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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (May 11, 1984)
Just Out honored by peers The Gay Press Association’s Second An nual Press Awards will be presented at the association’s convention in Los Angeles on May 25-28, 1984. The awards will honor gay and lesbian journalists and publications across the globe. At the convention's ban quet at the (Jniversal-Sheraton, on May 26, the GPA-affiliated Media _nd for Human Rights Humanitarian Commendations will be presented to San Francisco Chronicle repor ter Warren Hinkle for his reporting on the Dan White case; California Assembly Speaker Willie Brown; the Reverend Troy Perry, foun der of the Universal Fellowship of the Metro politan Community Churches; and veteran gay activist Morris Knight of Los Angeles. Among publications honored by this year’s GPA Awards is Just Out, which received rec ognition for outstanding overall design. Just O ut was named runner-up in the category to Diva, a magazine published in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. When notified of the honor by GPA Awards Coordinator Phil Nash, Just O u t’s creators expressed delight at being chosen the best designed lesbian and gay publication in the United States by a jury composed of gays and lesbians in the media. Designed by Rupert Kinnard, Just Out be gan publishing in October, 1983. iu* mufti hcctviCnuis : m rHfcmoiwmm* uGfcotiiiu. mcionctpt m m ftarfuw ituutctconfti n«a6>mirfarmum*r»it!uo> uruwôm*. w n.putasncm ot tuu» homo m t/im fb iu a rr C u t u M b itB u t q iu b u t n u c mtiaoanwroîtowcrAwtiar mmiuauu) inca Aaombi* me ctciîotr^m iîtfonfit .O w n m am eutuatu trmirr.Cciitutàmtrttrffit* m e*9m uw m i(ri ; febpuxt jxteatit’ met» .V*' Httrcozbi* wmw The GPA is a professional trade organiza tion devoted to the betterment of all gay and lesbian media. The organization encourages understanding and cooperation within the gay and lesbian community and with the community at large. The GPA Press Conven tion and Awards represents a wide spectrum of gay and lesbian sensibilities and attitudes. Presenters for the scheduled Saturday workshops will include Dr. Laud Humphries, author of "Tea Room Trade," and Linda Barone, MFCC, co-founder of the Center for Feminist Therapy, with a panel on sexuality. Randy Shifts, a gay reporter with the San Francisco Chronicle and author of “The Mayor of Castro Street," Dan Siminoski, a gay activist and political scientist who is suing the FBI, and representatives from the Metropoli tan Election Committee of Los Angeles will present a workshop on political reporting. Other workshop presenters include Mark Thompson of The Advocate; novelist Daniel Curzon; Jim Kepner, curator of the National Gay Archives; 1982 GPA Award winner Sha ron MacDonald: activist Morris Knight; Myra Riddell, co-founder of Southern California Women for Understanding and member of the Los Angeles Commission on the Status of Women; and ACLU staff attorney Susan McGrievy, who litigates gay and lesbian civil rights cases. Additional workshop presenters will be announced upon confirmation. Among the highlighted events on Sunday, the Lesbian Concerns workshop will feature Pat Norman, candidate for supervisor in San Francisco and former coordinator of San Francisco’s Lesbian/Gay Health Services. The Press Awards will, this year for the first time, recognize outstanding achievement in photojournalism, illustration, graphic design, coverage of minority issues, coverage of les bian issues, and special projects imple mented by publications to benefit the com munities they serve, in a greatly expanded awards program. The awards will also honor accomplishments for the year 1983 by writ ers and publications covering national news, local news, and cultural developments and health issues as well as opinion writers, com mentators, columnists, and feature writers. next»- Leaf from a French Rook of Hours. Diocese of LeMans. circa 1470. Available at the ,i Gay PAC kicks off fundraising drive SCARLET LETTER 3620 S. E. Hawthorne Portland. Oregon 97214 Tuesday-Saturday 12-4:30 p.m. We buy and sell old musical instruments and currently have a fresh supply of panpipes and recorders. L iu iiia c 4 The Human Rights Campaign Fund, the national gay political action committee, re cently kicked off its 1984 fundraising drive. Officials of the group, which is one of the nation’s 20 largest independent PACs, say this year’s drive is the most ambitious grass roots fundraising effort ever undertaken in the national gay and lesbian community. They predict it will involve a significant number of gay men and women in the politi cal process for the first time, and will give an important boost to the Campaign Fund's ef fort to elect congressional candidates who support equal justice for all — regardless of sexual orientation. Dubbed “Show Our Strength — 1984," the fundraising campaign was kicked off on the deadline for filing federal tax returns to un derline the painful truth that the more than 20 million gay and lesbian citizens who have filed their returns remain without any federal protection of their basic civil rights. They are the only significant group in the country with out federal protection of such basic rights as