Know Thy Neighbor Oregon

It looks as though today (source) will be the day that we find out whether or not anti-gay groups have collected enough signatures to put Oregon’s Anti-Discrimination law on the ballot.

Stay tuned.

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Late Wednesday, with 30 minutes until their 5 o’clock deadline, anti-gay groups attempting to force a referendum on the domestic partnership and anti-discrimination laws turned in what they claim to be “63,000″ signatures. As we know they only need 55,179 to accomplish their hateful mission.

So what now? The verification process has begun. If they qualify our side will be voting YES to keep the laws.

Obviously our hope would be that they in fact do not qualify for the ballot - although they have already announced plans for an initiative that would be on the 2008 ballot should these ones not qualify.

How would the initiative process work?
Anti-gay groups would have until July 3rd, 2008 to collect just over 82,000 signatures. If successful, it would be put on the November 2008 ballot. The difference this time is that our side would be voting NO against the repeal.

We’ll keep you updated on the verification process as we learn more. We cannot stress the importance of donations. Without about $3000, we will not be able to afford to make all of the copies at the Secretary of State’s office.

Please help us raise these essential funds. Please click here to give what you can, even if it is $20. Everything will help us reach our goal.

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“Concerned Oregonians”, one of the groups collecting signatures for the two anti-gay petitions have a pretty serious complaint filed against them with the Secretary of States office. The group, a spawn of the right-wing fringe group Restore America has been claiming for months that people can contribute to what they call “Concerned Oregonians PAC” and take advantage of Oregon’s Political Tax Credit. Another group collecting signatures is also doing this same thing.

What’s the problem you ask? They are in fact not a PAC (Political Action Committee), yet they are calling themselves a PAC and therefore have been misleading donors and using illegal tactics to fundraise. This means that each and every donor who is going to claim their donation as an Oregon Political Tax Credit, could also potentially get in trouble with the Oregon Department of Revenue come tax time.

“Concerned Oregonians” has been getting assistance from Donna Butler, a long-time accountant and treasurer for Republican candidates and conservative causes who herself has seen her fair share of fines, violations and shady dealings–but now this?

The complaint also notes that Concerned Oregonians claims to be a co-sponsor of the referenda, and is collecting donations based upon that assertion, when it is not, which is also against the law.

Here is a link to a copy of the complaint filed this week.

Will the groups continue to break the law by misrepresenting themselves to voters and using false information to solicit campaign contributions?

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Recently we’ve received some emails from those who are supportive of denying Oregon families of any rights. We here at Know Thy Neighbor Oregon want to ensure that the dialog remains positive and non-threatening, after all this is a big part of our mission.

To give you an example of one of these emails:

[I] have been Patiently waiting for hunting season to try out my new high powered rifle on a live target.

As Know Thy Neighbor Oregon forges on, we want to remind people of this part of our mission:
KnowThyNeighborOregon.com hopes to inspire respectful, civil, and honest community discourse and discourages with its fullest conviction the actions by anyone to harm a person or their property in retribution for exercising their democratic right to sign the petition.

You can read more about the project, our goals and mission on the about page.

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On her blog, Victoria Taft, an extreme right-wing fanatic, has posted about the efforts to protect Oregon families from discrimination.

Sadly, she strongly opposes these efforts to protect ALL Oregon families, despite what she might call her pro-family stance and it is more than shameful.

Below we deconstruct her misguided viewpoint.

Victoria says:

“Now this group’s aim is to use blackmail, if you will, to discourage people from signing a petition to call for another vote on these two issues that Oregonians have already voted on and decided (but which the legislature overturned).”

The Truth:
No Victoria, neither of these issues have been voted on in Oregon. That is a complete fabrication to further your cause and only goes to show that you take your marriage for granted - as domestic partnerships only offer 1/3 of the rights, responsibilities and protections afforded to your family.

What we ARE talking about here is a new law that protects Oregonians, regardless of their sexuality (yes, gay or straight) from being fired from their job SIMPLY for their sexual orientation.

What the domestic partnership law does is lets same-sex couples go to the county courthouse, sign a legal contract with one another and then it grants them such rights and responsibilities as end of life decisions, hospital visitation, bereavement leave, the ability to share health and auto insurance etc. BASIC Victoria. Basic.

Victoria then compares gay and lesbians to the “Klan”:
Besides being a tasteless comparison, the KKK has a long history of killing gay and lesbian people.

Victoria says:
;…Homosexual rights clan (klan?) now have lowered themselves to threatening people who disagree with them.”

THE TRUTH:
By you supporting this petition drive to overturn Oregon law that ensures families are able to protect one another in times of crisis is an all time low. The signature gathering effort to overturn these laws in a blatant threat from the extreme-right to those who do not agree with them.

Continue reading ‘Victoria Taft Lashes Out At Oregon Families’

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