minnis, who has pledged that the measure will never make it out of committee.  "I'm not asking her to vote for it," said Kulongoski. "I'm just asking her to let it go to a vote."

Kulongoski was joined by two of the co-sponsors of the bill, Senator Alan Bates (D-Ashland) and Senator Ted Wustland (R-Tumalo).

Bates questioned the House Speaker's motivations. "If she believes that her facts are so compelling, that the evidence is so powerful, and that she is so right about this, why doesn't she trust the power of her arguments to win the day on the floor of the State House?"

Wustlund declined to take shots at his fellow Republican, stressing the fairness of the measure, "The time is now for us to decide that all Oregonians should be treated equally," he said. "We need to send a message to the rest of the nation, to the world, that we do not support or tolerate discrimination of any kind in our state."

Governor Kulongoski echoed Bates, and directly challenged Speaker Minnis and her fellow party members to publicly defend their position. "If the Republican Representatives really think it's all right to discriminate against their fellow Oregonians, then why are they afraid to say it on the floor of the House?"

The rally concluded with a fiery speech by Basic Rights Oregon Executive Director Roey Thorpe, who promised the crowd that she would "never stop, never give in, never give up until we have full and equal rights as citizens of our state."

As a final touch, Thorpe sent volunteers from Basic Rights Oregon into the crowd to collect contributions in "Minnis Buckets" that will be used to fund the purchase of a full-page pro-Civil Unions ad in the Speaker's home town newspaper.