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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1985)
by W.C. McCrae W hat’s it like to be young and gay in Port land? C om ing from an older generation and a different area I began this investigation with a certain bem used curiosity. I mean, for those o f us who grew up in the late '60s and early 7 0 s , even the notion of “uni-sex" was blandly naughty. But this is a generation for whom Boy G eorge is now passe. And many o f us who cam e o u t to whatever degree, in the less than recent past were forced to use role m od els borrowed largely from literature: our con cepts o f “ gayness” were derived not from reality but from close, frequent and fevered readings o f Isherwood, Gide, or E.M. Forster. And even this privilege (if it was on e) was largely limited to males: even if young w o m en had similar narcissistic urges to con struct sexual identities at the behest of litera ture, the appropriate lesbian texts were simply unavailable. Our county library con tained Dorian Gray. There was no copy o f Orlando. But today's youth has access to real gay people as role m odels in the media (and AIDS will for better or worse force more and m ore personalities out o f the closet) and at the local level. Portland has, for a city its size, a large, overt, and visible gay presence, and has (from Mount Tabor inward) a gener ally benevolent attitude towards gay people. Gayness is a topic o f discussion at all levels of local g o vern m en t and has, to a degree not anticipated 15 years ago, been largely destigmatized. And in Portland numerous businesses and organizations recognize in gay youth a m arket if not a value and a service in mutual interaction. There are gay youth groups, night clubs, non-threatening environments in which to gather. But I discovered that while Portland affords opportunities and freedom to gay youth that say, the rural Mid-West did not 10 years ago, the difficulties evident a m o n g young gays ec h o issues in the adult gay community. The divisions — o f privilege, class, gender, educa tion — encountered in the adult community, are present in young gay culture. As adult gay issues have changed, so to o have young gay issues. T h e difference is on e o f degree, not type. - Windfire was begun in 1982 as a peer sup port and social group for gay and bisexual adolescents. According to advisor Franklin Jenkins, the idea behind the foundation of Windfire was to give gay youth — from 14 to 19 — the sam e opportunities for an associa- concerns, which are then discussed. Jenkins stresses that the young people are able to do m ore for each other — in term s o f counsel ing — than he can d o for them. According to Parfiet, although there is a circle o f teenagers w ho continue to co m e for social reasons, W indfire also “recycles” kids. Individuals c o m e to the group, initially concerned with co m in g out to parents and friends, and ask ing questions about sexuality. After a few weeks they will begin to offer advice and in form ation to others who have joined later and then will leave the group, having gained what ever support they needed Recently Windfire m oved its meeting place from O W T to the City Nightclub in response to a concern that they “ hadn’t been reaching the kids w ho g o to the City.” Jenkins warned Windfire that m oving would change the group in ways that individual m em bers might not like. While m ost Windfire m em bers are mid dle class, the City clientele is quite varied, and includes som e “ street kids.” Windfire began to deal with “ street issues" — com in g out to parents or em ployers is not a problem to those w ho are hom eles and d o n ’t have jobs. Instead, Windfire began to deal with m em - "The divisions — of privilege, class, gender, education — encountered in the adult community are present in young gay culture.' tion o f peers as heterosexual kids have. Windfire provides a forum where gay and bisexual youths can m e e t listen to scheduled speakers, get information or advice, and dis cuss whatever is on their minds. Randall Parfiet, a form er Windfire m em ber stresses that Windfire isn’t just counseling. For many young people to whom the City (an all-age gay night club) isn’t for whatever reason an option as a social center, Windfire provides the only oranized (Even respectable) milieu in which gay teenagers can get to m eet and know each other. Windfire began by meeting at Old Wives’ Tales. The number o f teenagers attending, according to Parfiet, ranged from 10 to 60, depending on teenage scheduling exigencies. Although there are som etim es scheduled speakers, a m ore com m on structure is to pass around a list on which individuals write bers w hose problem s were poverty, drugs and alcohol, which resulted from being “on their own.” T h e m ove resulted in a clash o f values. For on e group without Th e City there was no where else to go. But for so m e conservative m em bers o f Windfire, even g o in g to Th e City was distasteful, and in som e cases permis sion was denied by parents. Windfire now, resourcefully, m eets at both O W T and the City. Windfire recently spawned the Bridge Group, a peer support group for those 18-29. Th ere is an intentional overlapping o f ages between the two groups so individuals have the option o f swinging between them as they wish. M ost Bridge m em bers are formerly of Windfire, though the group addrsses diffe rent concerns. Parents and Friends o f Lesbians and Gays (Parents/FLAG) provides support for gay Just Out, October 1985