VIEWPOINTS
EDITORIALS. OPINIONS. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Governor announces gay
and lesbian history month
■ OUR OPINION:
Acknowledgment ol gay
people's contributions is
long overdue
Believe it or not, lesbians
and guy men have been
around for a long time — .is
long as heterosexual people.
Despite their presence in the
world and the country, their
voices were continually
silenced prior to the 1969
Stonewall uprising in New
York City. This spontaneous
response to police harass
ment launched the modern
gay and lesbian rights move
ment.
Now, 26 years later. Ore
gon becomes the third state
to at knowledge the contri
butions of gay. lesbian,
bisexual and transgondered
people by proclaiming Octo
iMir Gay and Lesbian History
Month. Governor John
Kit/haber's support and
endorsement of the aware
ness campaign oases the
sting of the many blows
dealt gay and lesbian people
in Oregon and the nation in
ret ent years.
Shu t* the Oregon Citizens'
Alliance began its mission
to prevent civil rights pro
test lion for non-heterosexual
people in tin* early '90s, les
bians and gay men have had
to spend hundreds of thou
sands of dollars and count
less labor hours to prevent
anti-gay rhetoric from
becoming pari of the state
constitution
The (X'A’s Measure ') in
1992 and Measure 13 in
1994 sought to dot lam
homosexuality an abomina
tion and endeavored "pro
let t our children" by pre
venting the teaching of
homosexuality in public
schools. The bitter irony of
tin* (X'A's agenda, however,
was that none of the "spe
rial rights" it was try ing to
deny lesbians and gay men
had ever been won.
Oregon’s constitution
does not prohibit discrimi
nation on the basis of sexual
orientation. Non-heterosex
ual people have no protec
tion from dis< rimination in
employment, housing or
access to education in most
parts of the state. As such.
Measures fJ and 13 wore
aimed at "protecting" Ore
gonians from an invented
threat that does not exist,
Men n wh i I a. Col or*do
fa< ed its own battto against
discrimination with the
passing of Amendment 2,
which nullified city gay
rights ordinances ami pre
vented further attempts to
win civil rights for gay men
and lesbians. The constitu
tionality of tile amendment
will lie argued before the
U S. Supreme Court this
month If the Court finds
Amendment 2 unconstitu
tional. it could prevent gov
ernment sanctioned d is
< rimination nationwide.
Through it all. gay men
and lesbians have continued
to fight for their basic right
to live honestly with them
selves and the world. Every
day. gay and lesbian people
stand up for who they are
and refuse to cower to the
fear and ignorance of others
They refuse to feel ashamed
They have marched and
protested, painted and writ
ten They have lived, loved
and died They have gained
civil rights protection in
nine states and hundreds of
cities They have battled
against AIDS and ignorance
They are succeeding
because they have refused to
remain silent And that's
something worth celebrat
ing.
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2a Oregon Daily EmerakS Tuoosciay Octobei 3. 1996
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LETTERS
The ‘Big Lie’
The purpose of tins letter is to
warn those college students
among your readers who are
about to make the mistake of
their lives by tolling their souls
and entering the U S. military
with the hopes of a c enter. l urge
you all to ignore the recruiting
hype, atul look at the reality that
has tie fallen those, who like me.
bought into the "Big lie" a gen
eration ago
As a bright young unuurgrad, I
foil for the hype of the military,
"Bo ait you tan tit', gain valuable
experience, the discipline will
help you later on." etc. Now I
find. J7 years later. I am a prod
uct of the military-industrial com
plex, with lots of knowledge
about how to eliminate an ene
my, hut without marketable skills
■ mi etime > my, I \ en
w orse, when l interview for new
toils, most companies' personnel
manager* are hyphenated-named
feminists who have always
viewed the military with open
hostility Military members
receive this kind of treatment
even though wtt brought an end
to the Sovvet menace and have
placed our lives on the line for
this country in numerous
“regional conflicts."
I am so 11roil of boating "Wall,
we really have nothing for a man
with your background, perhaps
something in maintenance?”
