https://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/gay_lesbian_rights_movement/#.XozFdohKiUl
Gays first began organizing in Portland in early March 1970. They advertised their cause in the pages of The Willamette Bridge, a counter-culture newspaper that began in 1968 and carried news about Vietnam, the Black Panthers, Students for a Democratic Society, rock concerts, alternative lifestyles, and the environment. Although the social element was important to these early activists, they immediately identified politics as central to their purpose. They outlined a plan to speak in college classes and to church and civil groups, to provide radio and television interviews, to write articles for the press, and to lobby for the abolition of legislation that oppressed gays. Gay Liberation in Portland also led to the formation of local organizations such as the Second Foundation, which on May 7, 1972, opened the first gay community center in Oregon.
Also in the early 1970s, young activists in Eugene, Corvallis, and Klamath Falls joined their Portland counterparts to organize and begin working toward the acceptance and the expansion and protection of civil rights in their communities and in the state. Over the years, the cause was at times halting as the gay movement also experienced setbacks, backlash, and defeats.
In general, advancement came as the HIV/AIDS epidemic brought greater awareness to gay issues, as allies to the movement gained courage, and as lesbian and gay people became more visible. For example, Oregon’s first gay newspaper, The Fountain, began publishing in 1971, the same year Portland hosted the state’s first gay pride celebration. The next year, Lanny Swerdlow began hosting a local half-hour program about gay issues on Portland’s KBOO Radio. Even the conservative backlash against gays, which began in the 1970s and reached new heights in the 1990s, moved gay rights forward, causing those involved in the movement to become better organized and attracting larger numbers of heterosexuals to the cause.
The first major gay rights victory in Oregon was the legislative repeal of the sodomy law on July 2, 1971, which took effect on January 1, 1972. The repeal was due less to activists than it was part of a general reform of criminal codes taking place at the state level across the nation. In fact, when the legislature in neighboring Idaho realized it had rescinded its sodomy law in 1971 through a general repeal of old common-law crimes, it quickly re-adopted it. Only in 2003 did the U.S. Supreme Court finally strike down the last sodomy laws still remaining on the books in a few states.
Portland was the first city in Oregon to adopt civil rights protections for gays and lesbians. The December 1974 ordinance, championed by Commissioner Connie McCready, banned anti-gay discrimination in municipal employment. A bold step in the national context, Portland nevertheless lagged behind Seattle, which in 1973 adopted a bill that protected gays in employment and housing in that city. Portland would not adopt such expansive safeguards until 1991.
Eugene began hearings on gay rights in 1972 and adopted an ordinance similar to Seattle’s in 1977. By then, a conservative backlash had ignited across the country, part of a general reaction against the perceived moral decline of the 1960s and partly a strengthening of the religious right in America, a group that would become a force in national politics over the next decades. Energized by activist Anita Bryant’s successful 1977 campaign to repeal a gay rights law in Dade County, Florida, conservatives in Eugene revoked its ordinance in a referendum the following year. Wichita, Kansas, and St. Paul, Minnesota, also repealed gay rights that year, although voters in Seattle held off a similar referendum.
In 1973, Portland and Eugene gay activists worked with state representatives Vera Katz and Steven Kafoury, both from Portland, to introduce a gay rights bill in the Oregon legislature. Although the bill received more "yes" than "no" votes in the House, it failed to garner enough to send it on to the Senate, and thus failed. Various versions of the bill appeared in six of the next seven biennial sessions, each bill going down to defeat. Through these years, the Portland Town Council, a gay rights group that formed in 1975, worked tirelessly on these and other efforts.
As activism across the nation met with such defeats in the 1970s and as the conflicts that invariably arise in any civil rights movement occurred, a number of lesbians and gays, grown weary from dashed hopes and slow progress, began to retire from the field. Southern Oregon became particularly attractive to them, especially lesbians, where they found reasonably inexpensive land. There they formed a number of intentional communes and collectives—among them, Oregon Women's Land Trust, Fly Away Home, and the gay men's Nomenus. In these communities, retired activists along with others who lived an alternative lifestyle worked to achieve the equality and social bonds they had been unable to realize in mainstream America.
Something happened in Oregon that changed the conversation about gay rights - and that was the founding of gay newspapers reporting on and bringing the conversation to the masses. Although Governor Robert Straub had appointed a task force to study the status of gays in Oregon in 1977, the more important changes for the state's expectant sexual minorities would not begin for another decade. In 1987, after the legislature again refused modest protections for gays, Governor Neil Goldschmidt signed an executive order prohibiting discrimination against gays in state employment. [portion of the essay, balance in other Gay Rights years].
