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Eugene Oregon Embraces Gay Families
Eugene, Oregon
Gay and lesbian couples in Eugene, Oregon will be able to register their relationships under a new law passed by city council but, approval of the registry came at a cost to the transgendered.
The domestic partner registry was part of a series of revisions to Eugene's civil rights law, but in order to get the legislation passed councilors were forced to drop adding protections for the transgendered
The registry is symbolic, it has no legal authority, but the makes Eugene the third city in the state, after Portland and Ashland to offer the service.
Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey threatened to veto the entire package of human rights code amendments if the transgendered were included. Councilors voted to sever the protections for the transgendered and intersexed and return that portion to the Human Rights Commission for reexamination.
Torrey cited privacy and cost issues that might arise if transsexuals were entitled to their own facilities, or were allowed access to their choice of men's or women's restrooms, dressing rooms and showers.
But, Amanda Shepard of the Metropolitan Human Rights Center in Portland, which covers the transgendered in its human rights code said those concerns have not materialized during the time the protections have been on the books.
"There hasn't been anyone who has come forward saying they found anyone attempting to appear as a transgender person in order to gain access to a restroom of the opposite sex," she said. One case involving a transitioning person and a workplace dress code is headed for mediation.
This story provided by International News 365gay.com.
