When will Lon Mabon and the Oregon Citizens Alliance take the hint and in the wise words of Bart Simpson, get bent?
The OCA has put yet another ballot measure in front of the state’s voters, and this one is perhaps even more insidious than its previous efforts. Then again, when one is talking about Mabon’s track record, the continuum doesn’t range from bad to good,it just stops at horrible.
The measure — disgustingly titled the Student Protection Act by the OCA — would prohibit Oregon’s public schools from promoting or sanctioning anything in the curriculum or program regarding homosexuality or bisexuality.
The OCA has put forth such narrow-minded, mean-spiritied initiatives before of course. In 1990, the effort was to ban abortions. Another anti-gay measure — this one nearly ripped apart the state — made the ballot in 1992. Then in 1994, another shot at banning the use of public dollars to promote homosexuality hit the ballots.
All three failed, thankfully, but Mabon and his minions refused to return to the Stone Ages, from where apparently they emerged.
Now Measure 9 promises to generate another rancorous battle between the OCA and the fair-minded people who will step up and battle the group.
At least that’s what we hope happens. It’s scary to think that the measure even attracted the 66,786 required signatures to make the ballot. That’s the reality, however, and now it’s up to the rest of us to make it sure the measure goes no further.
If you do nothing else the rest of the summer, leading into the fall, tell two people to tell two people about this measure and that it needs to be defeated. Let’s just call it the Protection From the OCA Act.