I’m camped out on the concrete floor of the Q Center, waiting for Basic Rights Oregon director Jeana Frazzini to hop on an overturned stockpot (she’s short) to address the packed room. The center’s pretty big, and the crowd is spilling out into the rainy street—there are easily several hundred people here who are outraged that a federal judge postponed implementation of Oregon’s domestic partnership law.

Today, Basic Rights Oregon, Frazzini, and two pregnant lesbians in committed relationships filed to become interveners in the suit. The judge has two weeks to decide whether or not they can be part of the case, which would broaden it from a technical battle over election procedures to a case about civil rights.

More to follow…

5:50 pm — Kendall Clawson, executive director of the Q Center, is welcoming the crowd. “It’s been very bizarre for Michelle and I, because we are married in Massachusetts. We moved to Oregon thinking this was an easy one, it’s going to happen.”

The judge’s decision is “discouraging,” but it’s not going to stop us. “I’m thinking about all these people who are out here, mysterious, unbeknownst to us, they don’t know us, they don’t know me, Kendall, they don’t know the people standing around us… Let these people know that we’re not anonymous people. We’re people with children, partners, spouses, parents…. Every person who’s in here has a name, we’re not invisible people.”

She’s asked everyone to light their candles from their friends and family members’ candles—shortly, everyone’s candle was lit.

Now Jeana’s up, on the soup pot. “I’ve stood on a lot of soapboxes, but never a kettle.”

“I don’t know if there are words to describe the feeling of sitting in that courtroom last week… it was like a kick in the gut. It was like the day my son’s birth certificate arrived in the mail with my name crossed off of it. It was like the day we received our checks back from Multnomah County. It was like the day Measure 36 passed.”

“But I’ll be damned if I’m going to let this court decision stop me. This one decision is not going to knock us off our feet.”

“Not another day when right wing groups come into this state and try to tell us what we can and cannot do. Not another day. We are way too strong for that.”

And don’t forget, she reminded the crowd

“We have not lost our domestic partnership law.” BRO will fight. They intervened. “This gives us a seat at the table to join the state in defending this law. We will speak for ourselves, our voices will be heard in this process. And you can depend on Basic Rights Oregon to be there every step of the way.”

“They failed. They failed to put their hateful referendums on the ballot… so it’s not surprising they filed this lawsuit. It’s a last ditch effort to change the rules.”

“We know that we will ultimately win, and that fairness and equality with prevail in Oregon… the court got it wrong. The opposition can’t change the rules just because they don’t like the outcome. And it’s completely wrong to say this won’t hurt anyone.”

“So many of us were counting on having the basic recognition that domestic partnerships provide. Tonight is about getting our stories told.” The stories of parents without legal recognition of their children, of partners denied access to hospital rooms.

She’s calling on people to share their disappointment with everyone, and tell people how this impacts their lives.

“Winning against prejudice wins at the level of the heart, and we have a lot of heart… And we have to reach out to all of our straight supporters, because this is an assault on everyone who believes in fairness.”

She says there will be a rally across from the federal courthouse on January 30—”so we can be counted,” she says.

More after the cut, from electeds like Tina Kotek, Jeff Merkley, and Jeff Cogen.

Speaker of the Oregon House, Jeff Merkley just hopped up on the soup pot. "I thought I'd stand a little taller. This is a time when we need to stand taller, we need to stand visibly, we need to stand together."

Since HB 2007 and SB2 passed, he says he's been telling everyone how excited he is for 2008 when the laws take effect. "It's a brutal blow that we can celebrate only half of that," though he's excited that we can celebrate non-discrimination.

"We have hit a road block, we have hit a road block on domestic partnerships that we are going to solve," Merkley says. "We have been shoulder to shoulder on this for decades, and we are this close."

He says it's been an honor to be a part of this movement, and will be a greater honor when domestic partnerships happen.

Senate President Peter Courtney and senator Kate Brown are up—Brown hopped up on the pot, and Courtney says he stands tall by standing with her. "I feel a whole lot taller tonight" because of Brown's work for equality.

