Vol. 2 August, 1985 No. 10 STAFF Graphic Arts Director Rupert Kinnard Co-publishers Jay Brown Renee LaChance Advertising Director Roger Hall Editor Jay Brown Advertising Associate Eve Sicular Ed Hickey Alicia Cash Contributors Eve Sicular Lee Lynch B illy Russo Jim A nctil W .CMcCrae Sandra DeHelen Eleanor Malin if Production Director Bev La Belle Proofreader Anita Q uiton W ritten and graphic materials are welcomed for subm ission. All written material should be typed and double-spaced. All graphic material should be black ink on white paper. Deadline for submissions is the 15th of each month. O ut A bout Town is a courtesy to.our readers. Items must be received by the 15th of each month. 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 Ju st O ut ten days prior to publication date, along with paym ent Editorial policies allow the rejection or the edit ing o f an article or advertisement that is offensive, dem eaning or may result in legal action. Just O ut consults the Associated Press Style book and Libel Manual on editorial decisions. Views expressed in letters to the editor, columns, and features may not necessarily be those of the editorial staff of Just O u t Subscriptions to Ju st O ut are available for $7.50 for 12 issues. A free copy o f Ju st O ut and/or advertising rates are available upon request The mailing address and telephone number for Ju st O ut are: P.O .Box 15117 Portland. OR 9 7 215 236-1252 — Y -----1 Refreshing To the E ditor: Having ju st recently ‘‘com e out o f the closet” I fin d your news magazine very re freshing and full o f interesting news about the hom osexual lifestyle. It is nice to know that 1 can read about the latest news in the gay com m unity ju st as my heterosexual friends can read about their “straight” lifestyle. It certainly is nice to know there are people o u t there w ho feel and understand the way that I do. Thanks again, R. Johnson Thank you, Barbara Grier To the Editor: I thank the universe fo r giving us Barbara Grier. I thank Barbara G rier for editing The Ladder back when 1 had nothing and no one else to tell me I was okay, sane and not alone. T his w om an, who encouraged me and many others to write, published us then and now. T his w om en’s-m ovem ent-battered wom an has had the vision and the guts to do what she m ust to make Naiad, whatever its or her faults, successful so that other wom en, in the position I was in twenty years ago, can have a chance to grab at that lifeline. I thank Nancy Manahan and Rosemary C urb fo r their w ork and vision in creating Lesbian Nuns: Breaking Silence, because it is responsible fo r breaking through so many barriers to reach wom en who never ever w ould have had access to lesbian culture otherwise. I thank the w om en who wrote their stories dow n and let them go despite the pain it m ig h t have brought som e o f them , so that countless w om en and m en could be touched by the beauty and sincerity o f their words. I thank the m edia, gay and straight, fo r pu bli cizing the book, fo r pushing those words farther and farther into the w orld, to find those buried deeper and deeper inside their closets. I thank you, the readers, fo r sharing my gratitude, fo r being am ong those who op pose fear and even unw ittingly risk damage to your spirits, by believing in your gay selves enough to stand tall, in your words, in a parade, in the sim ple act o f reading this paper. Lee Lynch Just Out. August. 1985 Just O ut is published the first of each month. Copyright 1985. No part of Just O ut may be re produced without the written permission of the publishers. Those missing children To the E ditor: Public concern about m issing children reached a new peak recently, after a nation w ide n ight telecast o f “A dam ” — a real-life story o f the kidnap and m urder o f a Florida boy. The netw ork showed pictures o f several m issing children and appealed to the public to help find them . Photos o f m issing children show up every where: on billboards, shopping bags, m ilk cartons and m atchbooks, even in som e o f o u r utility bills. Now 82 (JS Senators have signed a letter asking the three m ajor TV netw orks to broadcast these pictures regu larly in prim e-tim e slots (S.F. Chronicle, May 17,1985). B ut the ugliest tru th is now appearing: al m ost all o f the children "discovered” after these pictures are shown were kidnapped by one o f their own parents. Barbara Chap m an, m edia director fo r the National Center fo r M issing and Exploited C hildren in Wash ington, D.C. has now adm itted that 94% o f the cases they’ve handled are parental abduc tions (S.F. Chronicle, May 2,1985). C hapm an also acknowledged that the an nual abductions, including the m any parental kidnappings, m ay be less than 25,000. Yet m ost experts on m issing children estim ate th a t about 2 m illion disappear each yean about half o f them run away, because the h o rro r at hom e is worse than the horror o f the streets, while the other half are "throw n away" (abandoned o r forced out) by the ir own parents. Nearly all o f these young people reappear, sooner o r later, w ithout the aid o f a nationw ide