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To address a key point your more conservative speaker has repeatedly made this morning:

Throughout the history of this nation and the world, "core values" have come under attack when those values serve to limit the civil liberties of others. Many people once ignorantly held (and unfortunately some still do)among their "core values" the superiority of whites to others and men to women. The Constitution of the State of Oregon and that of the United States, upon which it is based, guarantee "equal protection" under the laws to all. This clause serves to protect the minority from an oppressive majority. And yet, simultaneously, the Constitutions, under free speech and privacy protections allow one to believe as one chooses; you simply cannot grant to your beliefs legislative effect.

Additionally, the speaker seems to have forgotten we live in a representative democracy. Her vote was not "taken away" by a Democratic "agenda." The people of Oregon spoke to their views of the "One Man, One Woman" movement through their legislators. To say the legislature contravened the will of the people of this state would completely discount the voice of the people as heard in electing their representatives.

Brook D. Wood
Portland
Lewis & Clark Law School 2L

posted 5 years, 3 months ago
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