By DAVID BATES Of the News-Register
Two Yamhill County lawmakers are aiming to sponsor a statewide ballot initiative that would repeal Senate Bill 2, which the Legislature's Democratic leadership shepherded through last year to prohibit discrimination in housing and employment based on sexual orientation.
State Sen. Gary George, R-Newberg, and Rep. Kim Thatcher, R-Newberg, have submitted a ballot title to state elections officials, who announced this week that they will accept public comments on it through March 25.
The statutory amendment filed by George and Thatcher, who are partnering with Nazarene ministry worker Victor Vityukov of Salem, carries the following draft title: "Removes sexual orientation from statutes listing impermissible discrimination grounds; deletes other sexual orientation-related provisions."
While that clock is ticking, gay rights activists are seething over remarks George made to a reporter for Just Out, the state's flagship gay newspaper, which posted them on its website.
On Tuesday, Just Out posted on its blog excerpts from what it termed "an explosive interview" with George. The paper said the interview would be published in its entirety in its print edition of March 21.
The exchange between George and the reporter, not identified in the posting, includes this response to a question about what recourse employees have if they are fired because they're gay:
"As an employer, I don't wanna hear about it. This workplace is for work purposes. My advice to the gay community is shut up, just don't talk about it. If you walk around talking about what you do in the bedroom, you should be on the pervert channel."
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