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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1985)
j a : An open letter to the Portland lesbian community Have you been wondering where the movement went? Maybe you're not sure what the movement is. What happened to those of us who were active in the past? Why aren’t we now? How will activism in the mid eighties be different? What do we need as individuals and as a community to support and sustain ongoing activism? The Lesbian Community Organizing Pro ject (LC O P) is busy asking these questions and searching for their answers. We re a group of lesbians who share a desire to see our community more organized and more active. Som e of us were activists in the seventies; some o f us are new to the women’s community. All o f us believe the lesbian com munity needs to and is able to develop a more powerful influence on social change politics in Portland. I—— i LJ J i— Recently the repeal of the county employee gay rights ordinance, under pressure from a fundamentalist group, found us, as a com munity, unable to respond effectively in our own interest We need to make our voice heard on the many issues that affect us as lesbians, as women, and as citizens. W e’ve been meeting for several months discussing ideas and developing goals. Es sentially, we envision a four-phase project: information gathering, analysis, and a com munity conference that aided by the results of the information, will decide to set in motion strategies for community development The final phase will be sharing our work with other lesbian communities nationally, encouraging them to undertake their own organizing projects. In order to accomplish these goals we plan to: 1. Design and distribute a community wide survey. 2. Conduct in-depth interviews with indi viduals from different segments of the community. ing and analyzing the information and organizing the conference. You can choose a level of participation that’s comfortable for you. Participate with a maximum commit ment on the steering committee, or on a more minimal level by holding a house meet ing for friends in your home, or putting your name on a committee phone list so you can be called for help on a specific task So, don't be overwhelmed. The LCOP is accessible even if you don’t have a lot of extra time. Another way to participate is financially. Your contributions of money, as well as time, are needed to make it all happen. We also need help planning and organizing fundrais ing activities. To contact us call: Cathy at 238-0135 and 233-9079. Judith at 284-5262. Or write us a P.O. Box 2212, Portland 97228. Or, leave a message in the LCOP log book at A Women’s Place Bookstore. W e’ll be talking with you. The Lesbian Community Organizing Project 3. Hold a series of house meetings to facilitate small group discusson of the questions. 4. Compile and analyze the information and write a report of the findings. 5. Present the report at a conference so Portland lesbians can get together and make informed decisions regarding community development 6. Publicize the work of our project in the national women's press. During the whole process we will be con necting women with one another, developing mailing lists and phone trees, and focusing community attention. There are many ways you can be involved. Right now we're recruiting for the steering committee and the house meeting commit tee. We also need lesbians from a wide variety of perspectives to participate in the com munity focus group. This group will meet periodically just to tell us what they think about the work of the project as it pro gresses. In the future we’ll need help compil — i Insurers to require AIDS test T h e Am erican Council o f Life Insurance, w h o se 60 30 m em ber com panies write 95 percent o f the nation's insurance policies, an n o u n ced on Septem ber 12. that it would b ack any insurers that want to require AIDS b lo o d testing o f prospective clients. The policy statement by the board of di rectors of ACL1 said the tests are necessary to “ protect policy holders’ interest’’ An industry spokesman said the industry will also use its substantial lobbying power to overturn laws in California and Wisconsin which ban insur ers from requiring the tests. Nationwide Insurance Companies, an Ohio-based firm, was reported to have started AIDS blood screening of som e male appli cants from New York New Jersey, California and Florida a week before the ACU announcem ent The controversial blood test detects the presence o f antibodies to the HTLV-III virus, which causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Opponents o f the test have argued that it should not be used by insurers because not all people with antibodies will develop AIDS. Experts estimate that between 5 percent and 2 0 percent o f antibody-positive people will contract the lethal syndrom e, and an addi tional 25 percent will