Background
In 1990, Michelle Abdill and Roxanne Ellis moved from Colorado Springs, Colorado, which they felt was becoming increasingly hostile to gays and lesbians, to Medford, Oregon, where they hoped the small town setting would give them a chance to start over and find acceptance. The couple met in Colorado, where Ellis — divorced with two children — worked as an obstetrics nurse. Abdill got a job in the same doctor's office, and they eventually became life-partners.
The couple started a successful property management business and was elected to the board of their church. They spent their spare time restoring their old Craftsman-style house, visiting Ellis' three-year-old granddaughter. They also worked as activists, fighting two Oregon state ballot initiatives in 1992 and 1993; Measure 9 intended to amend the state constitution to declare homosexuality "abnormal, wrong, unnatural and perverse," and Measure 19 intended to restrict library access for materials related to homosexuality.
At the time of their murders, Ellis and Abdill had been together for 12 years.
Read more about this topic: Roxanne Ellis And Michelle Abdill
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