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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1988)
S R QUAC's priorities Dump Z100, try KBOO To the Editor: I expect gay-bashing from the Oregon Citizens Alliance and like-minded groups, but not from the gay press. Just Out’s article on the QUAC split was inflammatory and incorrect. QUAC split from Gays and Lesbians United (GLU) because we were tired of rhetoric instead of action, neo-socialist drivel and the attempt by a few to co-opt the group for their own purposes. As for bigotry, Fred Menard’s roommate can belong to QUAC, support QUAC and actively participate with QUAC. What she can’t do as a straight woman is vote on issues that concern lesbians’ and gay men’s lives. Adrienne Weller’s Radical Women will not let men vote — bigots! The United States Senate won't allow the House to vote in Senate sessions — bigots! Give me a break! All groups have rules and priorities. GLU’s rules would allow Priscilla Martin and her cohorts to come in and usurp their group. QUAC’s will not. The GLU statement of purpose was presented in the article to give the impression that QUAC is against all other groups — not so. Like I said, though, we have priorities. QUAC has its hands full of homophobes at the present time, thank you very much. As individuals, we can join as many other groups as we want to. Right now though, we have a big job. and I hate having to waste time defending QUAC against other gay people. It’s time to check who gay people’s enemies are, and they are not QUAC. Michael L. Bowers Portland To the Editor: In response to last month’s letter from Mitchell and Docstader concerning the homophobia of [radio station] Z100,1 do hope you weren’t amazed by their stupidity on the air or their sexist attitude toward you when you called to complain. They don’t care about you or your reaction. They cater to cockrock devotees, advertisers and the ratings And since Z100 is very high in the ratings, gosh they must be doing something right. Turn them off, call their advertisers and tell them why you won’t be patronizing them, or better yet, tune in to listener-supported, listener-accountable KBOO. Support a radio station that supports you, that cares what you think, that gives you access to this media resource and is categori cally opposed to racism, sexism, homophobia and other oppressive acts. Linda Shirley Portland PWA regrets CAP donations Patrick Landels Portland To the Editor: I have been diagnosed as having AIDS. Since I am no longer able to work I am forced to find assistance elsewhere. Adult and Family Services is a bureaucratic hell, the Aging Services Division’s In-house Service Provider program will give only insults and lies unless you complain to the County Commissioner’s office Imperial Rose Court defined A. / A* y Announcing a new, unique service j AGATHA PET SERVICES In-Your-Home Pet Sitting m • Ever worried about boarding out vimr p el7 • Ever wished you knew someone trustworthy to ; care fo r your pet at home, instead o f leaving • him/her in a foreign environment? • Ever had to travel out o f town unexpectedly':’ • Ever cut short a visit to return home to care for i vour pet? 5 m A GAT HA PET SERVICES is licensed to \ provide care fo r your pet in your home. AGATHA PET SERVICES is available 24 \ hours a day, 7 days a week. AGATHA PET SERVICES is convenient. \ m AGATHA PET SERVICES | In-Your-llome Pet Sitting 775-3766 CICLO SPORT SHOP *5 NW THIRD AV 81 S STATE ST OLD TOWN PORTLAND - //V 227 8535 r. LAKE OSWEGO 00W N T0W N a u ra ta BIANCHI p e l c e c t P ian u m d & u *- SPECIALIZED WE MAKE IT EASIER! FERGUSON PAINT PRECISION COLLISION REPAIR... met UNIBODY SPECIALISTS 1C» FRAME STRAIGHTENING TMMffl TOWING ARRANGED QUALITY WORK AT A FAIR PRICE vrsA 9 2 4 5 4 E . B u rn s id e Charter Member Autobody Craftsman Association 232-3600 Family Owned & Operated Since 1952 just oul • 4 • October I4KH I j To the Editor: I have been asked, what is the Imperial Rose Court and what does it do? The Court is basically a social organization providing an opportunity for individuals to participate in community projects. Aside from the grand spectacle of the coronation ball, which offers Portland an opportunity to fulfill its “ PR .” responsibilities to cities throughout the W est, the service aspect to the community is not overlooked. Such projects as Frank and Allison’s Scholarship of the Rose Fund, Cal and Esther’s Brinker Fund and Esther’s Pantry, Lady Elaine Peacock’s Audra Edwards scholar ship fund and the Portland People’s Fund started by Elsa Daniels are just a few of the oppor tunities for community involvement offered by the Court. And don’t forget the fun things like the Christmas tree hunt, participation in the Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade, sharing in out- of-town appearances of the Court (everyone is welcome to participate . . . the more the merrier). Dick Daggett aka Mr. Lavender Portland 888 8521 BIKECITEMENTt AUTO BODY & directly. Literally months have passed since I let my needs be known, but without help from friends I would still