freedom from discrimination in employment and housing. The fundraising campaign is a major effort to reach those who previously have not con tributed to the Campaign Fund or other gay organizations and to involve them in the poli tical process in order to help increase gay political clout The group plans to do this by mounting locally coordinated fundraising drives in 75-100 cities during the next three months. ITie drives will target small contri butors, who will be invited to house parties or other low-key events where they will be asked to contribute $ 19.84 or more. Vic Basile, executive director of the Cam paign Fund, says his group chose the $ 19.84 figure for more than symbolic reasons. “Al though the figure is low by political giving standards, one of our major goals in this drive is to involve persons who have not been in volved in politics previously," he said, “and we set the figure more with them in mind, rather than our regular givers." Basile said the money raised during the drive would be contributed to the campaigns of congressional candidates who support equal rights for gay and lesbian Americans. He said carefully chosen contribution can have an impact on the make-up of the next Congress and on how well gay and lesbian interests fare in that Congress. His senti ments were echoed by Dan Bradley, a Miami attorney and former head of the Legal Ser vices Corporation, who serves as one of the Campaign Fund’s co-chairs. “ I know something about how politics is played in Washington," said Bradley. “Your legislative agenda gets no respect until mem bers of Congress realize you have political clout— that you are organized, you vote, and you give money. Then, they sit up and take notice." Kerry Woodward, the other co-chair of the Campaign Fund, said she was hopeful volun teers would come forward to help the group expand its efforts into other cities. "We are looking for people who are enthusiastic and dependable, and who recognize the tre mendous importance of gay and lesbian in volvement in the national political process,” said Woodward, of Oakland, Calif. "Political experience is helpful, but not essential. What we need most right now are sincere, industri ous people." The Human Rights Campaign Fund was established in late 1980. In its first full election cycle, during the 1982 elections, it raised over $600,000 and made contributions to 119 candidates for Congress throughout the United States. By contributing to congres sional candidates supportive of gay and les bian rights, the Campaign Fund hopes gradually to help create a more favorable climate for those concerns in Congress. Persons interested in helping with the fundraising campaign should contact Basile at (202) 546-2025 or P.O. Box 1396, Wash ington, D.C. 20013. Dear Abby comes through Dear Abby says that most lesbians and gays do not have any choice about their sex ual preferences and are living their lives with out apologies or guilt. Responding in her nationally syndicated column to a correspondent who asked. "Are homosexuals and lebians born that way?” Abigail Van Burén said, “The vast majority of gay people do not choose’ to become homosexuals; their homosexual inclinations feel just as natural to them as heterosexual inclinations feel to straights." Quoting Dr. Judd Marmor, author of Homosexual Behavior: A Modem Reap praisal published in 1982 and a psychoanal yst who is one of the most respected au thorities on the subject, whom she consulted on the question Abby said, “ My consultant says: There is no single cause for homosexu ality. People come to it in a variety of ways. A number of recent research studies strongly suggest that many homosexuals are born with a predisposition toward such behavior, which then becomes shaped and reinforced by environmental factors. In other homosex uals, environmental factors seem to be more important than inborn ones.’ “ Homosexuals and lesbians are neither sick nor defective. And nobody went wrong.' They are simply a minority (approximatley 10% of our population) that for years has been misunderstood and discriminated against by an unenlightened society." Sex discrimination/ pornography ordinance becomes law An ordinance which makes pornography a form of sex discrimination was signed last week by the mayor of Indianapolis, Indiana. The ordinance, passed by an overwhelm ing vote of the City-County Council, defines pornography as any written or pictorial mat ter that depicts the sexual subordination of women. The measure allows that a com plaint against allegedly offensive material may be filed with the Office of Equal Op portunity which will investigate the claim and refer it to a hearing if warranted. A court order must be obtained to ban offensive material, according to the ordinance. The ordinance also allows complaints by men, children and transsexuals, provided that they can prove they are injured in the same way women are. A similar ordinance was vetoed in January by the mayor of Minneapolis. A revised ver sion of the Minneapolis ordinance has been introduced and is now being studied by a special city task force on pornography. In Indianapolis, publishers and bookstore owners filed a suit against the ordinance claiming it is unconstitutional. 3*4 Just Out. Mov 11-Mov 25