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No shirt, no shoes: You're under arrest!
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This is the first lawsuit filed to challenge
If you are a hang-loose kind of woman,
this
particular regulation, according to the
especially when you’re on vacation, one
plaintiffs’ lawyers, Jaffrey Denner. In
place you might want to skip this year is
fact, one allegation made by the plaintiffs ‘
the Massachusetts Cape Cod National
is that there exists a regional prosecutorial
Seashore, where it is currently illegal for
practice of arresting women for exposing
females to bare their breasts in public. The
their breasts, harrassing them generally,
region is reputed to be the only federal
but then dropping the charges before trial,
seashore which imposes anti-nudity regu­
I to avoid giving those charged a forum in
lations on visitors.
which to attack the regulation under which
In case you are one of that endangered
they
were arrested.
species, a true untravelled west coast
A lesbian named Gabriel Brooke, Cape
person like me, here’s a quick geography
Cod
inn owner who was arrested in August
lesson: Cape Cod is a peninsula twenty-
with nine other women for airing her upper
five miles long and only a mile or two
torso
at Herring Cove Beach, has given
wide, which curls back toward the main-
up. She no longer frequents the beach,
land like the tip of Peter Pan’s shoe and is
“ sick of having to be paranoid about
by all reports a very wonderful place to be
rangers . . . ”
on a New England summer’s day.
One imagines the dutiful rangers in their
Nearby Provincetown, Massachusetts is
aviator glasses, badges glinting in the sun,
a large gay population, with the result that
scuffing down the sand dunes in their hot
many of the park’s local patrons (and their
uniforms toward the soft, warm, naked
summer guests) are gay. As might be
offenders, all within a twenty mile sea-
expected, considering the quasi-military
view of Plymouth Rock where by some
National Park Service and the personality
accounts “ it” all started.
profile of the typical tenured Park Service
employee, there is apparently not a lot of
love lost between the park rangers and the
American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne
gay sunbathers. They just don’t have a
(1804-1864), who had a special interest in
whole lot in common.
I what we would now call the religious
In December, twelve women of varying
psychology of his Calvinist forebears, de-
sexual preferences and lifestyles filed a
; scribed the early Massachusetts Puritans
class action lawsuit in the local U.S. Dis­
as “ panting and praying in a single
trict Court, seeking to have Cape Cod’s
breath” in their zeal to nab, grab, shake,
anti-nudity regulation declared uncon­
j and sometimes kill, the women in their
stitutional as a violation of several of their • communities who dared to be different,
constitutional rights, including freedom of
dared to be themselves. What do you bet
expression, freedom of association,
some of them were prosecuted for simply
privacy, due process, and perhaps most
slipping out of those black dresses on a
appropriately, equal protection under the
warm day to feel the sun and salt breeze on
law (men are allowed to bare their breasts
: their skin?
’til the cows come home, right down to
Sometimes, if you didn’t know better,
their whats-its).
you might think things hadn't changed a
t whole lot in three hundred years.
•
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— Nancy R. Walseth
roviding a comprehensive overview
of travel to and in Alaska would take
more space than this or any editor
would allow, but touching on a few points,
especially of interest to gay and lesbian
readers should provide a start.
Alaska is about seven times larger in
area than Oregon with a total population of
about half of Portland. Ketchikan, the
Southernmost town, is nearly 900 aii miles
from Portland and its only true city,
Anchorage (pop. 250,000), is 900 rir
miles further northwest.
Cruise ships, mostly from Van \.uver
BC, travel mid-May to mid-September
providing brief 5-7 day luxury views for
$ 1,000 plus per person. The BC Ferries
travel from northern Vancouver Island to
Prince Rupert where an Alaskan Ferry can
be taken to ports further north. There are
one or two Alaskan ferries leaving Seattle
per week but at twice the price. Of coures,
air travel is an option and super saver rates
to Anchorage are quite attractive. Car ren­
tals abound, and you can drive to many
(but not all) areas of the state. From Port­
land allow at least 30 days since it is 5,500
miles round trip to Anchorage.
Lodging isn’t much costlier than in Ore­
gon (read expensive). There are hostels in
Ketchikan, Juneau, Anchorage, Fairbanks,
Nome and a few other communities where
communal lodging and cooking is avail­
able for $5-10 per person plus your
groceries. Restaurants are rather expensive
although Big Mac types abound in major
communities. Groceries will run from
25% more in Anchorage to 100% more in
Nome, compared to Portland prices. Bed
and Breakfast places are available in most
major communities, but no currently gay
oriented ones.
The only gay bars are in Anchorage
where three cater to a mixed (male/female/
native/non-native/young/old) crowd. The
Village at 225 East 5th. is Alaska’s gay
disco and has the largest lesbian patron­
ft
% I
age. There is a lesbian owned bookstore at
9th and A streets worth a look, too. The
Raven at 6th and Gambell is cruisy and is
Alaska’s version of a Levi/leather bar (but
only a hint); pool tables used by men and
women are in constant use there. The lade
Room at 7th and I streets is a small, some­
what tacky, but cozy place that has within
its employ an ex-Empress from Eugene —
Charisse.
There is an active court group in
Anchorage. Their Labor Day weekend
Coronation Ball draws over I,(XX) attendees
and is probably the grandest Ball in Alaska
— AAAA. A very active AIDS
organization, four gay AA meetings per
week, and a monthly newsletter help add
to the community. A social service organi­
zation, Identity (PO Box 200070, Anchor­
age, 99520) can provide various informa­
tion of a political, social, and general na­
ture during weekdays at 276-3919. They
operate a helpline Fridays and Saturdays
from 7 p.m.-l 1 p.m. at 276-3909.
In Fairbanks you could call 456-3353 to
find out what activities the Arctic Gay and
Lesbian Association may have going on in
that interior community, and there are Gay
groups in Kodiak, Sitka and Juneau.
Check with Identity for details. Although
not a “ gay bar,” the bar in the Summit
Hotel in Juneau welcomes gay and lesbian
customers.
Outdoor activities abound throughout
the state, such as fishing, canoeing, hik­
ing, camping, skiing, whitewater trips,
and hunting. Long daylight summer hours
allow for many photographic adventures.
To obtain up-to-date information, the best
single volume is the Milepost, available in
most Oregon bookstores. The Portland
Central Library keeps current copies of
Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau
newspapers.
You might not want to live there, but
few visitors have ever complained about
their Alaskan vacation. It may not be
Hawaii, but you’ll never regret going. •
— Charles Eggen
O K I .lliilit«» 4 1 Ul<>
Just Out 13 March. 1987