“March 1973, A meeting was held by the Federation of Oregon Gay Public Employees – the idea was to get all Gay public employees; local, state and federal to unite in an effort to protect their jobs from discrimination on the basis of their individual sexual orientation. At this time, gay public employees had no protection under the law or from civil service. Indiscriminate firings were made on a regular basis because an employee was discovered to be a homosexual – though they may great at their jobs. The group was going to actively support the bill in the Oregon Legislature to include gay people under the protection of Oregon’s Civil Rights laws.
And it wasn’t just keeping the job, but also trying to get hired. The Portland Metropolitan Human Relations Commission refused to recommend any gay people to fill one of its three vacancies on the ground that no gays had been qualified. Through research, it was found that many were eliminated from the possibility of being hired for these three positions. Those rejected had experience in labor unions, ecology, poverty programs, education and not only gay people were excluded by women, black and Chicanos. At this time, it was estimated that 50,000 gay people lived in Multnomah County – making that segment of the population of largest minorities. By September 1974, a public hearing was held to require all businesses contracting with the city to take affirmative action to eliminate discrimination in employment based on race, religion, color, sex, national origin or age.
During this time, there were many “suspicious” fires being set all over the US – directly at gay-owned, operated, or attended places. Twenty-nine people who died in the Upstairs Lounge in New Orleans on June 24, 1973. This popular gay bar had placed bars in the windows to stop burglaries from happening – charred bodies were found near the windows when the fire was investigated. It came out later that evidence led investigators to believe it was arsonists – probably heterosexual that caused the blaze. One witness said that he smelt gasoline before the 16-minute fire happened. That was the fourth instance of the burning of a gay establishment – before that Los Angeles Metropolitan Community Church [the “mother” church of the international fellowship] was destroyed. Damages were estimated to be between $75,000 and $150,000 which the cause to be ‘suspicious’ in nature. The Society for Individual Rights Community Center in San Francisco and the gay community center in Buffalo, NY. Fortunately, those three did not have any fatalities.
During all of this, a bill was presented to the Oregon Legislature House Bill 2930 [July 1973] During the 1973 legislative session, Representative Vera Katz introduced a bill that would have prohibited "discrimination in employment and certain real property transactions" based on "sexual orientation." This reprint of the bill came from Katz's office. The bill was co-sponsored by representatives Stephen Kafoury, Margaret U. Deleri, Ralph Groener, Lloyd C. Kinsey, William McCoy, Mary Wendy Roberts, Keith D. Skelton, Pat Whiting, and Howard Willits and senators Keith Burns, Edward N. Fadeley, Keith A. Burbridge, Ted Hallock, Betty Roberts, and Bill Stevenson. HB 2930, the first bill of its kind, did not pass and it was not until 2007 that Oregon enacted statewide anti-discrimination protections for homosexuals.
Without legal protection, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) people have been routinely discriminated against by coworkers, bosses, and prospective employers and landlords. The movement for gay rights dovetailed with similar movements for civil rights for women and African Americans during the 1960s and 1970s. Advocates formed local and national groups such as the Portland Town Council, which won a major victory in 1971 when Oregon repealed a law that had criminalized sex acts (in this case, sodomy) between consenting adults.
Governments repeatedly acted on this new push for anti-discrimination legislation, but citizens, who held widely disparate views about the relationship between civil rights and GLBT people, complicated the process. In December 1974, for example, the Portland City Council adopted a measure that ensured sexual orientation could not affect hiring policies in municipal agencies, and the council extended that protection to private employment throughout the city in 1991. On November 28, 1978, the Eugene City Council passed anti-discrimination legislation, but voters soon repealed it in a referendum. Governor Bob Straub appointed an advisory committee, the Task Force on Sexual Preference, which met for several months from fall 1976 through spring 1977. Portland Mayor Neil Goldschmidt made a proclamation that June 25, 1977, would be Gay Pride Day and, as governor in 1988, used an executive order to protect gay and lesbian employees throughout the state. Later that year, voters passed Ballot Measure 8, which overturned the governor's order.
Rep. Vera Katz “angrily explained her ‘yes’ vote by declaring that no one should have to ‘earn’ basic human rights.”
