[1] VOICE (Volunteer Organization in Community Enactments) created and campaigned for the petition, and gathered enough signatures to force a referendum vote.

[1] This bill's passage garnered national attention, with Miami anti-gay activist Anita Bryant's telegram congratulating VOICE on the victory.

This ordinance would add sexual orientation to the list of classes protected against discrimination in the areas of housing, public accommodation, and employment.

People also feared that homosexuals were attempting to infiltrate the school system and that the passage of this ordinance would increase the number of child molestation cases.

[3] During closed discussion between the council members, Council Member Williams suggested adding an amendment to the ordinance to allow sexual orientation to be considered when employing people who work with children, specifically between the ages of 12 and 15, due to a concerns that having homosexual role models during formative years would influence children to become gay.

However, VOICE argued that the ordinance gave the LGBT community unfair privileges and would encourage inappropriate public conduct.

[11] After the win VOICE campaign organization leader Lynn Greene said, "The idea that this is a human rights issue is a facade and people recognized that.

"[7] The Associated Press carried the story that Miami anti-gay activist Anita Bryant sent a telegram to Larry Dean, congratulating VOICE and "the Christian public and all the citizens of Eugene who worked and voted against legalized immorality".

[14] Terry Bean, one of the Eugene gay activists who advocated against Measure 51, later went on to co-found the Human Rights Campaign and the LGBTQ Victory Fund.