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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1990)
/ iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiffTffnBgg Metropolitan Human Relations Commission sets new course "The first thing we have to do is increase our credibility and contact with the community. " — Jeanette Pai Executive Director, MHRC BY ANNDEE HOCHMAN T ACT UP revitalizes in the '90s A CT UP/Portland is holding a new mem ber orientation January 17. For the past year, ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) has been a vital motivating force in fighting AIDS-related injustice in Portland and throughout the United States. We cannot continue to do this without your active participation. Come and get involved. Take an effective, active stance against the racism, homophobia, classism and other discrimination that has stemmed from the AIDS crisis. One of the key aspects of ACT UP is self- education. We need to know the issues to be able to act Future guest speakers will include: (January 17) Kathy Oliver of Outside/In, to discuss her organization’s program of heedle distribution to IV drug users and safer-sex outreach to teenage prostitutes; and (January 31) Elizabeth Waters of the Oregon Minority AIDS Coalition (OMAC) to detail OMAC’s program of AIDS awareness in Portland’s ethnic communities. February events will include a Portland premiere of New York-produced Safer-sex videos and discussion of AIDS activism throughout the United States. While one leg of ACT UP is education, the other is direct action: once we know, we need to act Acting up in ACT UP is not simply getting arrested (many members never have been). Vitally important is the variety of skills people bring to the group: planning and organizational skills, communication and networking abilities, access to resources, familiarity and enjoyment of research, and/or simply a desire to affect change. PWAs are especially important in bringing their anger and experience to help set the ACT UP agenda. Your voice is important; come and give your input Take this opportunity to get involved. Gain a sense of pride, reclaim your voice. Alone our voice has no power; as a group our shout brings change. For more information, call 288-7853. ACT UP/Portland MCC Church basement NE 24th and Broadway 7:BO pm - 8:30 pm 1st and 3rd Wednesday o f every month — Jeffrey Hart and Michael MacKillop N ow is the time to iegister for Gay Games III before the registration fees increase. Athletes intending to participate in the Games are reminded that January 31, 1990 is the last date they can register before the fees increase 50 percent from $36 to $54 for most sports. Vancouver officials stress that individuals must pay in full and complete all required documentation by January 31 in order to get the lower fee. Team Portland can assist individuals with the process, but it is impor tant to get started and not wait until the last minute. Co-Chair Richard Brown also points out that those seeking hosted housing in Vancouver need to register before January 31 for no-cost housing. Vancouver officials have reported that only 20 percent of a possible 10,000 registered athletes and artists will have the option of free accommodations. Billets will be allocated on a first come first served basis to registered athletes. Team Portland has been actively promoting early registration with extensive publicity over the past several months. In late December the organization held a “registra tion fair” at the downtown Portland YWCA. Spokespersons say the event was successful, but there is still a long way to go to have the targeted 100 athletes registered before the final deadline of May 31, 1990. For informa tion about registration call Tyler at 289-2226 or Richard at 245-5301. Team Portland has T-shirts bearing the Team Portland logo which are available in three different colors and sell for $10 each. The group also has plans for promotional buttons to be sold for $1. In addition to registering athletes for the Games, Team Portland members have been active in fundraising efforts. The group plans to raise sufficient funds through individual donations, fund-raising events and business sponsorships to defray the cost of a team uni form which is now being designed. Persons wishing to make a contribution or participate in fundraising events may contact Team Portland treasurer Geoff Pleat at 234-1629. JoAnn Loulan comes to Portland for a lecture Saturday, Feb. 24, and a workshop Sunday,. Feb. 25. Portion of proceeds benefits A Woman’s Place Bookstore. Real estate plays an important role in your financial fitness. I will assist you in analyzing your current situation, and help you plan for the new decade. Sue Standard Davis 653-7669 MEMBER: PORTLAND S M ILLION DOLLAR CLUB The C om m unity is my business. Service my byw ord since 1979. The Bank and I will qualify you first! Before you buy. 1 1 1 ................. ...... .............................. ... activity, she said. And such problems are no longer confined to Portland’s urban core. Her o locate the Metropolitan Human office receives reports of hate crimes and Relations Commission, you first must intimidation from Beaverton; even in her own find a parking space downtown. Then you ride neighborhood of Raleigh Hills, Pai has seen the elevator to the fifth floor of the Portland swastikas painted on street signs. Building. You wait in a chair for, say 15 “People are feeling like they need to do minutes, because the new executive director is something,” she said. “We see neighborhood on the phone. groups pulling together.” The office is pleasant, filled with bright The increase in hate crimes is a particular posters and cheerful staff. It’s just a little hard concern for Pai. To respond, the commission to find. And that inaccessability — both literal recently published a brochure titled, “Hate and figurative — is what new MHRC director Crime: Your Rights and Responsibilities,” Jeanette Pai wants to change. which details new Oregon laws requiring the The MHRC, a joint advisory group to the reporting of crimes based on race, color, city of Portland and Multnomah County, is religion, national origin and sexual designed to be a watchdog on civil and human orientation. rights issues. But in recent years the The brochure defines hate crimes and lists commission has gained a reputation of being steps individuals can take to combat such more like a sleeping hound. behavior, including lobbying, starting a Pai, 32, became head of the MHRC in neighborhood watch and joining community October with the intention of bringing back groups to address supremacist violence. the commission’s bite. “A lot of what we’re talking about is Her first task has been to let the public education and empowerment,” Pai said. Under know the commission exists. By opening her direction, she said, the commission will satellite offices on Portland Community shift its emphasis from analysis and reports to College’s Cascade and Southeast Center action and visibility. campuses, Pai hopes to boost the MHRC’s “I feel like I’ve been talking for two visibility. And a series of six speak-outs in months straight,” she said. “People are different sections of Portland are intended to starting to say — well, it looks like the let communities set priorities by telling commission is going to come back. The track commission members what’s on their minds. record we have right now isn’t so hot I think “The first thing we have to do is increase we’re really starting from the ground up.” our credibility and contact with the Schedule of Metropolitan Human community,” Pai said recently. "We want to Relations Commission speak-outs for be the ones who call 20 people [about an January: issue] and ask them to sign on with us.” Tuesday, January 9, at Harvey Scott Pai, who formerly served as staff liaison School, 6700 NE Prescott, 7:30 pm. for human rights for the Salem city Wednesday, January 10, at the Northwest government, said the current emotional Service Center conference room, 1819 NW climate in Portland is ideal for human and Everett, 7:30 pm. civil rights work. Tuesday, January 16, at the St. Johns The public feels a growing urgency about Community Center, 8427 North Central, 7:30 the increase in hate crimes, gang and drug pm. T Time to register for Gay Games III dwindles Start planning your financial future in 1990! Tax analysis available. Many more resources avail able to you a t no cost. Call me if you w ant to buy or sell. MBA MBA Properties ■ ■ ■ l l l l l Foote-McGrew, Inc. Realtors PROPERTIES 9955 S.E. Washington, Suite 201 Portland, Oregon 97216 256-5800 m fH H H H m iiiiH niiiiiiiiiiiiiiif just out ▼ 9 ▼ January 1990