Ted Kulongoski

It has been more than 30 years since you introduced antidiscrimination legislation in the state house. Why has it still not passed? I've always had a deep underlying belief that if you can do a job--unless your lifestyle relates to the performance of your job--you're entitled to the job. Just because one's sexual orientation isn't the same as yours is not grounds to be fired any more than it is if you're black. I think the public has moved to an acceptance of that. Now what I think has happened is the Republicans have hijacked this issue and turned it into a political issue because they think there's some political value to it. Politicians basically see that this is a good issue to draw a divide among people. That's what has made it difficult.

It seems like a savvy political choice by you, then, to galvanize public support in the face of such positioning. After Oregon passed this constitutional amendment [banning] same-sex marriages, which I campaigned against [in 2004], I think everyone thought the political process would go dead on this issue. I put it back in the next legislative session two months after the election because I didn't want it to go dead. I like the task force because I don't want a political vacuum to be generated. I want the public to care about the debate.

Are there more reasons for your new task force than just pushing a pro-gay antidiscrimination bill? [I created it] actually to have a broad-based group of citizens sit down and look at this issue, so it isn't just elected officials introducing bills but a much broader base of people who say this is something that's long overdue in Oregon. What I want the group to do is to look at this whole area and recommend to the legislature a much broader concept than just the antidiscrimination issue. They have a big charge.

That charge includes examining the effects of other states' antidiscrimination laws, especially in business. What do you expect to find? I cannot emphasize enough that we're in a very competitive economy. Technology, all these other things that drive competitiveness internationally--you need the talent and skills, but it's the spirit that people bring too. And I think if we are going to succeed, no one can be left out. I think that's the fundamental issue about why you give people a chance. Why would you deny anyone that chance in a very competitive economy like today?

Do you have many gay friends? I have a number of friends who are priests, and they are celibate gay priests.

Did you grow up Catholic? I grew up in a Catholic boys' home. They taught me never to be judgmental about people. I have always believed in fairness and equality. It's the reason I went to law school, that I got into the labor movement. I thought this was a way I could best express this value of giving people a chance.