In the November 2004 general election, Oregon was among 11 states that passed ballot measures banning same-sex marriage — 57 percent of the state's voters approved the measure.

But now, Basic Rights Oregon (BRO) has announced it is exploring a Marriage 2012 campaign, and simultaneously organized an advisory group made up of community leaders and campaign professionals to help finalize that decision in the coming weeks.

Volunteers have recently been working the phone bank at the BRO’s Eugene headquarters, trying to gauge support for marriage equality in the state.

The state’s leading marriage equality foe, the Oregon Family Council, has promised to give BRO “the fight of their lives to protect marriage” if they start a ballot measure campaign.

If BRO is successful, and Oregon becomes the seventh state to legalize same-sex marriage, it would be the first state to do so via popular vote, and the first to overturn a constitutional ban.

“Deciding whether to go to the ballot is not something we take lightly nor a decision we will make alone,” said BRO Executive Director Jeana Frazzini in a statement on group’s website.

“We want to hear from the experts and leaders on the Advisory Group as well as from the larger LGBT and allied community, because we cannot move forward unless we have a viable ballot measure as well as a supportive and engaged base of support," she said.

The change is a conscious effort to attract younger voters -- as well as more gays and lesbians -- to the party, said one party member.

Wording that essentially condemned same-sex marriage and civil unions, and that stated such couples were unfit to be parents, was removed from the official party platform during a weekend convention in Bend.

"We want the public to take another look at the Republican Party and our policies," said Greg Leo, spokesman for the state party. "It's fair to say we're more centrist."

The once-dominant party has faded in Oregon. Democrats hold every statewide office and no Republican has been elected governor since 1987.

The Oregonian

According to Ken Taylor, chairman of the Crook County Republican Party, the platform remains very pro-traditional family.

"We removed some wording that some felt was offensive," Taylor said. "But we are still the party of traditional family values."

Leo said that language supporting marriage as between one man and one woman remains intact in the platform, but that merely comports with Oregon's constitution.

Dillan Cashman

According to police, Cashman and another man approached the victim at Lovejoy Park and called them gay slurs, and later attacked one of the men.

Officers arrived and spoke with the 30-year-old victim who told police that he was walking through the park with another male and that they had their arms wrapped around each other as they walked.

The victim told officers that they were approached by two males, one of which began insulting them with anti-gay slurs. The victim and his friend left the area but the victim later returned to contact the suspect who was using anti-gay slurs. The victim saw the suspect on a balcony next to the park so the victim told the suspect that his comments were out of line.

The suspect left the apartment, came out to the park, and assaulted the victim.

Portland Police Bureau, via KATU-TV

Officers are calling the assault on Andrew Dempsey-Gluth, 30, a bias crime.

The reported followed a rally Saturday night where Portland's LGBT community took to the streets and vowed to take a stand against violence following three other recent anti-gay attacks.

Shawn Siefke (left) and Christian Sanchez-Villavencio

Portland Police spokesperson, Lt. Robert King, said just before 3 a.m. Saturday morning, 28-year-old Shawn Siefke and 21-year-old Christian Sanchez-Villavencio asked a man walking in Old Town for directions, then began to harass him, calling him derogatory gay names and pushing him to the ground.

Andrew Smith, a 24-year-old from Newport, Oregon, was in Portland attending a concert with his friend Friday night, and saw the man being harassed by Siefke and Sanchez-Villavencio, and stepped in to defend him. [...]

Smith said before he knew it, punches were thrown and he was face down on the ground being kicked in the head.

via: KOIN-TV

Detectives charged Siefke with Assault in the third degree and Intimidation in the second degree, and Sanchez-Villavencio with Assault in the third degree.

Portland's Just Out blog reports:

Portland is now the third municipality in the country to provide trans-inclusive care to its employees. The city already provided coverage for counseling and hormone treatment, but has now added surgical benefits.

The mayor said in his opening comments that extending full-coverage to transgender city employees is both good business and the right thing to do. Adams pointed out that a number of major corporations such as Nike, Kraft and Coca-Cola already provide such benefits, but said that, above all, extending coverage is an issue of basic fairness.

“To the trans community of Portland, who each and every day makes this city a better place, it is my honor and privilege to serve on a city council that can bring an ounce of fairness in return,” Mayor Adams said.

