Yay, Oregon!

It feels good to be a former Oregonian--Gov. Kulongoski signed two bills yesterday, one which "allows same-sex couples to enter into contractual domestic partnerships with the same state benefits as married couples[,]" and another which "ban[s] discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in employment, housing, and public accomodations, and creating a civil cause of action for violations of the act." Both are pretty common-sense measures that are sure to make the Jerry Falwell crowd crazy. Civil unions/domestic partnerships are a step in the right direction, but marriage equality is what we really need--there are literally hundreds of benefits that married people enjoy under federal law that are still off limits.

So, I applaud the legislature and the governor for making some progress, and let's keep leaning on our elected officials to make them do the right thing!