Oregon Bishops Urge Defeat of 'Anti-homosexual' Ballot Measure
Episcopal News Service. October 1, 1992 [92200]
The Episcopal bishops in the state of Oregon are urging opposition to a ballot proposal known as "Measure 9" which critics charge would legalize discrimination against homosexuals throughout the state.
Bishop Robert Ladehoff of Oregon and Bishop Rustin Kimsey of Eastern Oregon released a pastoral letter to all parishes on September 24, calling on Episcopalians to consider the initiative in the light of their baptismal covenant that they "strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being."
"We believe Measure 9 violates the spirit of these positive and hopeful principles by creating an environment of suspicion and fear," the bishops wrote. The bishops have requested that their letter be read in all Oregon Episcopal Church parishes before the end of October.
Kimsey described the pastoral letter from the two Episcopal bishops as "unprecedented," adding that "the enormity of the situation forced us to respond."
"This kind of singling out of a particular group who become a whipping post for a lot of confusion and fear is extremely dangerous," said Kimsey. "This situation has become far more than a political issue," Ladehoff said. "There are serious moral issues and concern for basic justice at stake here."
Measure 9 was proposed by the Oregon Citizens Alliance (OCA), an organization of fundamentalist Christians who gathered enough petitions to put it on the November 3 general election ballot.
If it is adopted, Measure 9 would overturn successful gay rights ordinances in several Oregon cities and legally declare that "homosexuality, pedophilia, sadism and masochism [are] abnormal, wrong, unnatural, and perverse, and that these behaviors are to be discouraged and avoided."
Critics of the Oregon measure predict that similar ballot proposals across the country might follow if it is adopted. Lesbian and gay rights organizations in Oregon have charged that the measure has contributed to a rise in verbal harassment and bias-related assaults.
"The result of the initiative is an incredible amount of attention by all kinds of groups," said Kimsey in a telephone interview. "Measure 9 is the most talked about issue in the state right now," he added, "and there is a great deal of passion and heat surrounding this issue."
Kimsey suggested that a poor economic climate in the state has fueled "a kind of paranoia" that has focused on a visible gay rights movement in the western part of the state. "There is a lot of resentment and intense fear directed toward homosexuals, and this points out the danger that lurks in our society when any single group of people is targeted as a scapegoat for difficulties," he said.
From the beginning, the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, a statewide coalition of 16 member churches including Roman Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestant denominations, denounced Measure 9. Ladehoff reported that the Oregon diocesan convention overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to support Measure 9 when it met last January.
"Christians on both sides of the issue are quoting the Bible," Ladehoff said in an interview. "You can find the whole range of support and opposition throughout the churches."
"Our understanding of the life of Jesus is that he took his place beside the outcasts of his time and warned those who were so quick to judge," the bishops wrote in the pastoral letter. "Indeed, we believe that it was his very insistence on loving all people that resulted in his own death."
The bishops urged the Christian community to match "the stridency to condemn found within Measure 9" with "a stridency of tolerance." They reminded Episcopalians that "the Episcopal Church has acted consistently in affirming that homosexual persons are children of God, entitled to all the sacramental and pastoral resources of the church, and that their basic human rights deserve to be safeguarded...."
"My concern is what happens when the voting is over," Ladehoff said. "We may have a large percentage of voters -- perhaps nearly half of them -- thinking they have lost. I am devoting my energy toward what happens afterward."
Ladehoff said that the churches "are one place where we come together, no matter what our opinion on the measure." He said that after the election, "we will have a serious opportunity for some significant dialogue, and I think we can offer that in the church."