BY JONATHAN J. COOPER and SHEILA V KUMAR
Oregon lawmakers gave an assist to gay veterans in the final hours of the 2015 legislative session.
If Gov. Kate Brown signs off on the bills approved Monday, Oregon would be the first state to hire a coordinator to help lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender veterans upgrade a less-than-honorable discharge received because of their sexual orientation.
Also, the state would create a hotline to help strippers report workplace violations. And young people would have a quicker path to expunge marijuana convictions from their records.
In a surprise move that frustrated marijuana farmers, however, lawmakers opted not to put a two-year delay on the cultivation of hemp, a non-intoxicating form of the cannabis plant.
A new LGBT coordinator at the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs would help gay 
veterans apply for a change in their discharge status. An honorable discharge is generally required to qualify for many state and federal veterans benefits, including those of the G.I. Bill. Gays and lesbians were not allowed to serve openly in the military until 2011.
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