sit in a file folder, ignored. On seeking counseling I was told that the Chester Brinker Fund has money available to PWAs (People With AIDS) for counseling — no questions asked. This is not true. Since Cascade AIDS Project holds the purse strings, the more red tape they can impose, the more money they can skim off in administrative costs. So, in spite of my diagnosis and need, CAP won’t let go of a penny of the Brinker Fund without making me jump through more of their hoops. I truly regret all the money that I gave CAP when I was healthy and the many hours of volunteer work that I donated, because I have been shown by CAP that they engage in selective gay-bashing, are extremely bigoted, and are so greedy that they will refuse assistance to PWAs that cannot endure the added stress thaTthey impose on them. I advise everyone to keep your money, you might need it, and once it is in CAP’S pockets, it’s gone. CAP is an opportunistic infection! MEMBER Out here In southern Oregon To the Editor: I would like to respond to something Lee Lynch wrote in her column [Just Out, August] about it being impossible to be out here in southern Oregon. I beg your pardon. Sister, I readily acknowledge that I have no idea what it is like to be a butch woman here. I am not butch and I am not a woman. But I am fern and male. Fern- male? Here is this drag queen, or nun (both actu ally) trying her best to understand holy trans vestism. I mean, I didn’t call it that myself. I didn’t know what the fuck it was. Arthur Evans told me what I was. He also pointed out to me that gay men, drag queens, nuns even, could live way the fuck and gone to yonder out here — out here in southern Oregon — and be open and out. And some times when the little motherfuckers, aged twelve to fifteen, give me the finger and all shout faggot as I drive past downtown Wolf Creek, yeah, even when those breeder-trainees give me hassle I am thankful that there are no Israeli soldiers breaking my hands or burying me alive, no contras torturing me and raping me before they murder my ass. I do worry. Sometimes at night when I hear the dirt bikes on the fire trail, I wonder what species of white malehood is out there tonight. I sleep with a gun — every night — because all the breeder-boys here know where I live. No, it is not easy to live an open and out life here. But it is not, it is not impossible to be queer and out and alive in southern Oregon. Our main house here has been fire bombed, burned to the ground. We rebuilt. This is queer land. While all land is holy, this land is particu larly sacred. This land is not dedicated to the mother. This land is the mother — and I happen to be the nun at the fucking shrine. Sometimes, to be sure, I just feel like throw ing in the towel, hanging up my wimple and getting the fuck out. If obedience ever calls me to do that, well that’s exactly what I’ll do. We all have to deal. I just happen to deal here in Wolf Creek. I mean, it is fabulous here. I would rather live here than anywhere in the world. I am definitely the happiest and the luckiest person I know. I am well loved by the mother and well blessed. My life here seems to be perfect and getting better. Yours in the mother and her son, the holy homed one sister species o f crow, o.c. Magdalen Farm, Wolf Creek Gays and lesbians in all oppressed communities To the Editor: The split in QUAC [Queers United Against Closets] that formed a new group, Lesbians and Gays United, was caused when a majority rejected gay isolationism. Not only do we need to be united with other oppressed communities to win our rights, but telling lesbians/gays of color, “ Sorry, only white gay male issues are addressed in this organization” perpetuates racism and sexism in and out of the gay community. Gays/lesbians are in all oppressed communi ties and this makes all fights for equality gay issues. If only one issue at a time is addressed the poor, of color, women, and sexual minorities are always left out. The gay community is strongest when all under right-wing attack, gay or straight, are supporting each other to win our freedom. When QUAC tried to throw me out to censor Radical Women’s multi-issue socialist feminism, I fought for my free-speech rights because shutting up radicals is the first step to shutting up everyone else’s dissenting opinion. This method has been used in the past to keep the gay movement “ respectable” and tied to the Democratic Party. We need a militant multi issue movement that builds a third party and welcomes radical ideas, which is the only way to win against the big-business- and government-backed right-wing minority. They will never accept gays because our existence challenges the myth of women’s “ natural” dependency on men, and thus her second-class status in the family and on the job, upon which the whole system rests. Adrienne Weller Portland Editor's note: Please keep letters under 250 words in length. Otherwise we may have to make drastic cuts, which may change what you want to say. Also, please type and double space letters — or at least write clearly and with wide margins.