contract AIDS-Related C om plex, a m ilder form o f the infection that p o se s serious health problem s. A s m any as 1 m illion Am ericans have the AID S antibodies in their blood , federal officials have said. B oth insurance industry representatives an d gay com m unity leaders have expected con cern s about A ID S and insurance to in crease as m ore AID S victims becom e sick en o u gh to require expensive hospitalization and m edical treatm ent Federal health officials have estimated that AIDS care already is costing billions of dollars nationally. Each of the nation’s AIDS victims typically runs up a medical bill between $50,000 and $ 100,000. As of this month, m ore than 12 900 AIDS cases were reported nationally. Texas Sodomy law upheld The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans voted 9 to 7 on August 26 to uphold Texas’ sodom y law which forbids “deviate sexual intercourse with another individual o f the sam e sex," even in private. "In view o f the strong objection to hom o sexual co n d u ct which has prevailed in W est ern culture for the past seven centuries, we cannot say that (the Texas law ) is totally unre lated to the pursuit o f im plem enting morality, a perm issible state goal,” the judges said. The case was appealed by Danny Hill, a district attorney in Potter County in west Texas, with the support of a group called Dallas Doctors Against AIDS after the law was declared unconstitutional by a federal judge in 1982. The ruling majority (six Reagan appointees, two Nixon appointees and one appointed by Carter) apparently ignored a decision re leased last May by the Eleventh Circuit Court which struck down a similar law in the state of Georgia. The majority opinion in the Georgia case ruled that the law “infringes upon the funda mental constitutional rights of the homosex ual’ and that the state “ must prove in order to prevail that it has a compelling interest in regulating this behavior.” At this time litigants in the Texas case have made no decision for a U.S. Supreme Court appeal. The state of Georgia, on the other hand, is asking for a Supreme Court decision claiming that the state does have a "compel ling interest in regulating” sexual behavior. Weller quits C hicago post Jerry Weller, executive director of Chicago’s Howard Brown Memorial Clinic, resigned, according to GayLife. Weller said he plans to complete his master’s de gree in journalism at Roosevelt University during the com ing school year and then pos sibly return to Portland. Weller’s resignation came after a vacation in Portland where he decided that he “really is a West Coast person," and that working at the clinic is “ not how I wanted to spend my life.” Weller was founding executive director of Portland’s Phoenix Rising Foundation until 1982 when he moved to Washington, D.C., to work for Gay Rights National Lobby. After a stint as GRNL’s deputy director he was ap pointed acting director between the resigna tion of Steve Endean and the appointment of Vicky Monrean. Hired on October 25,1984, by the Howard • Brown Memorial Clinic, Weller said he is leav ing the clinic more financially stable than when he took the job. Weller also cited his success at bringing city and state funds to the clinic for the first time. RED ROSE SCHOOL W om en’s Term, Fall 1985 The Red Rose School offers classes to help us better understand our position in society and our ability to change it through social action. This fall we present a special term which is being con- ceiued, organized and taught by women. Mena Resource Center Counseling Service Classes begin Oct. 14 and are held at 7:30 pm in the Friends' Meetinghouse, 4312 S.E. Stark A small tuition is charged to cover expenses For m ore Info rm ation and a brochure, call 1 232 - 1605 . Monday«: Women as Organizers In the Workplace (M L. Smith. 4 Mondays starting Oct. 14); Methods of Discrimination (Patricia MacAodha, 6 Mondays starting Oct. 14). Tuewlays: Daughters of Poverty: 20th-Century Fiction (Diane Nowicki, 7 Tuesdays starting Oct. 15); Violence Against Women (Portland Women's Crisis Line members, 6 Tuesdays starting Oct. 22) Wednesday«: Internalized O p pression of Women (Cindy Cumfer, 6 Wednesdays starting Oct. 16); W om en’s Leadership Develop- ment (Sister Guadalupe Gua)ardo, 5 Wednesdays starting Oct. 16). Thursday«: Lesbian Identity in a Homophobic Society (Dr. Peggy Hockenbruck, 6 Thursdays starting Oct 17) • FRIDAY. OCT. 4: FORUM AND OPEN HOUSE. “ The View From Nairobi" will be a special report on the recent international women's conference by two Portland women who attended. Damari Wakhungu and Carol Page. Open house: 7 pm; forum: 7:30 pm. Friends’ Meetinghouse, 4312 S.E Stark. 4 G AY T H E R A P IS T S • • • • • Professional Counseling Low Fees - Sliding Scale Individuals, Couples, Groups Hypnotherapy Evening & Weekend Problems ............ We 2 3 5 -3 4 3 3 Can Work It Out! M l Out O ctober 1985