"Equality is being on an even playing field," says Heather Crow-Martinez, the program director for a community mental health and addictions treatment/prevention program in Madras. "It means affording everyone the same fundamental opportunity, treatment, basic respect and dignity."

When it comes to the fight for equality, Crow-Martinez cuts to the heart of the issue: "Frankly, if every Oregonian was automatically, by virtue of birth, afforded equality as the Constitution proclaims, there would be no need for the fight for equality."

A member of the Warm Springs Indian tribe, she acknowledges that equality does not yet exist in Oregon. She says, "I'll go to bat for individuals and groups being mistreated, ignored, or oppressed by mainstream culture. As a heterosexual person of color, I am convinced that I can relate to gays and lesbians who have about as much control over their sexual preference as I do over my brown skin."

Her job puts her in touch with many people who have experienced oppression due to poverty, poor education, or being a racial or ethnic minority. "In my role as an advocate, nothing brings me greater joy and satisfaction than to see previously oppressed people rise above it, push back, and become empowered."

Crow-Martinez says that when she hears about discrimination against someone because of his or her sexual orientation or gender, "it outrages me the same way it does when a person of color is discriminated against. What's really sickening is that in this age of 'political correctness,' many people know better than to criticize or mistreat someone based upon their color, but they seem to think it's not politically incorrect to openly discriminate against people with a sexual orientation different than their own."

"It's absolutely a no-brainer to me that gay and lesbian people should be afforded the same rights, as well as opportunities free of discrimination, as any heterosexual Oregonian," she says.  "While it's sad that they have to work to seek said basic rights, it is our current reality. I'm not afraid to walk beside them in this endeavor."