SALEM, Ore. — The Oregon Legislature has been in session for just over a week now, but some recent moves by Republican lawmakers have already upset people at the capitol. Multiple members of the GOP caucus have made statements targeting LGBTQ+ people or religious minorities.
'No to Gay Pride Month'
Also a city councilor in Grants Pass, Rep. Dwayne Yunker was appointed to fill the seat of Rep. Lily Morgan after she resigned to take another job.
His blog post, titled "No to Gay Pride Month," talks about he was upset that the Grants Pass mayor read a proclamation in support of Pride Month this summer.
He wrote, "I stand on Biblical truths and am opposed to the transgender movement. ... It is shocking that any adult would endorse this child abuse."
Yunker went on to say that transgender kids should not get gender-affirming health care or play on sports teams that align with their gender, and falsely claimed that drag queens are pedophiles, a homophobic slander that has been used for decades.
KGW reached out to Yunker, who did not respond.
'You don’t want a Muslim' to serve in elected office
Republican Rep. E. Werner Reschke, who represents Southern Deschutes County and Eastern Klamath County, appeared on a conservative Facebook livestream last month and claimed that non-Christians should not serve in government.
"You don't want a materialist, you don't want an atheist, you don't want a Muslim," he began. "You want somebody who understands what truth is and understands the nature of man, the nature of government, and the nature of God. If you don't understand those things, you're gonna get things wrong, and in Oregon, that's a classic example: We have a lot of people who are godless unfortunately leading the way, and it's the blind leading the blind."
KGW reached out to Reschke, and he also didn't respond.
The statements by Yunker were first reported by the Oregon Capital Chronicle. The statements from Reschke were first reported by OPB.
Yet another transphobic sports bill
Introduced by Republican Rep. Christine Goodwin, House Bill 4054 would ban "biological males" from competing in female sports.
She wrote, "The modern left expects us to go along with the false reality that a man who thinks he's a woman has no biological advantage over women. Allowing boys to compete in physical sports with women is both dangerous and wrong, and the ideology behind it is fundamentally anti-woman."
So far, the bill has not been scheduled for any hearing.
Why the vitriol?
Oregon has 37 Republicans serving in the Legislature this year, and these are only three of them. Are they extreme outliers, or is this a reflection of the Republican Party in Oregon as a whole?
"It is not an outlier situation," said Jim Moore, a political science professor at Pacific University. "What they are doing is they are specifically proposing bills that are on the books in other states that have been put on the books in the past few years or floating ideas that are being actively talked about in other states — so, in effect, it's the nationalization of these social conservative issues that's coming to Oregon, not anything that's popping up from Oregon per se."
Moore said that things like bills barring trans kids from sports are usually made-to-order bills that come up in state government all around the country.
"I would bet that if we looked at the proposals, they're exact copies of what's been in other states," he said. "There are groups — one pretty famous, one that works with conservatives — that actually float out legislation, 'Here's legislation you can take to your state to put in in the system, word-for-word.' And so, it's identical laws in other states. So that's where I would bet is happening here."
In a state like Oregon, anti-trans bills, for example, are doomed to fail, so why even make the effort?
Moore said that it has to do with drumming up the Republican voters in Oregon, especially during an election year.
"Things like this, because they're going to fail, you can use in the 2024 election to try to drive turnout. Remember, Donald Trump is going to lose in Oregon," Moore explained. "There's just no question about that, but can there be a Republican turnout so the Republicans keep the (Oregon's 5th Congressional District) with Lori Chavez-DeRemer?"
"They get enough votes that they can flip (Oregon's 6th Congressional District)," Moore continued. "Andrea Salinas is going to face Mike Erickson, so that there's a lot of movement here that will generate support if it lasts this long."
KGW reached out to the leader of Oregon's House Republicans, Rep. Jeff Helfrich, who did not respond.
But Senate Majority Leader Kate Lieber, a Democrat, put out a statement condemning some of the Republicans:
"I am deeply alarmed by the dishonest and disrespectful statements made by Representative Dwayne Yunker. As leaders, our words have power. These categorically false statements from Representative Yunker, and other divisive anti-LGBTQ+ proposals in the legislature, put Oregonians in danger — anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes are on the rise.
"I welcome every Oregonian and leader representing them to have open, honest conversations about our values as a state, but promoting hate and harm towards our fellow citizens is never okay."