Throughout North America, the question about ‘gay’ rights began. In early 1973 Florida Attorney General Robert Shevin had been working on reforming sodomy laws. He claimed that as a result of that reform, gays could win civil rights in employment and housing through litigation. In Denver, a Colorado penal code that bans ‘loitering’ in a public place for the purposes of soliciting for gay sex was declared unconstitutional. And in Pennsylvania, there was a proposed criminal code that reduced the penalty for sodomy for ten years to two – ‘husband and wife’ were immune from the sodomy laws. Further north in Alberta Canada, the Alberta Legislature proposed that the province Individual Rights Protection Act be amended to protect gay people. And further south in California, a class-action suit was filed before the U.S. District Court of Northern California that sought to bar the federal government from indiscriminately firing gays. And in Oregon, The Equal Rights Amendment to the US Constitution passed the Oregon Legislation on February 8, 1973. Making Oregon the 26th state to approve it. In Columbus, Ohio a law was passed that stated, “Men may legally appear in public in women’s clothing as long as they also sport a beard. The law forbids public nudity or in a dress not belonging to his or her sex.” [publication citing needed]
As cited in the Just Out newspaper, May 21, 1999, publication. Here are the highlights of the 1970s:
1970 Portland Gay Liberation Front forms after John Wilkinson and Holly Hart write articles about gay life in Portland for the alternative newspaper Willamette Bridge. Mostly men join the group. Hart determines that women would feel safe to join if they thought a group of lesbians already existed, so she writes several articles and signs them with different names, giving the illusion that women already belong. The idea works.
The Second Foundation of Oregon forms as an organization offering referral services and discussion groups for gay men and lesbians.
1971 The Second Foundation of Oregon publishes a newspaper, The Fountain, and sponsors a gay pride celebration in Portland to commemorate Stonewall with indoor events such as dances and drag shows.
Portland’s court system holds the first public elections to select an empress instead of having judges select one during a ball. Tracey St. James wins the election and becomes Empress XIV. In 1972, Darcelle becomes the 15th empress.
1972 Oregon’s revised state criminal code that repeals the sodomy statute goes into effect in January.
The Second Foundation of Oregon opens the Gay Community Center at 258 S.W. Alder St. in Portland.
After playing softball all summer, a lesbian team called the Lavender Menace takes up volleyball.
1973 A Woman’s Place Bookstore opens at 706 S.E. Grand Ave. in Portland.
Activists in Klamath Falls organize the Klamath Gay Union.
In Portland, five people attend an organizational meeting of the Gay Public Employees Federation of Oregon. Organizers post 100 notices in public buildings to announce the meeting; all but two of the notices are torn down.
The House State and Federal Affairs Committee hears testimony on House Bill 2930, the first gay rights bill introduced in the Oregon Legislature. A lobbyist supported by the Second Foundation works long and hard in favor of the bill, which is narrowly defeated.
Eugene City Council votes against including gay people in the city’s equal opportunity ordinance.
1974 Five lesbians purchase land in Southern Oregon and start the collective called Woman Share. In the fall, lesbians living in Wolf Creek publish the magazine Woman Spirit, which runs for 10 years.
The Portland Association of Gay Equality wants Portland Mayor Neil Goldschmidt to issue a proclamation for Gay Pride Week. The mayor decides to skip it.
By a 3-2 vote, the Portland City Council adopts Resolution No. 31510 banning job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation for city employees. By the same margin, tire council rejects efforts to put the issue before voters.
The president of the Portland Police Association speaks against the resolution saying it should not apply to police officers because it would decrease public respect for them.
Motivated by the passage of Portland’s resolution, the Portland Town Council organizes a lobbying effort aimed at the 1975 state Legislature in hopes of passing a statewide gay rights bill. Previously, PTC served as an umbrella organization for the gay community and coordinated bar events so they didn’t occur on the same days.
1975 Despite a broad-based lobbying effort by the Portland Town Council, House Bill 2637, which would ban discrimination against gay people in employment, housing and public accommodations, stalls in committee. A few months later, HB2288— a compromise bill dealing only with employment— fails by one vote.
About 200 people attend Portland’s first outdoor, public gay pride fair.
1976 Gov. Bob Straub establishes the Task Force on Sexual Preference.
Portland Town Council holds a fundraising event for two pro-gay politicians. The spaghetti feed nets $230— that’s $115 for Vera Katz and $ 115 for Stephen Kafoury.
1977 Parents Ann Shepherd and Charles Knapp staff a sign-up table at the gay pride rally, thus starting Parents of Gays, which grows into the Portland chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.
Jerry Weller forms PTC-PAC, a political action committee that raises money for pro-gay candidates. It is the second gay political action committee to form in the nation.
The Capital Forum forms in Salem as 24 people attend the first meeting. The organization serves the needs of gay men and lesbians in Benton, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Polk and Yamhill counties.
Portland Mayor Neil Goldschmidt issues a proclamation for Gay Pride Day. Negative phone calls flood his office, and opponents launch a short-lived recall effort.
Balance of 1970 to be entered soon.