dragn et O n this basis, only about 1 % o f all m issing childre n actually are abducted. Less than one in a thousand m issing children are taken by anyone other than a pa ren t So the child- savers’ own statistics point to a m ultitude of urgent problem s within fam ilies, and not to any unusual external menace. The spectre o f strangers who snatch one’s childre n is nothing new, o f course. T hrough o u t history, oppressed m inorities have been accused o f child-stealing and child-m urder. In another era, Gypsies were thought to be child-snatchers. Today, the evil role is played by others. W hat the networks falsely imply, the Falwells proclaim : Adults w ithout children pose a m enace to the family. C hildren, naturally, are terrified by these shows. T heir horrified parents rush to have them fingerprinted, in the m istaken belief that law enforcem ent agencies alone, if given m ore m oney and public support, can save th e ir children from a terrible fate. It w on’t help to continue scaring children and parents with right-w ing propaganda. In stead, let’s tell the truth: nearly all child disap pearance can be traced to real parental prob lem s, pow er struggles, and the widespread abuse and neglect o f young people w ithin contem porary fam ilies. Floyd Conaway Chorus says “Thanks, Portland" To the E ditor: O n behalf o f the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus I w ant to thank you and the staff o f Just Out fo r all your support this past season. We sincerely appreciate your ongoing efforts to publicize and prom ote events that serve to strengthen and solidify the Lesbian and Gay C om m unity. Due to widespread com m unity support this past year, the C horus has been able to m ake som e large strides. Last fall we com - m isisoned an original w ork by black co m poser Terry Snowden and in the springtim e an entire m usical satire (“ Zillions” ) by Tom S im onds. We were honored to sing in the Rotunda o f the State C apitol at Christm as fo r Barbara R oberts’ inauguration as Secretary o f State and at the opening o f the legislative sessions in Salem . We received our first grant from the M etropolitan Arts C om m ission and were in vited to jo in the Choral C onsortium , an al liance o f the five m ajor Portland choruses form ed to further Portland’s stature as a center fo r fine choral m usic. Recently we were thrille d to perform at the Arlene Schnitzer C oncert Hall with the Gay M en’s C horus o f Los Angeles to a warm ly enthusiastic crowd. S inging in the Opera House in Seattle the next night with the Van couver, Seattle and Los Angeles Choruses, we were accused o f prolonging the show because we were interrupted so often by applause! As your chorus we are proud to represent P ortland's Lesbian and Gay C om m unity in Salem, in the Choral C onsortium , at Schnitzer Hall, in Seattle and anywhere we have the honor o f an audience. Thank you Portland fo r your unwavering support. We w ill continue to w ork very hard to earn your love and affection throug h our m usic. Steve Mount Portland Gay Men s Chorus Thanks City Nights Dear C ity N ights G roup: C ongratulations on creating a truly fantastic evening. The Sylvester S um m er Party was o f benefit to everyone associated w ith it! O n behalf o f the Board and all o f us as sociated w ith CHSS/PAL Project, I’d like to thank all o f you fo r your astonishing effort on behalf o f persons challenged by Acquired Im m une D eficiency Syndrom e. Your w ork has dem onstrated that it is possible to make a difference in the fig h t against devastating disease w ithout being m orose o r desperate. Truly you have shown the potential o f joy in the face o f grief, and the power o f resolve in the face o f fear. You have given m any in Portland the sure knowledge that everyone can m ake a difference in the fig h t against AIDS. Thank you for all your hard w ork. Your organization reflected long hours o f prepara tio n. Everyone that I have spoken w ith was stunned that such an incredible party could be fou nd in Portland. B ut m ost im pressive o f all is the sim ple fact th a t you stepped forw ard w ithout being asked — purely o u t o f your own sense o f concern and com passion fo r others. As you already know, the funds you raised are des perately needed, now, in ou r ow n co m m u n ity. A ll o f us in PAL Project hope that you take a great deal o f satisfaction in know ing that these m oneys w ill directly sup port m any people, m ost o f w hom you w ill never know. Those o f us w ho are w orking on behalf o f persons challenged by life-threatening illnes ses, are buoyed by the know ledge that others share o u r concern and are w illin g to make sacrifices as necessary to support others who are less fortunate. It seems insufficient to sim p ly say, “ Thank you fo r being there fo r us,” bu t we hope that it w ill add to the pride w hich you m u st feel after creating such a rousing success. Thank you fo r dem onstrating that life can be rich with fu n and e n te rta in m e n t and m eaningful at the sam e tim e! We wish all o f you and yours the very best o f health. „ _ , Steve Fulmer CHSS Board Chair 3