Victory in Oregon!

This is an archive of the original Bastard Quarterly newsletter, edited by Damsel Plum and Charles Filius. It was published in print and on the web between 1997 and 2002.

Victory in Oregon!
by Helen Hill

November 3rd, 1998

(This feature first appeared in the Fall 1998 issue of the Bastard Quarterly.)

I am home, there are so many people in the streets of Portland fighting
the good fight this morning, I'm headed in later. I'm busy fine tuning
the myriad financial papers for the State and wrapping up my
responsibilities as chief petitioner.

When all that's done, I'm looking forward most of all to acting on a
vision that has held me and sustained me all year, the moment when I go
into the voting booth in our little town, pull that red white and blue
curtain closed, and quietly, with a prayer of gratitude for all of us
who have worked so hard, cast a yes vote for Measure 58...and all that
that means. One small pencil mark, one full year of hard work and hope.

Odd to have all the work of one year resolved and illuminated in one
moment of one day. I love the way the world works.

Whatever happens tonight, trust me, this was a win win endeavor.
We have gotten a conversation going now, a momentum, that won't end
here, that will only grow stronger. We are in the right and we know it.
We are making history.

The troops in Portland working the bridges and overpasses for one last
morning rush hour know it, they feel it on the streets.

A social experiment that we were unwittingly born into is dead, done,
over, caput. Today we watch the birth of truth and honesty begin and it
is almost like watching and participating in our own births, but this
time we are making it right. Today we are born again in truth, honesty
and integrity.

We have stood up and taken a strong stand, and dignified ourselves in
the process.

Bastard Nationals ALL, those AACers who supported the effort,
Birthmothers everywhere in and out of silence, those adoptive parents
and adoption workers and agencies who work and live in truth and
light...(and there are MANY out there who do, let's not forget them
because of the few who are corrupt):

I Give You Oregon!

Helen Hill

(This feature first appeared in the Fall 1998 issue of the Bastard Quarterly.)