Basic Rights Oregon: Difference between revisions
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'''Basic Rights Oregon''' (BRO) is an American [[Nonprofit organization|nonprofit]] [[LGBT |
'''Basic Rights Oregon''' (BRO) is an American [[Nonprofit organization|nonprofit]] [[LGBT rights]] organization based in [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]], Oregon. It is the largest advocacy, education, and political organization working in [[Oregon]] to end discrimination based on [[sexual orientation]] and [[gender identity]].<ref name=Gould>{{cite book |title= The Library PR Handbook: High-Impact Communications |first= Mark R. |last= Gould |page= 11 |year= 2009 |publisher= [[American Library Association]] |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=zbUe2e-Z2b4C&pg=PA11 |isbn= 978-0-8389-1002-3}}</ref> BRO has twelve full-time staff, a contract lobbyist, three offices statewide, more than 10,000 contributors, and 5,000 volunteers.<ref name=History>{{cite web |url= http://www.basicrights.org/?page_id=34 |title= Our History |publisher= Basic Rights Oregon |accessdate= September 2, 2011}}</ref> It is a [[501(c)(4)]] organization that maintains a [[501(c)(3)]] education fund, a state candidate [[political action committee|PAC]] and a ballot measure PAC, with a combined annual budget of nearly $1 million.<ref name=History/> |
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==Formation== |
==Formation== |
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Basic Rights Oregon (BRO) is an American nonprofit LGBT rights organization based in Portland, Oregon. It is the largest advocacy, education, and political organization working in Oregon to end discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.[1] BRO has twelve full-time staff, a contract lobbyist, three offices statewide, more than 10,000 contributors, and 5,000 volunteers.[2] It is a 501(c)(4) organization that maintains a 501(c)(3) education fund, a state candidate PAC and a ballot measure PAC, with a combined annual budget of nearly $1 million.[2]
Formation
Basic Rights Oregon was created in 1988 as a response to the Oregon Citizens Alliance (OCA), an organization that opposed gay rights. After an ballot measure revoking the ban on sexual-orientation discrimination in the state's executive branch passed by 53% to 47%,[3] Oregonians organized to protect gay rights and raised over $2 million in 1992 for a successful campaign to defeat the OCA's next effort,[citation needed] Ballot Measure 9, which would have prohibited "encouragement" of homosexual lifestyles in public schools.[4] As the OCA continued to promote similar measures at the local level[5] and promised another statewide ballot in 1994, activists pressured for a stable political organization. Support Our Communities-PAC (SOC-PAC) was formed in 1993, leading to the defeat of the OCA's proposed ban on the recognition of homosexuals as a minority group[6] in 1994,[citation needed] and the creation of what is now known as Basic Rights Oregon.[7]
Advocacy
In 2002, BRO endorsed Democratic candidate Bill Bradbury for election to the United States Senate, opposing the Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBT rights organization, which endorsed the re-election of the Republican incumbent Gordon H. Smith.[8]
In 2004, BRO, nine same-sex couples, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Multnomah County joined as plaintiffs against the State of Oregon, the Governor, the Attorney General, the Director of the Department of Human Services, and the State Registrar in a suit, Li v. State, in the Oregon Supreme Court seeking a declaration that the statutes (ORS chapter 106) prohibiting same-sex couples from marrying on the same terms as different-sex couples violated the Oregon Constitution.[9]
In 2004, Basic Rights Oregon worked against Ballot Measure 36, which amended the Oregon Constitution to prohibit gay marriage. Although Basic Rights Oregon raised nearly $3 million to fight the measure, it passed with 57% in favor and 43% opposed.
Basic Rights Oregon is currently[when?] teaming up with the Oregon Student Equal Rights Alliance to organize queer students at Oregon's colleges and universities. Basic Rights Oregon has also begun a LGBTQ youth coalition known as QPOWER. Working together the two collectives[clarification needed] helped win two major victories this[when?] legislative session: the passage of the Oregon Equality Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and the Oregon Family Fairness Act, which grants domestic partnerships rights to same-sex couples.[citation needed]
When the state formed an inter-agency workgroup to implement the Family Fairness Act, the only member other than departments of the state government was BRO, which, according to the working group's report, "worked to identif[y] many of the issues facing registered domestic partners in Oregon."[10]
When[when?] anti-immigration legislation in California appeared to be inspiring similar efforts in Oregon, BRO reached out to PCUN, the Oregon farmworkers' union, and also the state's largest Latino organization, to offer its support in the fight against discrimination.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b Gould, Mark R. (2009). The Library PR Handbook: High-Impact Communications. American Library Association. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-8389-1002-3.
- ^ a b "Our History". Basic Rights Oregon. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
- ^ "Oregon goes Democratic!" Ellensburg Daily Record, November 9, 1988, accessed June 2, 2012
- ^ Oregon Voters' Pamphlet, November 3, 1992, p. 93, hosted at the Benton County Elections Division website.
- ^ New York Times: Timothy Egan, "Voters in Oregon Back Local Anti-Gay Rules," July 1, 1993, accessed June 2, 2012
- ^ "Oregon group unveils new anti-gay initiative," Spokesman-Review, May 7, 1993, accessed June 2, 2012
- ^ Stephen, Lynn (2009). "Building Alliances: An Ethnography of Collaboration Between Rural Organizing Project (ROP) and CAUSA in Oregon" (PDF). Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service Leadership Center for Leadership in Action. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
- ^ New York Times: Todd S. Purnam, "Campaign Season; The Awkward Endorsement Game," October 20, 2001, accessed June 2, 2012
- ^ M. Bast, Carol (2011). Foundations of Law: Cases, Commentary and Ethics. Clinton Park, New Jersey: Delmar. p. 177. ISBN 978-1-4354-4084-5.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthor=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Oregon Department of Justice: Report from the Inter-Agency Workgroup On Implementation of HB 2007: The Oregon Family Fairness Act, July 24, 2009, accessed June 2, 2012
External links
- Basic Rights Oregon (official website)