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violence than children or women in bathrooms. She said this statistic came from the State Health Division's statistic from the youth risk behavior survey. Tobias Hill-Meyer, 637 East $9th Place, said that concerns about family should not be about gender of parents but about stability for youth. He stressed that his gay parents had been together for his entire lifetime and he was a good student and community member. Bob Gordon, 24241 Vaughn Road, Veneta, submitted 51 signatures against the proposed code changes. He expressed his outrage that gay and lesbian cohabitation could reach the level of heterosexual marriage. He said gay and lesbian relationships were against the natural law of the planet, let alone God. He remarked that animals did not have same sex relationships. He said same sex relationships could not procreate and were therefore not a benefit to society. Mr. Gordon commented that civilizations of the past that were no longer in existence had disintegrated when they accepted homosexual behavior. Holly LeMasurier, 2441 Harris Place, spoke in support of the proposed code revision language. She said she had served for nine months as an intern for the human rights program and had come to view it as more than an academic exercise. She expressed her gratitude at being able to participate in such a worthwhile and timely project. She said she had discovered that discrimination and harassment of transgendered people was pervasive and threatened the security and safety of those who were citizens of Eugene. She stressed that she was a strong straight ally of transgendered people in the community and was choosing to testify independently before the council because of the deeper understanding of transgendered challenges that she had achieved. Ms. LeMasurier said public concern that transgendered people were dangerous deviants waiting to prey on others in restrooms were indicative of stereotypes perpetuated by ignorance. She noted that children were 80 percent more likely to be abused by someone in their own family. She said that fear of transgendered people was severely misplaced and irrational. Mayor Torrey closed the public hearing. The meeting adjourned at 10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, James R. Carlson City Manager pro rem (Recorded by Joe Sams) MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 14, 2002 Page 10 Regular Meeting