Oregon Ready to Add Sexual Orientation Question to College Forms

The bill has already passed the House on a vote of 40 to 19.

Oregon lawmakers to consider forcing colleges to ask students about their sexual orientation

(SALEM) - An Oregon Senate committee will consider legislation Thursday that would require colleges and universities to ask students about their sexual orientation.

The goal of the bill, sponsored by state Rep. Sara Gelser, D-Corvallis, and supported by Basic Rights Oregon, an advocacy organization for gay and transgender communities, is to collect data that would help address the issues lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual students may face during college. The question would be added to basic demographic forms and would be optional for students to fill out. It would also be kept confidential.

“Without standardized data collection, Oregon colleges and universities won’t be able to accurately asses and appropriately address the experiences of LGBT students, faculty and staff,” Dave Coburn, Associated Students of Portland State University Legislative Affairs Director, said in his testimony to the Senate Committee on Education and Workforce Development during a public hearing earlier this month. The committee will hold a work session on the legislation, House Bill 2995, Thursday at 1 p.m.

The bill has already passed the House on a vote of  40 to 19. Some Republican lawmakers said during a House floor debate last month that although the question on the form would be optional they feared some students might not realize that and fill it out anyway, leading to a concern for students’ privacy rights. Others were just uncomfortable with it, according to the Statesman Journal.

Source: NW Watchdog

http://watchdog.org/86318/oregon-bill-would-add-sexual-orientation-question-to-college-forms/