WHERE HAVE A LL THE PO LITIC S G O JE ? b y W.C. M c R a e ”jhe recent hoopla surrounding the Drew Davis referendum issue surprised me as m uch as anyone. My surprise, however, was not sim ply that dem agoguery was having an outing in East County. I was instead concerned to find, first, that the gay com m unity was insufficiently organized to have a means o f dissem inating inform ation to its m em bers about what was being done concerning the Davis issue, and by whom . Also, I was surprised that no organized com m unity-m andated response took place, nor was one sou ght This was due, I discovered, to there being inadequate political structure at the m om ent in gay Portland to provide an organized response to alm ost any issue. And, because o f this lack o f organization, a group of individuals had gathered to m asterm ind the eventual dealings with matters in the County C om m ission. From the straight press I learned that there were, to quote, "leaders o f the Gay com m unity," and that we had "friends in City Hall.” B ut it was with m ore than slight concern that I realized th a t neither I nor any o f m y gay friends knew who these people were. These are, after all, the people one assumes are representing m y interests and rights, but I had no knowledge o f who they are, how they got what power they have, o r if I, or the gay com m unity I am a part of, am in fact being represented in a way that either accords with my belief of what is best for what I consider to be m y com m unity. Just w ho are the people who represent the gay com m unity, o r are its “ friends” ? And why, if there are leaders, is there no organization? These questions led me to conduct a series o f interviews with local gay political figures and friends o f the gay com m unity w hich begin publication in this issue of J u st out. The people that I interviewed were initially selected by two criteria. First, a conscious effort was m ade to talk to those individuals in the com m unity who represent a diversity o f social and po litica l opinion. These interviews try to rem ain free o f editorial com m ent — no attem pt is m ade to weld them into a happy, harm onious consensus, free o f differences. The second selection constraint was mere availability. Some people were unw illing to be interviewed; others proved im possible to contact A concern com m on to all those interviewed was that certain historical circum stances specific to the Portland gay com m unity had led to the present fragm entation of local political and social organization. The Portland Town C ouncil (PTC) was founded in 1974 and was the p rim ary gay and lesbian forum in Portland. Its functions included political lobbying, education, and social services, as well as m aintenance o f a day-to-day m em bership organization. In about 1977 a PTC Political A ction C om m ittee was form ed w hich raised money and increasingly took over the political aim s o f the original PTC. In the early '80s, however, both groups began to languish fo r several reasons, internal dissension am ong them . Some o f the PTC people went on to form the present "Phoenix Rising," a group concerned with education and counseling: others went on to form the Right to Privacy PAC, a statewide fund-raising organization (with no pa rticula r political role in Portland); others left the m ovem ent altogether. Portland-based po litica l activism fell som ewhere between the stools, where it has, by and large, remained. The goal o f these interviews is to introduce gay Portland to those people who are, in one way o r another, its leaders and friends, and to present the history o f the movements that affect us now. And into the bargain, hope that if there is m ore awareness o f ourselves as a com m unity, then we m ig h t be interested in becom ing involved in a m ovem ent and with people, that have been m ade m ore fam iliar. Kathi Bogan Kathi Bogan s present involvem ent in po litics could be seen as an extension o f her youth - her fam ily was politically active, and when other teen-agers had posters o f rock- o r film -stars on their walls, she had on her bedroom wall, a poster o f Adlai Stevenson. Bogan cam e to Portland (from nowhere and everywhere — she was an “ air force baby") in the late ‘70s and took a law degree fro m Lewis and Clark. Subsequently, she clerked fo r the courts in Salem under Betty Roberts, and was later counsel to the Senate Ju d icia ry Com m ittee. Currently, Bogan is d i re ctor o f Human Resources fo r the city o f Portland. T his ju d icia l experience and her long in terest in politics com bine to make her an astute com m entator on and participant in gay political issues. W hen dealing with politics o f any s o rt Bogan says, one always has to look at the larger picture. And prepare. We m ustn't put in to effect politics the consequences o f which we can’t su p p o rt The current em phasis on rights to the county and state level provokes a cautious response from Bogan. The recent debacle in the C ounty C om m ission shows, she says, that insufficient organization exists at the m o m ent to deal w ith the consequences o f a rights bill at any level. We are not ready even at the city level. A lthough the city is relatively unhostile, a rights bill would “ unquestionably" be referred. W hether o r not one could win a referendum in the city is not as im portant a consideration as the realization that we don't W.C. M c R a e is a Portland writer with an interest in politics. 8 have the organization necessary to even be gin the battle. It is a sobering thought, says Bogan, to realize that we are not ready fo r our rights. It w ould, estim ates Bogan, take about two years to prepare adequately fo r a rights re ferendum — people have to be organized, m oney has to be raised, political contacts have to be forged. And one m ust be cautious about having a rights referendum vote during an election that also involves candidates or issues that could conceivably be hurt by the voting pattern that would undoubtedly surface — nothing w ould be gained, says Bogan, by fo rcin g a rights issue onto the ballot and then, because o f the nature o f the voters who w ould turn ou t to cast negative votes, lose the seat o f a “ frie n d " on city council or county com m ission. Furtherm ore, it should be con sidered w hether o r not a local gay rights bill really w ould be w orth the m oney and energy spent — m oney and energy that could be directed elsewhere — when the city and cou