Weekly Update: Five Ways to Take Action for LGBTQ+ Oregonians This Weekend
Welcome to Basic Rights Oregon’s weekly newsletter, where we update you on the LGBTQ+ news you should know, things you can do, and ways you can help. If you have questions, reach out here. To receive this newsletter as a weekly email, signup for email updates at the bottom of our Contact Us page. BRO’s work—including this newsletter—is funded entirely by our supporters. Donate here.
A very gay Friday to you, BRO friends!
Our communications staff is on vacation this week, so we’ve got a shorter-than-usual newsletter for you this week, focusing on five ways you can take action and resist this weekend.
Here’s what you can do:
Show Up: The Oregon Legislature is tasked with figuring out a complex budget this year, and there are a lot of competing priorities. Lawmakers are traveling across the state as part of the Ways & Means Roadshow, an opportunity for all Oregonians to give their input on what needs funding. As the federal government strips away funding for basic services, we need to make sure the budget reflects Oregon’s values and doesn’t cater to the rich and powerful! These sessions are the single best way to have your voice heard about the state budget. Sign up to attend one in your area today! You can select Basic Rights Oregon as your organization in the form.
Volunteer: As you may have heard, we’ve got a campaign to affirm same-gender marriage equality, transgender rights, and reproductive freedom in the Oregon Constitution. We need to collect a lot of signatures to make it to the 2026 ballot, and you can help! Sign up for volunteer training here—and if you can’t make those times, sign up for more opportunities here.
Donate: Our Basic Rights PAC recently made endorsements for school board races in May! Here is a list of our choices for endorsements. We’ve seen in Oregon that school boards are often testing grounds for extremist policies and anti-LGBTQ+ hysteria—and now, school inclusivity is being attacked by the federal government as well. Our PAC also supports some candidates financially, so a donation there can go a long way to keeping Oregon schools inclusive.
Protest: Saturday, April 5 is a nationwide protest day against the Trump administration’s extremist policies. You can join the crowds calling for hands off our bodies and our rights by finding an Oregon event near you here.
Sign up or share: LGBTQ+ foster youth need safe and supportive homes. We’re co-hosting another Fostering Pride event on July 1! This is an event for anyone curious about becoming an LGBTQ-inclusive resource (foster) parent in Oregon. Youth with lived experience, resource families, therapeutic foster care program staff, and Child Welfare recruitment professionals will be present to speak on this topic and answer questions you may have. No commitment is required to attend! You can sign up to attend here, or help us spread the word.
THANK YOU for supporting Basic Rights Oregon, and for taking action this weekend! We’ll be back next week with the regular format and lots of news updates.