Filled with more leather than Judas Priest’s tour bus, North Portland’s Amnesia Brewing was home to a Mercury-sponsored open forum on March 24th to discuss the problems facing motorcycle and scooter riders in the city. However, the packed symposium–which was equal parts bitchfest and call to civic action–proved the community will have to overcome (or […]
Scott Moore
Posted inNews
Truth-A-Phobic
Anti-Gay Bigots Spread More Lies
Shortly after Basic Rights Oregon announced its legal challenge last week to the state’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, the lead attorney for the Defense of Marriage Coalition (which put the ban on the ballot last year) replied with a terse press release. However, instead of discussing the merits of the case, the attorney, Kelly […]
Posted inNews
Too Little, Too Late?
Will Basic Rights Oregon’s New Lawsuit Stop Discrimination, or Send Gay Marriage Up in Flames? Scott Moore Takes a Close Look at BRO’s Batting Average.
“What are these guys waiting for?” That’s the question many supporters of gay rights were asking about Basic Rights Oregon’s decision to delay challenging the passage of the discriminatory Measure 36. During last year’s campaign season, many believed that if voters approved a constitutional ban on same-sex marriages, a lawsuit challenging the amendment would immediately […]
Posted inNews
A Kinder, Gentler Protest
Have The Police Actually Learned From Their Mistakes?
Chief Derrick Foxworth’s plan to humanize the police bureau’s handling of mass gatherings was tested at last Thursday’s Inauguration Day protest. And, by all accounts, the plan worked–at least, that is, until it was abandoned. According to Foxworth, the protest was preceded by multiple meetings with organizers, which eliminated many of the surprises that have […]
Posted inNews
A Showdown in Salem
Kulongoski Finally Pushes For Gay and Lesbian Rights
Last year, when the Multnomah County commissioners changed policy to allow same-sex couples to marry, they had hoped Governor Ted Kulongoski would stand behind them and support further changes around the state. Instead, he balked, largely staying mum throughout the controversy. But more recently, in his State of the State address a few weeks ago, […]
Posted inNews
We Hate “Hate”
Surprise! City Council Are Against Neo-Nazis
In their first meeting since adding Tom Potter and Sam Adams to the ranks, city council went way out on a limb by unanimously passing a wholly symbolic resolution–one that denounces hate and upholds racial tolerance. Proposed by commissioner Randy Leonard, the controversial stance was ostensibly in response to a widely and wildly publicized plan […]
Posted inNews
New Kid on the Block
Adams Brings Bright Ideas to City Politics
Sam Adams, the newest member of city council, explained a lot at his inauguration last Monday. He talked about plans for the next 100 days and he talked about what Portland needs to do to jumpstart its economy. But what he didn’t explain is why he hosted the event at PSU’s Native American Student Center […]
Posted inNews
A Mayor for the Children
Potter Borrows Heavily From Whitney Houston
After more than a year of campaign-trail platitudes, Tom Potter began his mayoral tenure last Monday with a brief inaugural address that, in classic Potter style, failed to give any hint as to what exact policies he will pursue from the mayor’s desk. Beginning with an uneasy comparison between children of today and the canaries […]
Posted inNews
20 Things Not Invited Back to 2005!
When we started the Mercury in 2000, we had one goal in mind: ridding Portland of every stinking hippie. With the last remaining few hippies safely imprisoned on Hawthorne, we now have the luxury of turning our attention to other nagging annoyances. While the following 20 things may have been popular in 2004, now it’s […]
Posted inNews
An Unholy Union
BRO Stands Aside as Republican Pushes for Unfair Civil Union Bill
When the 2005 state legislative session begins in January, Deschutes County-based REPUBLICAN Senator Ben Westlund plans to introduce a bill that will establish civil unions for same-sex couples in Oregon. Sounds good, right? Since the passage of Measure 36 dashed hopes for fully recognized marriages between same-sex couples, isn’t this precisely what gay and lesbian […]
Posted inNews
Ball’s in Their Court
Justices Left to Decide Fate for Same-Sex Marriages
Capping off months of legal briefs and speculation, last Wednesday the attorneys for and against same-sex marriage finally appeared in front of the Oregon Supreme Court. They were there to make oral arguments in the case of Li & Kennedy v. The State of Oregon–the ongoing legal battle waged by 11 same-sex couples to have […]
Posted inNews
Separate and Unequal
Will Civil Unions Be A Step Backward?
This past spring, when the State of Oregon deemed that 3,000 marriage licenses handed out to same-sex couples were invalid, 11 of those couples sued. Immediately, the American Civil Liberties Union jumped into the legal fray and proudly carried the banner for same-sex couples, saying that the equal protection clause in the state’s constitution guarantees […]