Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 1989)
R Questionable ethics To the Editor: I generally find Just Out to be an enjoyable and informative newspaper, and look forward to seeing each issue. But I was aghast ar Bradley Woodworth’s article “HIV and the Law” in your last issue. Apparently he can’t see the forest because of all the law books stacked in front of him. Although he takes two full columns to say it, Woodworth’s point is pretty simple: If you think you may be HIV-positive, and if you want to put someone else at risk of becoming infected by having unsafe sex, you can do so without legal risk as long as you haven’t actually been tested for HIV. What’s next? “How to poison your mother and collect the insurance money, without technically breaking a law?” (It would start with a disclaimer similar to Woodworth’s, something like “There may be reasons not to murder your mother. This column, however, will look only at the issue of legal liability should you decide to kill her.”) There’s simply no way to discuss such legal issues in a void. Ethical and medical considerations have to be taken into account. There’s something worse than HIV going around. It’s the “I’m the only one that counts” attitude of people like Bradley J. Woodworth. It should have no place in papers like Just Out. Sasha Alyson Boston Mr. Woodworth responds: Sasha Alyson missed my point. What I wrote and believe is that "if you do know your I HIV] status and that status is positive, the only prudent course is to make a full and complete disclosure [to your sexual partners]. Failure to do so is not only morally repugnant but legally actionable as well.” As a practical matter everyone should have safe sex, every time. As a legal matter anyone who knows he or she is HIV positive must have only safe sex on pain of civil and criminal liability. Starlight float not first To the Editor: We in Eugene were thrilled to hear about the wonderful gay and lesbian float that appeared in Portland’s Starlight Parade! We’d also like to set the record straight (so to speak.) A letter in July’s Just Out suggested that the Portland float marked "the FIRST TIME there has ever been a gay AND lesbian float in any mainstream parade, anywhere!” (emphasis from the original). Portland’s entry is no less exciting or important for being one of many similar efforts nation- (if not world-) wide. For example, Eugene’s lesbian and gay community has joined the mainstream, city- sponsored Eugene Celebration Parade for the past four years, winning awards the last two. Our 1988 float, “Lesbians and Gay Men in History,” featured soft sculptures of six famous queers: James Baldwin at his writing desk; Martina Navratilova, with racquet; Michaelangelo on a scaffold; Gertrude Stein; Plato; and Eleanor Roosevelt! It was deeply satisfying to hear, as our pink triangle hubcaps turned past the viewing stand, the official announcer’s radio-deep voice booming out the blurb we’d submitted. ‘Today, lesbians and gay men of Eugene honor lesbians and gay men throughout history, famous and not-so-famous. And we celebrate Eugene, a city that appreciates diversity, a town we’re proud to call home.” Corny, and true. So far, we’ve received minimal flack — we’ve spotted a street-side parent pulling his kids away, heard a couple of names called, gotten some you-don’t-exist-if-I-pretcnd-not- to-sce-you blank stares, and read a bigoted letter to the Register Guard’s editor. The positive responses have far overwhelmed the negative: waves and cheers from folks of all types on the sidewalks lining the route, completely fair treatment from parade organizers, and a whole lot of fun and lesbian/ gay/civic pride. By the time this sees print, we’ll have hit the streets for our fifth parade, this time publicizing the new Eugene-based Lesbian and Gay Helpline. Maybe someday we’ll all make it to the Rose Bowl! Laura Philips Eugene Alpenrose acknowledges mistake To the gay and lesbian community: Alpenrose Dairy apologizes to the gay and lesbian community for its conduct in the spring of 1986 in asking Food Front Cooperative Grocery to refrain from advertising Alpenrose products in publications connected to the community. We made a mistake, we acknowledge our mistake, and we will not engage in this practice in the future. Alpenrose customers are free to use available cooperative advertising money, or the retailer’s own money, to advertise our products in any publication of the retailer’s choice and to use the Alpenrose logo as necessary. Alpenrose Dairy will make no judgment in advertising, or other aspects of its business, based upon lifestyle or sexual orientation. Individuals employed by the company have a right to their own personal opinions on all aspects of life, but those opinions will not affect the business operations of the Dairy. We hope that this mistake we made in 1986, compounded with our failure to see our mistake, will be forgiven and that members of all families and communities will continue to enjoy our products. Rod Birkland Vice President Alpenrose Dairy, Inc. GALA III coverage disappointing To the Editor: I was very disappointed with Dr. Tantalus’ column last month describing the final concert of GALA ID, the Festival of Gay and Lesbian Choirs. I attended GALA III and was in the final concert There were so many emotional highs that week, wonderful music and loving support, that the final concert was almost anti- climactic. Dr. Tantalus could have written a much better article based on interviews, incorporating the final concert with its commissioned works, but not focusing on it. GALA III was a week-long, entirely participatory music festival of gay men and lesbians coming together in a spirit of celebration of our music and unity. I have been to five women’s music festivals and this experience surpassed any of them. In focusing on the final concert. Dr. Tantalus missed the point of the week. He also missed the impact of the presence of women. The participation by women’s choirs has grown from one at GALA II (the Denver Women’s Chorus) to