Illinois Governor Pat Quinn (D) has announced that the recently passed (House vote 61-52 Senate vote 32-24)  Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act will be signed into law early in the new year, and the measure will go into effect on July 1, 2011.

On that date, Illinois will join California, Oregon, Washington, New Jersey and Nevada as the 6th state with a state-based scheme to comprehensively recognize and protect same-sex couples under state law as extensively as they can without giving them access to marriage.

Previously New Hampshire, Connecticut and Vermont had civil unions but have since enacted marriage equality. Iowa, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia also allow same-sex couples to marry.

Hawaii Legislature Sends Civil Unions Bill To Gov

The Hawaii Assembly completed work on HB444 by approving the measure by a vote of 31-20 months after rejecting the measure almost exactly three months ago. The bill passed the Senate by a veto-proof majority and in 2009 had passed the House by a veto-proof majority. Republican Governor Linda Lingle has not said whether she would sign the bill into law or not.
If HB444 does become law, Hawaii would join Oregon, Washington, California, New Jersey and Nevada who have comprehensive "everything but marriage" statutes.

Nevada Domestic Partnership Law Starts Today

Nevada's new comprehensive domestic partnership law, which was enacted over the Governor's veto earlier this summer, goes into effect today.

Here's a story from the Las Vegas Recorder-Journal about the first couple to get registered in the Silver State:

Tears fell from the eyes of Las Vegans Larry Davis and Lee W. Cagley today as they were handed domestic partnership certificate No. 1 by Secretary of State Ross Miller in the Capitol.

“We feel very fortunate,” said Cagley, an interior designer who redesigned the Governor’s Mansion in its original 1909 style when Miller’s mother, Sandy, was Nevada’s first lady.

“Someone had to be No. 1,” responded Ross Miller, a grin on his face.

His mother, who watched the couple receive their certificate, just smiled.

So far, 746 same- and opposite-sex couples have received domestic partnership certificates from the secretary of state’s offices in Las Vegas and Carson City.

Under a law that went into effect today, the couples gain virtually all the rights and responsibilities as married couples, although they are not considered married under state law.

Congratulations to Nevada in joining California, Oregon, and Washington with comprehensive domestic partnership laws. Unfortunately, in Washington, heterosexual supremacists have subjected the law to Referendum 71 which, unless REJECTED, would prevent the domestic partnership bill from going into effect.

If you know anyone in Washington State, tell them to Approve Referendum 71, in order for same-sex couples to be able register as domestic partnerships in that state.

Oregon's DP Law Safe From November Repeal

A 3-member panel of the 9th Circuit has upheld a ruling rejecting a lawsuit which was attempting to force a ballot measure to repeal the Oregon Family Fairness Act on November 4th.

Mad Professah has been following this case closely because I'm interested in gay rights advances generally and the political actions by heterosexual supremacists, specifically.

Also, in Oregon, their state constitution has been amended by a previous ballot measure passed in November 2004 to prohibit same-sex marriage, so strong domestic partnerships are the only legal protection gay and lesbian couples are eligible for.

Oregon Anti-LGBT Ballot Measures Unlikely To be Reinstated

Queerty has the goods on the oral argument that didn't go so well for the heterosexual supremacists who are trying to revive their anti-LGBT ballot measures for a vote on the November 2008 election in Oregon.

Domestic partnership opponents gathered signatures for a referendum that would delay the law from going into effect and put it up for a public vote. Elections officials said opponents came up about 100 short of the required 55,000 signatures, but the group complained that valid signatures had been rejected and filed a federal lawsuit.

U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman initially delayed the law from going into effect, but on Feb. 1 rejected the lawsuit.

Since then, 2,114 gay and lesbian couples have registered as domestic partners statewide.

[...]

The 9th Circuit judges didn't indicate when they will rule but will have to do so quickly if they want to reverse Mosman and order the referendum onto the Nov. 4 ballot.

Don Hamilton, a spokesman for the secretary of state's office, said the state's deadline for certifying initiatives is Aug. 2. The deadline for telling county elections officials what is going on the November ballot is Sept. 4.

The article also quotes Stephen Reinhardt being skeptical that Oregon's initiative statute is unconstitutional and seems to indicate the other two federal judges Harry Pregerson and Ted Goodwin agree.

Oregon LGBT Rights Laws Safe From November Repeal

The heterosexual supremacists in the state of Oregon that were attempting to repeal that state's recently enacted Oregon Family Fairnesss Act and Oregon Equality Act admitted today that they have failed to get enough signatures to put repeal measures on the November 4 ballot.

They had previously failed (by a mere 116 signatures!) to repeal the domestic partnership law (Oregon Family Fairness Act) back in October 2007. They were able to delay it from going into effect on time and are still engaged in a federal lawsuit to declare the law unconstitutional.