According to the city’s Human Resources Department, the city will cover 80-percent of the surgery.

San Francisco became the first city in the country to cover sex-change surgeries for employees back in 2001. Portland is the first city government in Oregon to offer the coverage, although Oregon's Multnomah County also provides the benefits.

Just Out blog reports:

Demonstrators packed into the space beneath the west side of the bridge at about 7:30 p.m., spilling over onto the ramp and stairs to hear from the attack’s survivors, Brad Forkner and Christopher Rosevear. Afterward, the crowd filed down both sides of the bridge with hands held. Despite being tightly packed together, some attendees could not fit on the bridge.

More than 2,800 people had responded that they were attending on a Facebook page for the event. More than 1,200 were “maybes.” The demonstration was organized by BRO, Q Center, Cascade AIDS Project and Pride Northwest.

Pictures don't do this event justice -- watch this video:

On May 25, Forkner, 23, and Rosevear, 25, told investigators they were attacked by several suspects while walking hand-in-hand in Waterfront Park, adjacent to the bridge.

Portland Mayor Sam Adams, who is openly gay and addressed the crowd on Sunday night, said last week, “Any two people in Portland should be able to take a walk, hand in hand, without fearing for their safety.”

The Cascade AIDS Project has launched a campaign on their Facebook page encouraging people to hold hands in public.

Portland's Hawthorne Bridge

Brad Forkner, 23, and Christopher Rosevear, 25, told investigators they were attacked by several suspects on Sunday night while walking hand-in-hand in Waterfront Park, reported KPTV-TV.

As the pair walked, police say, they noticed several men behind them who were talking, laughing and pointing, but they weren’t sure if it was directed at them.

Police say the attack happened as Forkner and Rosevear walked from the bridge to the trail toward the East Bank Esplanade.

The pair told officers the men pushed and punched Forkner before he managed to break away and call 911.

Police say the attackers hit Rosevear in the head, face, back and ribs before running off.

Forkner said he is most disturbed by the fact that bystanders on the bridge failed to respond to the attack, which took place while it was still light out.

Portland Mayor Sam Adams, who is openly gay, issued a statement Tuesday and said, "Any two people in Portland should be able to take a walk, hand in hand, without fearing for their safety."

VIA QUEERTY.COM

Seth Stambaugh

Seth Stambaugh, the gay graduate student from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, OR -- who had been fired Sept. 15 after a parent, whose child was enrolled in a 4th grade class that Stambaugh was student teaching at Sexton Mountain Elementary School in Beaverton, filed a complaint -- has been rehired by the school district's superintendent.

According to Stambaugh, he was fired based on a conversation in which he was asked by the student about his marital status. Stambaugh stated it would be illegal for him to marry because he would choose to marry a man.

In a press conference, Stambaugh's attorney Lake Perriguey told reporters Stambaugh was reinstated Thursday by the Beaverton School District. Perriguey said the offer of reinstatement came at an afternoon meeting at Lewis and Clark.

Addressing the gathered media, Stambaugh told reporters that he was thrilled to have his position back after being dismissed for the conversation about gay marriage.

“This is a huge teachable moment I'm glad I can be back in the classroom with the students I gained a great rapport with.”

When asked by a reporter whether he planned to file a discrimination lawsuit, Stambaugh told him, “I’d prefer not to.”

Stambaugh will resume his student teaching duties at the Elementary School next Thursday, returning him to his normal routine of a Thursday and Friday schedule.

Delphine

Marc Delphine, an Oregon financial planner, has filed as a candidate for the U.S. Senate Monday, seeking the Libertarian Party nomination.

According to JustOut.com:

Delphine is the first openly gay candidate to run for federal office in Oregon’s history.

Delphine will formally announce the campaign launch in the State Capitol tomorrow morning, during which he’ll emphasize “Principle-Centered Leadership.” The platform highlights “individual liberty, personal responsibility and equal opportunity.”

In a statement on his website, Delphine writes:

Since governments, when instituted, must not violate individual rights, I oppose all interference by government in the areas of voluntary and contractual relations among individuals (gay-marriage is an example of this). People should not be forced to sacrifice their lives and property for the benefit of others. They should be left free by government to deal with one another as free traders; and the resultant economic system, the only one compatible with the protection of individual rights, is the free market.