GAY RIGHTS 1970s
Article to the RIGHT On the front page of Volume #1, # 4 for March 25-April 1, 1971, in The Fountain newspaper.
Article to the LEFT is from The Fountain, Volume 1, Number 3, May 1971. Article to the RIGHT is from June 1971 The Fountain newspaper.
Below article is from the September 1971 The Fountain newspaper which deals with Camp, The Annex and other items in the gay community.
In the same issue [September 1971 The Fountain newspaper] was the following editorial.
Below LEFT, in the March 1972 issue of The Fountain newspaper, front page “CITY COUNCIL TO ACT ON NON-DISCRIMINATION ORDINANCE”. Below RIGHT in the same March 1972 issue of The Fountain newspaper, the City Council with allowing Steve Suss to merge two bars and VD.
In April 1972’s The Fountain’s front cover [below LEFT]: CITY HALL MEETS GAYS [The article continued on page 17- full page and on page 18]
Below LEFT May 1972 issue of The Fountain talked about a “Gay Rights Platform”. Below RIGHT June 1972 issue of The Fountain newspaper a teacher was being fired because she was a homosexual. Front page read: ACLU DEFENDS TEACHER
Adopt a Child
The Portland metropolitan area has an abundance of children who need a good home and loving parents. This fact was brought to my attention by the Fountain’s editor, Dave Lawrence. So, I decided to interview someone from the three largest adoption agencies in Portland and how the gay community will help remedy this situation.
In an article in The Fountain newspaper, June 1972 he went to Kerr Home located at 2307 NE Flanders; Boys and Girls AIDE Society at 2301 NE Glisan and Catholic Charities Adoption agencies. This article is quite interesting on each approach to homosexuals and adoption. Below RIGHT Front page of The Fountain newspaper, August 1972 issue “FAIR EMPLOYMENT SOUGHT FOR GAYS AT HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION”.
Below LEFT front page of the August 1972 The Fountain newspaper, DEMOCRATS REJECT GAY RIGHTS PLANK. Below RIGHT September 1972 issue, page 2 of The Fountain, CLASSES ON GAY POLITICS and same issue on page 2 September 1972 The Fountain newspaper), Portland Human Rights Commission to hear Gays.
Below LEFT article in the October 1972 issue of The Fountain newspaper, front page. [page 8 was a long article – see for full content] then on page 3 of the October 1972 issue of The Fountain newspaper [Below RIGHT]: HOMOSEXUAL TEACHERS OK FOR PORTLAND SCHOOLS.
Below LEFT - in the same issue of The Fountain [October 1972, Page 9] – “Classes in Gay Politics”. On the same page 9, October 1972, The Fountain newspaper ACLU NEEDS FUNDS - Law Organization Helps Gays.
Below LEFT McGovern Denies Gay Rights Statement in Portland – front page November 1972, The Fountain newspaper. Below RIGHT on page 3, of the same newspaper [ November 1972, The Fountain newspaper] Employment Resolution Goes Before Human Rights Commission.
Below LEFT is an article from the November 1972, issue The Fountain newspaper, page 25 – Oregon’s Accosting Law. Below RIGHT is an article from the same newspaper [November 1972, The Fountain newspaper] page 24 – Editorial: GAY INVOLVEMENT IN THE POLTICIAL COMMUNITY.
Below LEFT January 1973 issue of The Fountain newspaper follows the above RIGHT article. Below MIDDLE Page 3 of The January Fountain, GAY POLITICAL CAUCUS TO MEET. Below RIGHT in the February 1973 issue on the front page of The Fountain newspaper states, Human Relations Commissions Passes Gay Resolution and Oregon Gay Political Caucus maps strategy alongside Gay Teacher Wins!
Below LEFT Page 3 – Gay Rights Bill Drafted of the February 1973 The Fountain newspaper. Below RIGHT - within a month announced on the front page of The Fountain newspaper, March 1973 GAY RIGHTS BILL INTRODUCED IN OREGON LEGISLATURE
The Fountain newspaper, November 1972 front page talked about THE GAY VOTE [LEFT] and an ad for Vera Katz “paid for by Gays for Katz” [ABOVE]
Below LEFT front page of The Fountain newspaper, December 1972: PORTLAND HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION PASSES GAY RIGHTS RESOLUTION Below RIGHT on Page 3, December 1972, The Fountain newspaper “GAYS GOING TO LEGISLATURE”
Below LEFT on Page 9, December 1972 issue of The Fountain newspaper, “ACLU to oppose Accosting Laws.” Below RIGHT Front page of the January 1973 issue of The Fountain newspaper GAY TEACHER CASE UNDECIDED