Get a clue. The military is
down-siting, and at the same
tune the leadership is falling all
over itself to increase minority
percentages, t.e white males
need not apply However,
minority members also need to
think about where they will lie
in the military 10 years from
now, compared to how far a real
fob in the civilian sector might
take them.
Our civilian leaders contin
ue to use the military for every
social experiment that they can
dream up. instead of as the fight
ing force it was meant to be 1
suppose those smug SOBs will
feel great as the l S, Army goes
down in defeat in the next major
war Well, at least we had a sta
tistically representative sample
of the population annihilated.
they'll say
I do no! oppose a short two
vivir tour in the military, hut don’t
throw your life away by serving
a government that doesn't give
a damn about you or your fami
ly Our military will string you
along until you ore at the peak of
your financial obligations, then
announce it is time to “right
siae,” mooning you an* fired. And
you are left without any retire
ment. or the civilian-oriented
skills once promised in those
flashy "He one of us” ads
Don't be like me. don't buy
into the "Big Lie."
J. Tyler
Richmond, Va
Poor inevitable
It soerns strange to read an tsdi
torinl in a student newspaper
al»out poor young people need
ing to be eliminated from public:
streets as part of a "clean up," it
makes me wonder if the author of
tins unsigned editorial is actual
ly taking classes at this great uni
versity or just sitting in an ivory
tower writing hate mail.
If the editor wants to look at
this situation from an economic
point of view, he or she should
read John K, Galbraith's Eco
nomics and the Public, Purpose,
whic h describes our economy as
the best-regulated in history The
U S. economy uses money sup
ply and interest rates to control
unemployment, growth and
demand If Alan Greenspan
wanted to reduce unemployment
to 3 or 4 percent, he could do it
easily. Of course, he realizes that
this would drive the price of
lalxir up. People on the street are
money in management's pocket
in view of present policies,
unemployed people are
inevitable, structural.
Tlie Emerald recommends that
these poor apply at fast food
restaurants Of course, many have,
and some are presently working
— say 26 hours at S5 an hour That
won't get you into an apartment.
Others could have afforded to
go to the University a few years
ago Just what would the Emer
ald have them do?
This editor is upset because
these poor people sometimes
smile. I say thank God for the
human spirit.
Larry Rude
Philosophy. Central Washington
University
Jesus anti-family?
'Hie Christian Coalition's "Con
tract with the American Family"
is n hi# lie and a misrepresenta
tion of Jesus Christ's scriptural
teachings, which are actually
quite anti-family. In Matthew
10:34-38, Jesus said he had come
to bring intra-family discord and
urged people to leave their fam
ilies and follow him In Luke
14:26 he demanded that his dis
ciples “hate" their families. In
Matthew 19:29 he urged his fol
lowers to "forsake" their families.
In Matthew 8:21-22 and Luke
9:59-60, he denied a disciple's
request for family leave to bury
his father. Jesus curtly replied,
"Follow me and let the dead
bury their dead.”
In Mark 3:31-35 and in Luke
8:20-21, Jesus snubbed his bio
logical family who had come to
see him. He claimed that the
assembled crowd, not his moth
er and brothers, was his family.
Yes, Jesus had brothers — and
sisters - us related in Matthew
I t 55-56. Mark 6 3, John 7:3, 7:5,
Galatians 1 19 and Acts 1:14
Many Christians are so blinded
by the doctrine of the perpetual
virginity «t Mary and the ideal of
sexless, alistineiit "(anphite" mar
riage that they are too ambarriuwod
to bring themselves to admit this.
Partly based on the false
prophecy that the Second (dom
ing was imminent (Matthew
16:2B, Mark 9:1 and Luke 9:27.
21:32). early Christians such as St.
Paul (1 Corinthians 7:B-9. 29. 32
34) frowned upon marriage but
patronizingly granted "permis
sion" for those lacking self-con
trol since it was "better to marry
than to bum." This anti-sex. anti
marriage ascetic bias lives on
today in strict celibacy require
ments for the ruling hierarchy of
the largest Christian sect, the
Roman Catholic Chun:h Clearly,
they believe that having a family
is detrimental to religious life.
Jim Senyszyn
Highland Park, N.J.
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