Oregon state rep flips from Republican to Democrat, citing gay son

An Oregon state representative has announced that he is leaving the Republican Party and will seek reelection as a Democrat, citing in part his gay son and conservative bans targeting LGBTQ+ books.

Cyrus Javadi, who represents the state's 32nd District, announced the switch Friday, bringing the Democratic majority in the Oregon House of Representatives to 37 out of 60 seats. He said in a post to his Substack page that he made the change because he wants to "get things done, stop the games, and cut through the partisan BS."

"I know many Republicans who still share my values, but the party apparatus is headed somewhere else entirely," Javadi wrote. "It’s not about governing. It’s about burning things down. It’s about isolating minority communities when politically convenient. It’s about waving the Constitution when it helps your argument and ignoring it when it doesn’t. That’s not conservative. That’s opportunistic. And it corrodes everything it touches."

Javadi cited several past proposals of his that had received support from Democrats but not his own party, including Medicaid benefits for children and plans to keep rural hospitals open. He said they were rejected by GOP representatives "not because the policies were flawed, but because helping me deliver for my district didn’t fit the Republican Party’s agenda."

Javadi also cited Republicans' fixation on so-called culture war issues, noting "if outrage were a renewable energy source, Oregon could power the grid with Republican Facebook comments alone." This includes bans against books in public schools that deal with race, gender, or sexuality, which he asserted violates the First Amendment's free speech protections.

"Then came the so-called 'book bill.' Republicans framed it as stopping pornography in schools, ignoring the fact parents already can challenge any book," Javadi wrote. "The real issue was whether kids — gay kids like my son, Black kids, Muslim kids — could still find stories on the shelves that reflect their lives."

"And here’s the thing: opposing this kind of censorship isn’t about being 'woke.' It’s about being American," he continued. "The First Amendment doesn’t exist to protect the majority view; it exists to protect the minority, the unpopular, the voices some people would rather not hear. Conservatives used to understand that silencing ideas is the first step toward the tyranny of the majority. I haven’t forgotten."

Javadi said that while he doesn't align with the Democratic Party on all issues, Democrats have been the ones "backing not only the needs of the North Coast but also the values I’ve always believed in." Republicans, in contrast, have proven to be "leaders who’d rather go viral than go fix the roads."

"Yes, I’m switching to the Democratic Party. Not because Democrats are perfect, they’re not. But they’re acting like a governing party," Javadi wrote. "They’re willing to debate ideas on the merits. To defend constitutional principles. To protect minority rights. To do the unglamorous, often thankless work of actually fixing things."