Last Tuesday, a group of conservatives trotted out their own response to proposed civil unions. Sponsored by Rep. Dennis Richardson (R-Central Point), the bill, House Bill 3476, would establish a system similar to what Hawaii uses to placate its gays and lesbians–same-sex partners would receive reciprocal benefits, but otherwise couldn’t be married. Civil rights activists, who have pushed for full equality and legalization of same-sex marriages, have decried this latest “solution” as a compromise to a compromise.
The hearing on Tuesday for HB3476 drew far fewer people than last month’s hearing on Senate Bill 1000–which, as drafted, would have combined comprehensive civil unions for same-sex couples with nondiscrimination protections for sexual orientation. On the other hand, HB3476 provides a very limited set of benefits and does nothing to address or promote the equality of marriage rights for same-sex couples.
Supporters of HB3476, including Richardson and Oregon Family Council lobbyist Tootie Smith, testified last week that they chose the benefits to include in their bill largely on the basis of last year’s No On 36 ads. They claimed that they thought those were the only benefits same-sex couples cared about. Richardson added that he chose only the benefits that wouldn’t cost the state any money.
Opponents of the bill–like Basic Rights Oregon’s Roey Thorpe and ACLU’s David Fidanque–testified that they had no problems with reciprocal benefits but characterized HB3476 as a sham designed to give same-sex couples as few benefits as possible–all while appearing moderate.
“I think what’s clear is that this is a public face on what is nothing short of an anti-gay agenda,” Thorpe said. She added, “it’s ironic to me that the very people who say that there is no discrimination against gay and lesbian people are in the same breath telling you they’re against [SB1000] because it infringes on their right to discriminate when they want to.”
Meanwhile, Senate Bill 1073, which proposes legalizing civil unions in Oregon, is working its way through the Senate. It has officially been introduced in the Senate and was scheduled for a public hearing on Tuesday, after press time.