nty are not in any case engaged in firing its gay em ployees w illy-nilly. All these political realities, says Bogan, m ust be examined closely. B ogan's pragm atic approach to the p o liti cal realm m akes her regard the recent C ounty C om m ission referendum issue as very poorly handled. The ordinance should never have been introduced, she says, since there was alm ost no preparation fo r the reac tio n that any politically astute person would have anticipated. The legal ram ifications of an ordinance were not even correctly asses sed. Furtherm ore, even though the eventual rescinding was the best way o f handling the issue, it was a poor and em barrassing show ing fo r the com m unity to make in fro n t o f the C ounty C om m ission. K was an extrem ely ill- advised move. And there seems to have been nothing gained educationally from it B ut what hopefully has been gained is the realization that we m ust organize, says Bogan. W ithin the wom en's com m unity, for instance, tw o separate groups have begun to fo rm since, and in response to, the referen dum issue. A nother mixed group is attem pt ing to form . There is a real need, Bogan says, fo r a “ gay clearinghouse group that would exist as a source o f inform ation, have contact w ith interested individuals, have a centralized staff, and provide the skeleton fo r political m obilization. We need a network, like the old PTC. B ut there w ould not have to be the same em phasis on group consensus — individual groups in the com m unity could retain their own natures but could send one person to represent themselves. Radical groups could still be radical. And a centralized group would not only aid ourselves; the straight com m u nity — politicians especially — has no organized way o f m aking contat with the gay co m m u n ity at the m om ent. Also, Bogan sees the need fo r a newsletter to keep interested individuals abreast o f local developm ents — had there been more, and m ore accurate, inform ation distributed du r ing the referendum debate it may not have often effectively excludes the presence o f wo m en. The result is that the dinner turns into a classist celebration that is in its classism , sex ist. Also, it is a feeling am ongst som e women that they d o n’t need a PAC to distribute their m oney to candidates. They are capable o f doing that directly. B ut Bogan is Ijopeful. Things seem to be on the m ove again. “ People w ho have plug ged out are plugging back in again." They are, however, the same people. There are few new faces. Young gays and lesbians are not political, o r d o n ’t have ways to represent their politics. “ We need to educate the youth, and politicize them ,” says Bogan. Posters o f Adlai Stevenson m igh t be a beginning. Rupert Kinnard It's great to be back in Portland, according to Rupert Kinnard, who recently returned from a trip to Mew York and his hom e town of Chicago. “ People will actually sm ile at you here!" This friendliness is indicative also, says K innard, w ho com es to Portland via Iowa and A rt degree, o f the Portland gay com m unity. ■ %■ B -? T ■ «* \\ - '$ jy jp A j M Bogan: It should be considered whether or not a local gay rights b ill really w ould be worth the m oney and energy spent when the city and county are not, in any case, engaged in firing its gay employees willy-nilly. turned into such a fiasco. And finally, Bogan w ould like to see som e positive group form if fo r no other reason than to im prove the im age we, and others, have o f ourselves as a com m unity. "You look in the papers, and all you see are ads fo r VD clinics and counsel lors. There seems to exist only organizations fo r the sick and screwed up." Bogan is w illing to w ork for the existence o f such a group and in fact is helping organize a netw ork in the w om en's com m unity. She stresses, though, that she represents no one but herself in what she does or says She w ould ultim ately like to see an overtly political group o f both gay men and w om en, but realizes that there are problem s at present organizing across sexual lines. Part o f the unw illingness that som e wom en in the com m unity feel about w orking with gay men is historical: certain m en in the leadersip o f the o ld PTC, she says, were apparently d ifficu lt to w ork with, “ alm ost m isogynist". W omen sim ply w eren't listened to, and now tend to see m en as insensitive to their issues. There are also econom ic considerations. The only gam e in tow n politically is the Right to Privacy PAC. W hile there are wom en on the steering com m ittee, a bone o f contention to som e w om en is the Lucille Hart dinner. It institutes, unintentionally but effectively, dis crim in a tio n against women: wom en sim ply do not m ake as m uch m oney as men, and there is no sliding scale for ticket prices. Som e people can afford to pay $ 100, others only $20. B ut there is only one price, which The com m un ity here is "vib ra n t” : not too sm all (centered around one o r tw o bars) and not to o large (self-va I ¡dating "gh etto s" w ith out a larger consciousness). At its best, Port land is inclusive, w ithout excluding anyone. B ut this superficial self-satisfaction, according to Kinnard, rather ignores the con tinued lack o f sufficient organization am ongst gays and lesbians. “ Things are not better” for m any now, and today’s apathy is a “ pretty sad state o f affairs.” W hile it may be true that the signal lack o f activism today m erely reflects that m any o f the issues and dem ands that were so pressing have, in the last decade, by and large ceased to be problem s fo r m ost gays and lesbians. Kinnard believes that there are particular, alm ost historical reasons for the insignificance o f organization at the m om ent. First o f all, claim s Kinnard, in general so cial m ovem ents have natural lifespans. They begin in response to specific instances o f adversity. Once these threats subside, or be com e fam iliar, the activism that sprang up in response to them subsides. Those individu als whose involvem ent transcends specific circum stances move into m ore “ serene" form s o f involvem ent— m ainstream politics, o r gay journalism , fo r instance. B ut m ore Portland-specific reasons cited by K innard fo r the present-day fragm entation and apathy in the gay com m un ity are histori cal. The PTC PAC whose purpose was p o liti cal, was headed and staffed p rim arily by men. At the same tim e the original PTC had fo r the Just O ut, M ay 1985