GAY RIGHTS 1990s
https://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/gay_lesbian_rights_movement/#.XozFdohKiUl
Emboldened, the OCA expanded its efforts, sponsoring fiercely contested statewide ballot measures in 1992 and 1994. The ballot measures were attempts to curtail gay rights, to require the state to take anti-gay stands, and to forbid state and local governments from passing anti-discrimination laws. Both OCA measures were defeated, in part due to a strong urban vote against them.
Many voters in rural Oregon felt differently, which led the OCA to soon achieve anti-gay rights laws in twenty-seven cities and counties in the state. Gail Shibley, Oregon's first openly lesbian or gay legislator (first appointed in 1991) worked with others in the 1993 Oregon legislature to pass a state law prohibiting local communities from enforcing discriminatory ordinances. This, plus a 1996 U.S. Supreme Court decision that knocked down an anti-gay constitutional amendment in Colorado, hamstrung the OCA campaign at the local level.
Still riding a wave of popularity in the early 1990s, however, the OCA sponsored anti-gay rights campaigns in the neighboring states of Washington and Idaho. Gay rights supporters quickly formed "Hands Off Washington," which successfully ended OCA efforts there. In Idaho, however, OCA members formed the Idaho Citizens Alliance. It succeeded in placing a measure similar to Measure 9 on the Idaho ballot in 1994. The measure failed, but only by the narrowest of margins.
In 1993, amid all this conservative backlash, Hawaiian courts determined that there was no compelling reason why that state should not extend marriage rights to gays. Overnight, gay rights supporters and detractors found themselves pitted against each other over the issue of marriage. The federal government adopted the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, disallowing federal benefits to gays where they might marry and making it possible for states to refuse to recognize marriages between members of the same sex, even if they took place in states where it was legal. By 2010, forty-one states had adopted laws or constitutional amendments preventing gays from marrying; only five states and the District of Columbia allowed it. [portion of essay, balance in other Gay Rights years].
1991
Gail Shibley becomes the first open lesbian to join the state legislature.
1991
The Oregon Citizen’s Alliance (OCA) files and initiative petition for a constitutional amendment that becomes Measure 9 on the November 1992 ballot. The measure would require government and schools to recognize homosexuality as being abnormal, and the measure lumps homosexuality with pedophilia, bestiality, sadism and masochism.
1991
Several employees at Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) sign up their partners for health insurance by scratching out the word “spouse” and replacing it with “domestic partner” on the insurance forms. The act leads to the Tanner versus OHSU lawsuit.
1991
The Portland City Council adopts a civil rights ordinance that bans discrimination based on sexual orientation in housing, employment and public accommodations.
1991
Five lesbian couples file for marriage licenses at the Multnomah County Marriage License office. Their requests are denied. The Lesbian Community Project organized the event as part of National Coming Out Day.
1994 For politics, it wasn’t until George Eighmey was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives in 1994, that there the first openly gay Oregon Representative serving in state politics. [SEE 1991 WITH GAIL SHIBLEY]
1992
Multnomah County becomes the first public employer in Oregon to extend health benefits to domestic partners of county employees. The benefits become effective on July 1, 1993.
1992
The Oregon Court of Appeals strikes down 1988’s Ballot Measure 8 as being unconstitutional.1992
In May, voters in Springfield, Oregon pass an OCA-sponsored ballot measure that prohibits the city from offering human rights protection to homosexuals. Voters in Corvallis reject a similar measure.
1992
Measure 9 is defeated at the polls in Nov. The OCA vows to take issue to smaller towns, which become commonly known as "Son of 9" measures.
1992
The Oregon Court of Appeals strikes down OCA’s 1988 Ballot Measure 8 as being unconstitutional
1993
The OCA sponsors anti-gay ballot measures in cities and counties throughout the state. By March of 1994, the OCA has 20 wins despite a state law that bars cities and counties from enforcing these “son-of-9” ballot measures.
1993
In June, The City of Portland extends health benefits to domestic
partners of city employees.
1994
Oregon voters defeat the OCA’s anti-gay ballot Measure 13, which would have amended the state constitution to prohibit governments from extending anti-discrimination protections to homosexuals.
1996
Basic Rights Oregon forms.
1996
The Oregonian editorializes against same-sex marriage.
1997
Eugene extends health benefits to city employee domestic partners.
1998
The Portland City Council passes a resolution that implements nondiscrimination protections on the basis of gender (transgender or transsexual) identity.
1999
Scott Meisner, Eugene’s first openly gay council member, becomes president of the city council. The unanimous vote by other council members places him second in command behind the mayor.