OREGON: Christian Group Files Measure To Legalize Anti-Gay Discrimination

An anti-gay Christian group has filed an Oregon ballot measure that would make it legal for businesses to refuse to provide wedding services to gay people on the grounds of religious belief.

The initiative comes after Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian launched a well-publicized investigation against a Gresham bakery that refused to provide a cake for a marriage between two women. "We are deeply concerned that even Oregon elected officials are becoming hostile towards religious freedom," said Teresa Harke, spokeswoman for Friends of Religious Freedom, a group formed to support the initiative campaign. Harke is also communications director for the Oregon Family Council, a group opposing the proposed initiative that would legalize same-sex marriage in the state. Jeana Frazzini, executive director of Basic Rights Oregon, the state's major gay-rights organization, said in a statement that "while we are all entitled to our religious beliefs, those beliefs don't entitle any of us to discriminate against others, or disobey laws that are already in place to ensure that everyone is treated equally."

The group must have the wording for the measure approved before it can begin collecting the required 87K signatures to place it on the 2014 ballot. (Tipped by JMG reader Sam)