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Vol. 2
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3
rio. 6
A p ril. 1985
STEPPIN’ OUT
STAFF
Just O ut is published the fourth Friday of each
month. Copyright 1984 Mo part of Just O ut may
be reproduced without the written permission of
the publishers.
Co-publishers
Jay Brown
Renee LaChance
Written and graphic materials are welcomed for
submission. All written material should be typed
and double-spaced. All graphic material should be
black ink on white paper.
Editor
Jay Brown
Deadline for submissions is 14 days prior to
publication date.
C ontributors
Rosanne King
Jim Hunger
B illy Russo
Patrick Caplis
Lee Lynch
Brown M cDonald
Eleanor Malin
O ut About Town is a courtesy to our readers.
Items must be received 14 days prior to publica
tion date.
Display advertising will be accepted up to five
days before publication date, if camera ready, if not
then seven days prior.
Classified ads must be received at the office of
Just O ut seven days prior to publication date,
along with payment
Graphic A rts D irector
Rupert Kinnard
Editorial policies allow the rejection or the edit
ing of an article or advertisement that is offensive,
demeaning or may result in legal action. Just Out
consults the Associated Press Stylebook and Libel
Manual on editorial decisions.
A dvertising D irector
Roger Hall
A dvertising Associate
Eve Sicular
Views expressed in letters to the editor, columns,
and features may not necessarily be those of the
editorial staff of Just Out.
P roduction D irectors
Bev LaBelle
Dustin Dickenson
Proofreader
Anita Q uiton
Subscriptions to Just O ut are available for
$7.50 for 12 issues • A free copy of Just Out and
or advertising rates are available upon reguest
p h o to by Helen lo ftrid g e
The mailing address and telephone number for
Just O ut are
P.O. Box 15117
Portland. OR 97215
236-1252
E D I T O R I A L
H om ophobia wins again
by Jay Brown
The confusing dram a over gay rights, slowly playing itself out in the chambers of the
M ultnom ah C ounty Com m issioners, can end in only one way - another defeat for gays and
lesbians everywhere. The tragedy o f the situation, though, is that the villain o f the piece, Drew
Davis, w ill be the only winner.
Drew Davis, self-styled “ concerned citizen o f Portland,” is yet another demagogue riling up
the rubes fo r his own political gain. Davis, by the way, is neither a citizen o f Portland nor of
M ultnom ah County; he lives in Lake Oswego, and is registered to vote in Clackamas County.
By way o f background, last Decem ber outgoing com m issioner Arnold Biskar introduced
an am endm ent adding the words sexual orientation to M ultnom ah County’s existing human
rights ordinance. The am endm ent was passed during the last session of 1984. At that last
session, Drew Davis, arch-hom ophobe, vowed "to take it to the voters.”
So Davis wrote his petition, circulated it along with the standard hom ophobic lies and came
up w ith m ore than 12,000 signatures. In the m eantim e, gay rights advocates and sym pathetic
politicians, in an attem pt to thw art Davis' hom ophobic actions, com prom ised by repealing the
am endm ent and replacing it with a resolution which reaffirm ed the concept o f prohibiting
discrim ination against gays and lesbians in county em ploym ent This com prom ise gives
protections to gays and lesbians w ithout "condoning homosexuality," according to a county
spokesperson.
Davis, determ ined to “take it to the voters,” has threatened to sue M ultnom ah County to
force an election, w hich w ould probably be held during Lesbian and Gay Pride Week. (Oh,
irony o f ironies.)
M ost gay rights advocates firm ly believe that "it w on’t com e to a vote." (They seem to have
m ore faith in the system than I do.) W hat they really mean is that they fervently hope it won t
com e to a vote, because we all know that there are m illions more hom ophobes than there are
gay rights advocates.
H om ophobes, like Drew Davis, are not afraid to com e out of the closet. Homophobes, like
Drew Davis, can make political hay at the expense o f a vulnerable, frightened m inority; so no
m atter what lies they spout they always seem to have the upper hand.
The only way to fig h t hom ophobes like Drew Davis is for lesbians, gays and sympathetic
straights to conquer their own hom ophobia and com bat the ignorance which keeps us in the
clo se t
Further depressing note
Just Out has lost one o f its m ost popular distribution points due to the ever-present
hom ophobia around us.
J u s t O u t, A pril 1985
Patrons o f the Lloyd Center Tradewell store have regularly gone through 500 to 600 Just
Outs each m onth. In January the rack which held Just Out disappeared. Upon investigation,
we learned that the m anager had had som e com plaints about Just Out's subject matter. The
m anager said about 8-10 eldelry people had com e in one day and objected to the store
distrib u tin g the paper, so he took away what papers remained and the rack. He did not notify
Just Out o f his action nor o f the objections he had received.
How m any gays and lesbians have objected to the m anager’s actions? We would like to
know. Call o r write us if you routinely picked up your copy o f Just Out there, and call or write
the m anager o f the store telling him you would like to see its return.
Let's represent
our diversity
To the Editor,
I was disturbed to read in the last edition o f
the Eagle that a new Lesbian and Gay Pride
C om m ittee had been form ed with prim arily
m ale m em bers. One wom an, who works
w ithin the Gay Bar com m unity, was included
on the board. As a lesbian, and fem inist, and
a non-bar goer, I resent the im plication that
one w om an on the Lesbian and Gay Pride
com m itte e will be able to be the spokes
person fo r all o f the Lesbians in our co m
m unity. I write this not to discredit Susie, for
I'm sure she is as supportive and as in ter
ested in Lesbian and Gay rights as we all are.
B ut to say that one wom an, o r one man, can
speak fo r hundreds o f diverse peoples in our
co m m u n ity frightens me. Phyllis Schlafly
doesn’t represent all w om en in the United
States, and neither does G loria Steinem . Let’s
see m ore diversity on the board, and get
som e in put fro m all facets o f the Lesbian and
Gay com m unity, m inorities, as well as w o
m en. And not ju st one fo r "token."
Perhaps if they had advertised the board
m em ber positions outside o f the bar co m
m u n ity we could have had a m ore represen
tative com m ittee. I want to see us really Proud
in term s o f “ Gay Pride" when it com es to
accepting all peoples in our ranks, not just
the ones we m ight be friends with, or w ork
w ith, bu t EVERYONE.
W ith Hope for the Future.
Sarah K oehl
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