The Oregon Equality Act bans discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people in housing, employment, public accommodation, education and public services throughout the state.

Openly Gay Mayor of Portland, Oregon Elected

Little noticed by the mainstream media in the hullabaloo around the presidential primary election in Oregon yesterday was the election of Sam Adams, a 44-year-old openly gay man, as the next mayor of Portland, OR.
Adams avoided a November run-off by winning 58% of the vote in a crowded 11-person field.


By winning his election yesterday, when he is sworn in Sam Adams will become the first openly gay mayor of a Top 40 American city.

(hat/tip Joe.My.God and Pam's House Blend)

Obama's Huge Oregon Rally

The estimates have been between 70,000 and 75,000 people attended this rally in Portland, Oregon on Sunday night. The New York Times notes that big rallies do not necessarily correspond to big electoral victories in states, although Obama is expected to win Oregon's primary while Clinton will win Kentucky's primary today.

Oregon DP Law Enjoined From Going Into Effect January 1

The Oregon Family Fairness Act, a statewide domestic partnership act which was enacted by the Democratic-controlled Oregon Legislature and signed into law by Governor Ted Kulongoski on May 9, 2007 has been prevented from going to effect on Tuesday January 1 by an injunction issued at the behest of heterosexual supremacists at the Alliance Defense Fund in an ongoing dispute about whether enough signatures had been gathered to put a measure on the statewide ballot to repeal the measure. The Oregon Equality Act, a non-discrimination law which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity will go into effect on Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman issued the injunction late Friday December 28 and set a hearing date of February 1, 2008.

Oregon Heterosexual Supremacists Fail To Gather Signatures To Repeal Domestic partnerships

There is some good news today out of Oregon. As Mad Professah reported earlier this year, the Democratic-controlled Legislature passed both a non-discrimination bill called the Oregon Equality Act (inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity and covering employment, public accomodations, housing and other areas) as well as a domestic partnership bill (the Oregon Family Fairness Act) and both bills were signed into law on May 9, 2007 by Democratic Governor Ted Kulongoski.

However, soon afterwards heterosexual supremacists announced they would start collecting signatures to put the civil rights of the minority up to a majority vote, in the hopes that the majority would repeal both LGBT rights laws and prevent them from going into effect on January 1, 2008.

Yesterday came word that the evil doers collected 55,063 signatures to put a measure on the November 2008 ballot to place the Oregon Family Fairness Act on hold until then. Happily, they needed 55, 179 signatures so Oregon will join California and Washington with comprehensive domestic partnership laws in effect at the beginning of the year. However, they clearly came very very close (just 116 signatures) and are apparently not discouraged:

Sponsors of the referral effort had conceded in recent days that they probably hadn't gotten enough signatures. But they vowed to take another avenue to try to derail the laws — an initiative effort to repeal the laws outright. They would have until next July to collect 82,000 valid signatures to repeal each of the two laws.

"We're not discouraged," said former state Sen. Marylin Shannon, spokeswoman for the referral effort. "We definitely will file initiatives to repeal both of these laws. We are very optimistic about it."

[...]

Gay rights activists say that many of those couples plan to file for domestic partnership status as soon as the new law takes effect Jan. 1.

[...]

Oregon's domestic partnerships measure covers benefits relating to inheritance rights, child-rearing and custody, joint state tax filings, joint health, auto and homeowners insurance policies, visitation rights at hospitals and others. It does not affect federal benefits for married couples including Social Security and joint filing of federal tax returns.

Later this week, the Secretary of State will announce whether the heterosexual supremacists also failed to reach their signature goal to refer the Oregon Equality Act to the voters but most political observers expect that they will fail in this effort, since the domestic partnership act was the measure that provoked more voter opposition.

Congratulations to Basic Rights Oregon and fellow LGBT activists in our neighboring state!

UPDATE: Oregon Heterosexist Supremacists Targeting Recent LGBT Victories

Ahhh, here they come.... Thursday's Oregonian newspaper carried an article entitled "Gay-rights battle won; war still looms" about attempts by right-wing groups in Oregon to "refer" the two LGBT rights bills recently signed into law by the Governor to a majority vote by the Oregon eletorate (which is vote-by-mail only).

[...]

The Oregon Family Council, a Christian group that led the fight against the bills, on short notice summoned 500 pastors to Salem to lobby against them, said Tim Nashif, the group's political director. Rep. Diane Rosenbaum, D-Portland, chair of the House committee that held public hearings on the bills, received more than 1,000 calls and e-mails. Some were so threatening that she was escorted to and from public hearings by Oregon State Police officers.

But since the bills passed, calls and e-mails from both supporters and opponents have dwindled to a trickle.

