Local elected leaders and homeless service providers participated in a roundtable on homelessness with U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Oregon, in Oregon City on Jan. 25, 2024.
Julia Shumway / Oregon Capital Chronicle
After campaigning for the state Legislature as a supporter of LGBTQ+ rights six years ago, U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer has a mixed record in Congress on these issues.
She introduced a bill to automatically reverse the dishonorable discharges given to gay members of the military because of their sexual orientation, and she voted against an amendment to an appropriation’s bill that would have stopped the Department of Defense from acknowledging Pride Month.
But she also co-sponsored and voted for a “Parents’ Bill of Rights” backed by anti-LGBTQ+ groups that requires schools to consult with parents before allowing students to use different names or pronouns at school — a provision some fear could put trans students in danger from parents who don’t accept them. And she voted for bills to ban transgender girls from playing girls’ sports and prohibit the Department of Veterans Affairs from providing hormone therapy or flying Pride flags.
Chavez-DeRemer’s stances on LGBTQ+ rights — and abortion access — have drawn heightened interest in her reelection campaign against Democratic state Rep. Janelle Bynum. She represents Oregon’s 5th Congressional District, which stretches from Portland to Bend and is among a few districts nationwide that could determine which party controls the House.
Related: In key Oregon swing district, US House candidates face uphill battle for moderate vote
In 2023, LGBTQ+ students at Central Oregon Community College called on their school to revoke an invitation for Chavez-DeRemer to deliver the school’s commencement address. The college’s president apologized, saying she “misjudged the potential impacts of inviting a political person,” but Chavez-DeRemer’s speech went ahead as planned.
Chavez-DeRemer defended her record in a statement to the Capital Chronicle, saying she was proud to support the LGBTQ+ community and will continue working to promote equality in Congress.
“As a member of the Education and Workforce Committee, I tried to kill the amendment to the Parents’ Bill of Rights that would result in transgender students being outed to their parents,” Chavez-DeRemer said in a statement. “I’ve also fought to right the wrongs of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell by pushing for legislation that would ensure veterans who were dishonorably discharged due to their sexual orientation automatically have their status upgraded. To help more couples start or grow their families, I’m leading bipartisan legislation that would make IVF more affordable.”
A mixed record
Throughout her unsuccessful 2016 and 2018 campaigns for state House, her victorious 2022 congressional campaign and her current bid for reelection, Chavez-DeRemer has cast herself as a moderate, though she has been criticized for flip-flopping on abortion rights, telling some voters she supported them and others she opposed them.
On her 2018 campaign website, she wrote that she “support(ed) equality for our LGBTQ communities, stronger environmental protections, and support(ed) a woman’s right to choose.” Her current campaign website doesn’t mention any issues, while her 2022 campaign website highlighted her support for a parents’ bill of rights and opposition to “divisive and politically charged issues” in the classroom, “critical race theory” and “multiculturalism.”
Related: On anniversary of Dobbs decision, Oregon congressional candidates chime in on abortion
Once elected, Chavez-DeRemer co-sponsored House Resolution 5, dubbed the Parents Bill of Rights Act, which passed the House with only Republican votes in March 2023. The measure allows parents to inspect all school library books and review curricula and requires schools to inform parents if their children seek to change their names or pronouns. That last section resulted from a committee amendment from Virginia Republican Rep. Bob Good, and was the one Chavez-DeRemer said she opposed.
She didn’t have any problems with House Resolution 734, a bill she co-sponsored and voted for to prohibit schools from allowing transgender girls to compete in girls’ sports. The bill hasn’t been taken up in the Democrat-controlled Senate, and transgender student athletes are now subject to different rules in different states.
Bills on veterans, IVF
In other instances, Chavez-DeRemer has introduced her own version of bills long supported by Democrats. That was the case with House Resolution 7411, the Recover Pride in Service Act, which she introduced with 12 Republican co-sponsors to reverse dishonorable discharges given to gay service members because of their sexual orientation.
The VA estimates about 100,000 soldiers received dishonorable discharges because of their sexuality, both before and during the 17 years that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was the military’s official policy. U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wisconsin and chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, has reintroduced the Restore Honor to Service Members Act most sessions since 2013 to ensure gay veterans’ discharges are reviewed and upgraded to honorable.
Related: Oregon Congresswoman Chavez-DeRemer endorses Trump
The Washington Blade, an LGBTQ+ newspaper based in Washington, D.C., reported that disagreement between Pocan and Republicans about who should get credit imperiled the passage of either bill.
Chavez-DeRemer also drew skepticism from Democrats for introducing a nonbinding resolution indicating that Congress supports in vitro fertilization, a fertility treatment often used by same-sex couples, instead of signing on to Democratic proposals to protect access to the treatment.
She has since introduced a bill with Democratic co-sponsors intended to lower the cost of IVF by requiring private insurance companies to cover infertility treatment.
Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501(c)(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Lynne Terry for questions: info@oregoncapitalchronicle.com. Follow Oregon Capital Chronicle on Facebook and X.