He says he "was stunned" when he heard Friday's news and had to change the comments he'd already prepared for what was supposed to be a celebration of domestic partnerships tonight.

He's quoting Amazing Grace:

Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come; ’Tis grace has brought me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home.

"My fellow Oregonians," Courtney says. "Keep the faith."

Representative Tina Kotek's up. "Thank you for being here tonight. It's really important for us to get together, to gain strength together."

"What happened last Friday affects all of us, every Oregonian who values respect and fairness." She was shocked when she heard the news, and immediately called her partner. Then she thought "which building do you want me to picket at tomorrow?"

"We all know this is an ongoing struggle. But I remain optimistic that this is only a temporary setback. I have no doubt that we will win on February 1. We won in Salem and we're going to win in court."

"And something really wonderful happened yesterday. It's illegal in this state to fire anyone because they're lesbian, gay, bi or trans... It's illegal to deny someone housing because of their sexual orientation," or to refuse to serve them in a restaurant or hotel, a "tremendous victory [and] irrefutable evidence" that we can win. "And now's our opportunity to do it one more time."

City Commissioner Sam Adams is up—and he's recognizing Mayor Tom Potter, "an early supporter" of LGBT issues. There's a "sense of weariness and despair" because the fight's been so long. But we need to keep fighting, for those who've fought before and "for the generation that has yet to come."

"We need to make sure it's not done in silence. We're going to raise a ruckus and let Portland and Oregon hear from us."

Emcee Alisa Simmons of Brother to Brother is noticing that plenty of "heros" are sneaking in, like Terry Bean.

County Commissioner Jeff Cogen's at the podium. "I was ready to celebrate tonight. And when I heard tonight's celebration was delayed, I was angry and depressed." But now he's "fired up," because of everyone who's here and what everyone's saying. "We have to keep the context. This is a delay, this is a slight glitch in the road toward freedom and equality. Oregonians believe in a fair and just society, we believe in rights for all. Everyone deserves basic equalities."

"We're not going to let out of state anti-family special interest groups" keep us from winning.

"In addition to being a politician, I'm a lawyer," he admitted, who can attest to how expensive it is to consult the best legal minds. He wants everyone to open their wallets. He's asking people to raise their hands if they'll contribute. Volunteers are passing out envelopes "that will give you an opportunity to turn your outrage into action."

Tina Kotek is giving $1000, he notes. "Collectively we can raise thousands of dollars tonight. Think about what you can afford, and then double it. This is the lawsuit. There isn't going to be a make up lawsuit."

"Freedom doesn't come cheap, and it doesn't come with just rhetoric," he concludes. (But hey, Jeff—nice fundraising rhetoric!)

And now we've got Glenn Goodfellow on the piano providing entertainment—because "it wouldn't be a queer event without entertainment," Simmons noted.

Now the mic's open to anyone to come up and explain why domestic partnerships are important to them.

Ted Wheeler's up, but a train outside is interrupting him. "It startles me that in 2008 we're still having this debate in the United States and in Oregon," whether people should be entitled to visit each other in the hospital or file a joint tax return.

As for those out of state interests? "We're going to send the bastards home empty handed," Wheeler says.

A lesbian couple hopped up—one is pregnant, expecting this month. Her partner is disappointed that she won't be recognized as a parent when the baby is born.

Tom Potter grabbed the mic. "We have right on our side. This is a morally right thing to do for our state, for our city, for our country."

"Honey, history, you can read it in two pages in a minute. But it takes a lifetime to live it," he says he told his gay daughter when Measure 36 passed. And we'll make history happen. "Keep up the good fight, and we will prevail."

Kathy and Lilah, partners of 21 years. "Until we have the right to have our relationships recognized, it won't feel like full equality to me," says Lilah, regardless of the non-discrimination law. She's concerned about being able to live in a retirement home with her partner someday.

Sylvia is here lighting a candle for her brother Juan and his partner Byron—who've been together for 12 years, and deserve the same rights as her husband and she does.

State Rep Diane Rosenbaum says the days the two bills passed were the proudest days for her as a legislator.