Basic Rights Oregon Endorses Jeff Merkley for U.S. Senate

Basic Rights Oregon (BRO) has endorsed House Speaker Jeff Merkley’s campaign for U.S. Senate. Jeff led the fight for marriage equality in Oregon, creating domestic partnership benefits for the first time in state history.

"Jeff Merkley has been a strong ally on issues important to the LGBT community,” said Jeana Frazzini, Executive Director. “As House Speaker, Jeff led the charge on passing Oregon's domestic partnership law, giving committed couples the legal recognition they need to care for one another in a crisis. And he championed a nondiscrimination law that ensures that no one in Oregon can lose their home or be fired from their job just for being gay or lesbian. Jeff's leadership brought people together to do what was right for Oregon. We need a fighter like Jeff Merkley in the U.S. Senate."

“I am honored to fight alongside Basic Rights Oregon for real change in Oregon and America,” said House Speaker Jeff Merkley. “Together, we stood up to extremists and banned discrimination in Oregon. We created domestic partnerships because America is at its best when we are an open and tolerant place where every citizen has the opportunity to thrive. I am honored to have their endorsement and I look forward to fighting for these same progressive values in the U.S. Senate.”

Republican Gordon Smith twice voted for Constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage. In election years, to drum up right-wing support for their candidates, Republicans brought Constitutional amendments to ban same sex marriage to the Senate. Each time, Gordon Smith voted with the likes of Rick Santorum, Trent Lott and Bill Frist. Twice Smith voted with Republicans to strip the states of their rights to make this decision for themselves. Twice Smith voted against equality for all Americans. [Senate vote #155, 7/14/04; Senate vote #163, 6/7/06]

Jeff Merkley strongly supports marriage equality and will lead the way for equal rights in the U.S. Senate. His efforts in Oregon to legalize civil unions were so fierce that the Republican Speaker Karen Minnis threatened to have state police remove him from the Oregon House chamber in 2005.

In 2007 Merkley brought lawmakers together to legalize domestic partnerships for the first time in state history.

In the U.S. Senate, Merkley will oppose a constitutional ban on marriage equality, just like he actively campaigned against Ballot Measure 36. Merkley will also champion reforms like the landmark bill that banned discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Jeff Merkley spent his early years in Roseburg, Oregon, a community where the children of loggers and mill workers learned the value of honest work, good neighbors, and strong families. Jeff earned scholarships and became the first in his family to go to college. He went on to serve as a national security analyst, first for the Pentagon and then for Congress. After returning to Oregon with his wife Mary, Jeff led Habitat for Humanity and worked with low-income families to rebuild neighborhoods and purchase their first home.

As Oregon’s next U.S. Senator, Jeff Merkley will take on the special interests and fight hard for regular hardworking Oregonians. He will take on the big insurance and drug companies to make health care more affordable and accessible for all of us. He will end unfair trade deals that have cost Oregon 70,000 manufacturing jobs and will end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. And Jeff will end the war in Iraq, bring our sons and daughters home, and fulfill the commitment we have made to our veterans and men and women in uniform.

Today, Jeff Merkley lives in East Multnomah County with Mary, a professional nurse, and their two children, Jonathan age eleven and Brynne age ten.

Posted April 8, 2008
Endorsements, Press, Spotlight