That raises the question of whether there is sufficient momentum among opponents to put the two measures before voters in the November 2008 election. To do so, they must collect 55,179 signatures from registered voters within 90 days after the Legislature adjourns.

The Oregon Family Council proved it has the clout to organize a referendum with its successful campaign to put Measure 36 on the ballot. But the council says it will not refer the laws.

Jack Brown of Grants Pass, chairman of the Constitution Party of Oregon, says he and other members will. They are forming an independent committee to organize a referral effort and file with the Oregon Secretary of State by Monday, he said.

The group sees the anti-discrimination bill as granting special rights to gays and lesbians. And domestic partnerships fly in the face of Measure 36, Brown said. The bills represent "a flagrant violation of the public trust by elected representatives," he said.

[...]

The Oregon Family Fairness Act (enacts same-sex domestic partnerships in the state with several but not all the rights, responsibilities and benefits of marriage) and Oregon Equality Act (adds sexual orientation and gender identity to non-discrimination Oregon's statutes) would go into effect January 1, 2008 unless a ballot measure attempting to repeal the measures qualifies before then.

Basic Rights Oregon is the main group which has fought and defeated past anti-LGBT ballot measures in Oregon and will be the central organizers to defend the hard-fought victories of equal rights for all LGBT citizens of Oregon in the face of any future ballot measures.

Oregon Governor Signs LGBT Equality Bills Into Law

Ross William Hamilton/The Oregonian

A diarist named torridjoe at Daily Kos has the details of what was apparently an emotional bill signing ceremony by Governor Ted Kulongoski with over 100 LGBT activists and allies in attendance at The Capitol in Salem, Oregon on Wednesday. As torridjoe put it, this is "another reminder that ELECTIONS MATTER. These bills died in 2005 despite a Dem-led Senate and Governor's mansion; the House was still led by the GOP. In 2006 control flipped and--like magic, NOT!--now suddenly they are law."

Other sources also noted the attendance of former governor Barbara Roberts and the fact that today's historic signing ceremony of the Oregon Family Fairness Act (HB 2007) and the Oregon Equality Act (SB 2) was the culmination of at least 30 years of work. In fact, during his stint as a state legislator back in 1975 Kulongoski had introduced a bill to add sexual orientation to the list of categories protected from employment discrimination but the legislation was not enacted.

Both bills go into effect on Janury 1, 2008, if heterosexual supremacist groups do not file ballot initiatives to repeal either measure. In November 2004, Oregon narrowly passed a ballot measure to amend it's constitution to ban gay marriage and in the decade before that had been the site for nearly a dozen anti-gay ballot measures, almost all of which had been defeated, most notoriously Ballot Measure 9, which the fight against was made into an award-winning documentary by Heather MacDonald. So far, their have been no quotes from conservative "family" groups that they intend to put the civil rights of LGBT individuals of Oregon up for popular vote.

Oregon Completes West Coast Domestic Partnership Trifecta

365gay.com is reporting that the the Oregon legislature has passed HB 2007 (The Oregon Family Fairness Act) which would enact a statewide domestic partnership registry and bestow limited state recognition, responsibilities and benefits to registered domestic partners in the state similar to California's and Washington's domestic partner statutes. Governor Ted Kulongoski has said that he will sign the bill into law.

At the beginning of the year, California was the only state west of Pennsylvania to have a statewide domestic partnership statute. Now it is not even June and the entire west coast will be comprised of states that have statewide domestic partnership laws! (Alaska has their own drama with domestic partnership benefits for state employees which has been going on for years but I don't really consider them part of the "Left Coast" anyway.) In addition, New Hampshire has enacted a civil unions bill, New Jersey's previously enacted civil unions bill came into effect and Iowa, Oregon and Colorado are all very likely to pass sexual orientation and gender identity non-discrimination bills; Oregon and Iowa already have!

Oregon Legislature Enacts LGBT Rights Bill

The Oregon Senate passed the Oregon Equality Act by a vote of 19-7 today, sending it to Governor Ted Kulongoski who has said that he will sign it into law. Senate Bill 2 would prohibit discrimination in employment, housing and public accomodations on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The Oregon House passed the bill by a vote of 35-25 on Tuesday April 17. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force issued a press release congratulating Oregon on becoming the 17th state to enact a "gay rights law":

When the law goes into effect, an estimated 48.5 percent of the U.S. population will be protected from employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and 34 percent — more than one-third — will be protected on the basis of gender identity and expression.

[...]

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Inc., has been a longtime partner of Basic Rights Oregon, the statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights group. For more than a decade, the Task Force has provided ongoing strategic advice and training to Basic Rights Oregon staff and more than 100 leaders from across the state.

Congratulations, friendly neighborhood state to our North!