First, we can't lose sight of how far we have come, despite our frustration and occasional disappointment with the challenges of creating deep and lasting social change.

The vote on SB 1000 in the Senate was historic. The outpouring of support from every corner of our state has been transformative. Never before have we rallied on the steps of the Capitol – not once, but twice in one session – with hundreds of Oregonians calling for equality and fairness.

Nearly every progressive group in this state has taken a beating this session and almost all of them gave up months ago, but we haven't given up. We have made the Speaker of the House fear our political power to such a degree that she resorted to political trickery to block a hearing and vote on SB 1000. And in these final days of the session, we continue to push the Speaker and our opposition to contend with our fight for fairness.

Deep social change takes time. We are not working for momentary victories, but lasting equality, which means that we have to keep fighting, keep building a movement, keep working together even when we are disappointed. We are only defeated when we give up.

BRO is fighting until the very end to pass nondiscrimination and civil unions legislation. What's next depends largely on the outcome of this fight, but we are evaluating a number of options and in just a few weeks will seek public input statewide about the direction we should take and feedback about how we'll get there together.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 at 10:12 AM.