"If you walk around talking about what you do in the bedroom, you should be on the pervert channel." - Oregon Senator Gary George
(McMINNVILLE, Ore.) - A statewide ballot initiative is in the works that would repeal Oregon's landmark gay rights law passed by the 2007 Legislature. The measure prohibits discrimination in housing and employment based on sexual orientation.
The lawmakers who want to reverse the protection and allow discrimination against gay people are Senator Gary George and State Representative Kim Thatcher, both of Newberg.
Although he told the AP that his remark was taken out of context, George compared homosexuality to perversion during an interview with Just Out, Oregon's biggest gay newspaper.
"As an employer, I don't wanna hear about it," George told magazine Just Out. "This workplace is for work purposes. My advice to the gay community is shut up, just don't talk about it. If you walk around talking about what you do in the bedroom, you should be on the pervert channel."
The words came during George's first media interview since coming forward as co-sponsor of the initiative to repeal the recently enacted Oregon Equality Act.
According to Just Out, "George railed against gay activists and affirmative action, and warned that if gays continued to be 'oppressive toward straights,' they were in danger of 'violent backlash.'"
Basic Rights Oregon officials told reporters that the proposed initiative was expected, but they criticized the two Republican lawmakers for their role.
George's exchanges with Oregon's gay community are not likely to end any time soon, as the article from Just Out has only been offered in excerpts so far, and the magazine with the full article is due out March 21st 2008.
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