Bites for Rights is a fundraising event that supports Basic Rights Oregon’s work to ensure equality for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Oregonians. Equality advocates across the country look to Basic Rights Oregon’s Transgender Justice, Racial Justice and Marriage Equality Campaigns for inspiration on how to run ground-breaking, effective programs. With your support, Basic Rights Oregon is demonstrating how to effectively meet the needs of our diverse community while winning victories.

Racial Justice

At Basic Rights Oregon, we’re working to change the course of history by building a truly inclusive movement for LGBT and racial justice. Our opposition’s strategy has been very explicit: divide communities of color and LGBT communities and deny both communities their basic rights. Our strategy includes centralizing leadership of color in our efforts for justice and equality, with an eye toward creating communities, organizations and institutions that are responsive, inclusive and openly supportive of LGBT people of color. Because of this commitment, equality advocates across the country now look to Basic Rights Oregon’s model to understand how to build meaningful alliances across identity and race.

Transgender Justice

The national movement for equality also looks to Oregon for inspiration on how to build a truly inclusive movement that lifts up the policy priorities of the transgender community. Together with our Trans Policy Working Group, we’re pursuing inclusive health care for transgender Oregonians. We’re creating a roadmap to ensure that no one is denied the health care they need, and we’re laying the groundwork for a first-of-its-kind victory to secure trans-inclusive health care. With this campaign, Basic Rights Oregon has become a national pioneer in the fight for transgender justice.

Marriage Equality

Basic Rights Oregon is also blazing the trail forward in the national movement for marriage equality. All eyes are on Oregon, as we are poised to become the first state to win the freedom to marry by a vote of the people. In hopes of going to the ballot as soon as 2012, we’re working tirelessly to succeed in shifting public opinion in our favor. As part of this campaign to change hearts and minds on this issue, we aired television advertisements all across the state in March
and April. Hundreds of thousands of Oregonians saw, for the first time, committed gay couples on their TV screen, sharing their stories of why marriage matters. We’re so close to winning the freedom to marry in Oregon, and equality advocates across the country are looking to Basic Rights Oregon to be the first to succeed. To learn more about this groundbreaking campaign, visit http://love.marriagemattersoregon.org/.

Want to Get Involved?

To volunteer with Basic Rights Oregon, please visit www.basicrights.org or call us at
503.222.6151