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November, 1985
Vol. 3 No. 1
STAFF
C ontributors
Eleanor Malin
Eve Sicular
Patrick Caplis
Pat Scott
Sandra Pinches
Billy Russo
Cynthia Cum fer
Marcella Box
W m. McRae
Jim Anctil
Lee Lynch
Ray Berger
C o-publishers
Jay Brown
Renee LaChance
E ditor
Jay Brown
Graphic A rts D irector
Rupert Kinnard
Advertising Director
Roger Hall
A dvertising Associates
Eve Sicular
Ed Hickey
Production
Bev La Belle
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.
Deadline for submissions is the 15th of each
month.
O ut About Town is a courtesy to,our readers
Items must be received by the 15th of each month.
and features may not necessarily be those of the
editorial staff of Just Out.
Subscriptions to Just Out are available for
$7.50 for 12 issues. A free copy of Just Out and/or
advertising rates are available upon request.
The mailing address and telephone number for
Just O ut are:
P.O. Box 15117
Portland. OR 97215
236-1252
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 ten davs prior to publication date, along
with payment
Proofreader
Anita Q uiton
Just O ut is published the first of each month.
Copyright 1985. No part of Just Out may be re
produced without the writ'en permission of the
publishers.
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.
Views expressed in letters to the editor, columns.
E D I T O R I A L
Military hom ophobia institutionalized
b y Ja y B ro w n
N ovem ber 11 m arks the 67th anniversary o f the signing o f the arm istice ending hostilities o f
the Great War o f 1914-18. For m any years the date was called Arm istice Day as was
appropriate. More recently the date, still a holiday, has been celebrated as Veteran’s Day, which
does not seem quite so appropriate.
As a p e a ce n ik, I have always had problem s with the military, even when I was a part o f it
during the late 1950s. In those days, som e people got drafted (I wasn’t) and had no choice in
the matter.
No one has been drafted in m ore than ten years and in that tim e more than 14,000 people
were discharged from the m ilitary because they were lesbian or gay. One can be sure that few,
if any, o f those 1 J00 were conscripts.
And now, the D epartm ent o f Defense has ordered all personnel under its jurisdiction
considered to be at “ high risk" fo r AIDS (read ages 18-35) be required to subm it to the HTLV-lll
antibodies te s t
The m ilitary is an entity unto itself. Those persons in the m ilitary are there because they have
elected to be there; that is, they enlisted. People under the jurisdiction of the DOD, Soldiers,
Sailors and Marines (both male and fem ale) are subject to the Uniform Code o f Military
Justice. The UCMJ is a set o f rules which supersedes the Constitution of the United States.
If one is in the m ilitary, one has no choice but to obey the rules of the military. So when I hear
m oaning and groaning about gays and lesbians being treated “ unfairly" by the military, I
w onder at the ignorance.
Just Out begins 3rd year
W ith this issue Ju st O u t m arks our second anniversary. In the scheme of things two years is
a very short tim e, but we think it is pretty exciting and amazing that a gay/lesbian newspaper
has been able to survive that long and prosper w ithout the support o f the m ost visible
businesses in the com m unity.
CAI HART 1C COM ICS
Y E 5...I THINK THE FEN PEOPLE WHO THINK
THIS STRIP HRS BEEN SOMEWHAT
NEGATIVE have A POINT, m io
T n \ going to u v e every
0 IT OR CRITICISM A LOT OP
THOUGHT.... I N FACT 1 ALREADY HAVE.
Just O ut, November, 1985
C onsidenng that at last half o f the copies distributed in the com m unity are picked up in gay
bars and businesses in downtown Portland, we know that the patrons o f these businesses are
reading J u s t O u t
It hasn’t been easy on the other side o f the fence either. It’s d ifficult always being politically
astute, especially when the best o f intentions backfires and results in alienation and suspicion.
So, anyway, we are still at it And to all the people who have helped us along the way, Just
O u t says, “Thank you.”
AIDS fears foster paranoia
A friend o f ours, a waiter at a downtown restaurant, was told recently by his boss that "I’m
gonna make all you gay boys take that AIDS test"
The m an’s statem ent about that "AIDS test" seems to be typical of the level o f understand
ing about the syndrom e and the test. First of all, the test will not determ ine the presence o f the
virus, but will indicate the presence o f antibodies to the virus. Antibodies indicate exposure to
the virus, but exposure does not mean that a person in whom the test shows antibodies will
actually becom e ill with the disease nor does it mean that the person will be a carrier o f the
disease, it means only that the organism (the person) has been exposed to the disease.
AIDS is not a highly contagious disease, nor is it spread through casual contact. The virus
does not float through the air, get into food, nor can you get it by visiting with, w orking with or
going to school with a person who has it.
C ontrary to increasingly popular opinion, you cannot get AIDS from a toilet seat or a public
telephone, n o r can you get it from an exercise bench or a swim m ing pool.
The AIDS virus is transm itted only through the m edium of bodily fluids, such as semen and
blood, through sexual contact or contam inated needles. A report in ine New England Journal
o f M edicine (O ctober 17, 1985) said, A Florida surgeon with AIDS operated on hundreds of
patients w ithout passing on the fatal disease, supporting the belief that AIDS-infected health
care workers can safely treat patients," which should dispel some fears, but never underesti
m ate the ignorance o f the Am erican public.
Featuring
THE BROWN BOMBER & DIVA TOUCHE FLAMBE
WELL 1 WAS GOING TO DO A COMIC
BASED ON KEESTON LOWERY GOING
THROUGH EYTEH JlVE OLYMPICS- LIKE
T r a in in g p o r t h e p o s s ib le R e t u r n
0 P JERRY WELLER AND FO R THE TUSSLE
F o r P o r tlan d ' s g a y p o litic a l t h r o n e ...
YOURE NOT
GOING TO DO THE
STRIP7*
NO. BECAUSE I T
WOULD BE TOO TACRY.
AND 1 WANT TO SHOW
R e s t r a in t f
,
OHf You R e a liz e of course that
Y o u 'V e m m A g e d T o m a r e your
STATEMENT, ANYWAY?
TEE HEE... Z KNOW...
Z COULpNT HELP M YSELF1
j thrive o n co ntro versy /
3