eight attending GALA III. The chance to network was wonderful, as was the affirmation that we belong, we have peers in other cities singing to the same audience. It is a tribute to the men’s choruses that though the women were outnumbered by about five to one, it didn’t feel that way. This was the first GALA festival attended by the Portland Lesbian Choir, which did not even exist at the time of GALA II (1986, in Minneapolis). The Portland Gay Men’s Chorus made a banner for us and staked out the first row the night we performed. As the curtain rose on us, there were the men (“our" men, we call them), standing up and pounding the stage in a jam-packed 1200-seat concert hall. It was the finest moment in the history of our choir. One final point Dr. Tantalus would have appreciated: Muse, the Cincinnati women’s choir, upstaged the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus. The audience chanted, “MUSE! MUSE! MUSE!” for five minutes, pounding on the floor and clapping after their performance. New York, following the best women’s chorus at GALA III, didn’t stand a chance. The Denver Men’s Chorus, hosts of GALA IV, were passing out buttons right and left — “GALA IV: Denver, 1992.” We will be there. Nancy Vanderburgh Portland Carbon copies From All Walks of Life c/o Cascade AIDS Project Dear “From All Walks” Organizers, Enclosed is a copy of the letter I wrote you shortly after participating in “From All Walks S of Life” last summer. As you know, you did not respond to that letter, leaving me to feel you did not think my concerns were worthy ol comment. A few months ago a friend who works for CAP told me she had learned there were no plans to change the walk route to make it accessible, only adding to my assumption that you consider this matter inconsequential. It has long been my personal policy not to join, participate in, or donate money to groups or events that ignore and deny accessibility. In this case, I find myself in a dilemma. I do not want to refrain from raising money to help fight AIDS but know of no other so public and large scale event. Last year I raised over $200 in pledges. This pleased me immensely because, like most people, asking for money is real hard for me to do. Each pledge made the next one a little easier and I was looking forward to doing even better this year until I went on the Walk and realized the obstacle I was facing (and my friends were facing because I was with them. I am not willing to ask them to go through that again.). Also, most of my pledges were from people active in the peace and justice movement and I felt great about connecting with those issues. I truly resent the impression that I am left with, that the best way for me to work against AIDS also means I have to work against my own policy which I think should be yours. It is my understanding that some people with AIDS need to use wheelchairs. Too bad for any of them that want to participate in the Walk, huh? I feel some solidarity with people with AIDS — coping with a steadily weakening body in a society generally intolerant and unwilling to recognize or accommodate differing needs. I thought you, who work with and for them, would be more aware of the importance of accessibility. Marguerite Brodie Portland We're paying a price for our pride If only a fifth of the folks who pick up one of our 15,000 copies would send $10, Just Out would he out of the red and into the pink O ur cover page says Just Out is free. But you can’t believe everything you read. For six years we have worked hard to bring Just Out to you, our readers. We’ve phoned advertisers, knocked on doors, inter viewed, taken photos, proofread copy, written headlines, gathered calendar listings, drawn graphics and piled the paper all over Portland and surrounding areas. Free for the taking. Sort of. The truth is, publishing Just Out costs money — more money, over the last six years, than we were taking in. We’ve been operat ing at a deficit, and we don’t want to continue that way. We want Just Out to be a vibrant voice for the lesbian and gay community. Publishing Just Out isn’t the same as pub lishing an ordinary newspaper. Other news papers can charge for copies; they don’t worry about homophobia keeping readers from ask ing a clerk for the latest issue. Other news papers don’t cope with potential advertisers shunning their pages because they’re afraid of the readership. Other newspapers don’t rely on myriad volunteers to get their work done. At other newspapers, “coming out” means getting copies off the press and onto the street. At Just Out, it means more: offering a respon sive, provocative, entertaining vehicle for all the voices of our diverse community. So don’t just read this copy of Just Out. Dig in. Think about all the ways you rely on the paper — for events, group announce ments, news and entertainment, debate and gay-positive advertising. Things you can’t get anywhere else in town. Think about all the issues of Just Out you’ve seen. If only a fifth of the folks who pick up one of our 15,000 monthly copies would send $10, Just Out could be out of the red and into the pink. That's three thousand readers for ten dollars each. Consider writing a check, a sort of “retro-subscription,” to pay for what you’ve received during the past months, or years, of readership. When you read the ads this month, think about the businesses who buy that space. Thank them for supporting Just Out the next time you shop in their stores or use their services. And notice who is not there, too. If a business you use often does not advertise in Just Out, ask the manager why. Or write a letter. Or take your business somewhere else and tell them why. Just Out depends on its readers. Not just to read — but to respond. Write letters, sub mit articles, notice advertisers, offer ideas, get involved. Now, at a fragile time in the news paper’s evolution, we need you more than ever. Help us pay for the past. Help Just Out stay out in the future. Thank you, — Anndee Hochman and Ann Hinds for the staff of Just Out ¡rnttom ▼ 13 ▼ it 19W