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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1989)
out • Steppin’ Out P H O TO BY IAY BROWN • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • C O N T E N T S Co-Publishers Renee LaChance and Jay Brown Letters ........................ 3 What's going on here . 4 Between the lines . . . 5 AIDS 101 6 just News ................... 7 just Youth ......................13 Profile ........................... 15 Out About Town . . . . 18 M u s ic ..............................24 C in e m a ...........................25 Counsel ........................ 26 Amazon Trail ................ 27 Classifieds ......................28 Editor Jay Brown Calendar Editor Littlejohn Keogh Entertainment Editor Sandra De Helen Staff Reporters Anndee Hochman Advertising Representatives J e ff h ritz, Chris Maier, Littlejohn Keogh Production Director Renée LaChance Creative Director E. Ann Hinds Typesetting Em Space Impact Presentations Proofreading Cheryl Welch Graphic Inspiration Rupert Kinnard Distribution . Diana Cohen Lessons from Selma, Alabam a Contributors Littlejohn Keogh Donna Meyer Sandra De Helen Dr. Tantalus Julie L. Baumler Lee Lynch Bradley J. Woodworth Steve Warren Rex Wockner Seth Saturn Jack Riley Jeffrey Zurlinden Just Out is published on the first day of each month. Copyright 1989. No part of Just Out may be reproduced without written permission of the publishers. The submission of written and graphic mate rials Ls welcomed. Written material should be typed and double-spaced. Graphic material should be in black ink on white paper. Deadline for submissions is the 15th of the month preceding publication. Out About Town is compiled as a courtesy to our readers. Performers, clubs, individuals or groups wishing to list events in the calendar should mail notices to Just Out by the 15th of the month preceding publication Listings will not be taken over the telephone. Display Advertising will be accepted up to the 17th of each month. Classified ads must be received at the office of Just Out by the 17th of each month, along with payment. Ads will not be taken over the telephone. Kditorial policies allow the rejection or the editing 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 and features are not necessarily those of the publishers Subscriptions to Just Out are available for $12.50 for 12 issues. First class (in an envelope) is $20 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 Out are: PO Box 15117 Portland. OR 97215 (503)236-1252 just o u t* 2 V October 1989 A loud voice inside my head kept screaming, “Remember Rosa Parks . Do not ride in the back of the bus anymore.” BY SETH S A T U R N stood at the membership counter of the Portland Costco store, shaking with both rage and fear. On two previous occasions, I had tried to get a spouse card for my lover. Spouse cards are advertised as one of the benefits of the premium membership I annually pay for at this popular warehouse- style store. Each time I had been denied, because we do not have a marriage license. On those occasions, I was sent away with the explanation that heterosexual, unmarried members are not permitted spouse cards either. This lime, I was ready to fight. My lover. Chip, and I have been involved in a process of formalizing our connections with each other. We have plotted out a series of legal, administrative, and personal steps to move our relationship closer to one appearing outwardly like marriage, and bringing with it as many benefits of the married as we could extract from groups offering such privileges. We recently had our names changed, to share a common last name. Thus, I appeared in Costco to get my membership card updated to my new name. Having no trouble getting spouse benefits at Portland State, at the credit union, or with any vendor I can think of, I was ready to battle the membership services at Costco. Once again I was refused a spouse card because I could not produce a marriage certificate. “I would like to see your policy about marriage certificates being required for spouse cards, please,” I said to the clerk. She referred me to the more experienced clerk. This person repeated the policy and offered to write it down on a piece of paper if I would like. “I would like to see in writing, on any materials which you distribute to applicants, a I rule that requires presentation of a marriage certificate." I stood firm and watched the clerk twitch. He hemmed and hawed, and finally suggested in a resentful tone that we call the store manager. The manager appeared fairly quickly and once again I explained my goal of obtaining a card for my spouse and demanded to see their policy in writing if I were to be refused a benefit for which I d paid. The manager read over the membership application and all the signs posted in the membership area. Then he disappeared into the bowels of the store offices. When he reappeared, he looked me in the eye and asked if Chip was my spouse “Cer tainly. to me he is,” I replied, uncertain of where this was leading. With that, he turned to the membership clerks and told them to issue me a spouse card for Chip, and to be aware of a new policy o f issuing cards to persons identified as spouses without re quiring legal documentation. Out. I had just come out. For the umpteen thousandth time, I had come out. This process just never seems to end. Each time I do some thing like this, I question, “Aren’t I just a little old to be doing this kind o f thing?” Perhaps I expect additional years’ experience to wear away the sense of injustice I feel when some one denies me equal treatment. The many little coming out moments with family and others in controlled situations did little to prepare me for this public encounter. All over again, I knew the trembling of jellied knees, the breathlessness that comes from fear. So, why go through these exercises; what possible gain motivates me through such visceral traumas? Certainly, in this case, it is more than the mere convenience that Chip will be able to shop at Costco without my presence. I think, oddly, it is an act of patriotism. I do believe in the ideals upon which the laws of our nation are built, starting with the right to pursuit of happiness. Wherever the law allows me protection, I demand the right to live my life my way. While gay people do not yet have protected class status, we can sometimes take advantage of other protections (such as the illegality of discrimination on the basis o f marital status) in our quest for fuller inclusion. Rosa Parks. A black, southern woman known for her bravery in 1956, seemingly so different from me. Rosa, I draw courage and inspiration from your action. I often remind myself that we cannot foretell the wider sig nificance of our every action. Rosa’s refusal to give up her seat on the bus led to the birth of the black civil rights push. Who knows which one of our small acts o f bravery will give birth to something bigger?