just news
JoAnn Loulan
Schools task force given go-ahead
Lecture
The Task Force on Adolescent Sexual Minority Issues formed
in response to a school counselor s concern that gay, lesbian
and bisexual teens were being overlooked
An evening of Provocative Humor
and Lesbian Sex Education
Saturday, February 24th, 8 pm
Northwest Service Center
18th and NW Everett
JoAnn Loulan is a
dynamic speaker who
inspires, entertains and
informs. She speaks to
lesbians worldwide
about their relationships,
sex practices and
concerns-and brings this
new information to us in
her typically humorous,
provocative style.
W orkshop
Sex and Intimacy in
Recovery
Sunday. February 25. 10am - 5pm
Northwest Service Center
18th and NW Everett
A day long workshop for
lesbians recovering from
addictive substances and
behaviors. Recovery is a self
defined term, and does not
necessarily mean being in a 12-
step program. Topics include:
Codependency, sex and love
addiction, alcohol and
substance abuse issues; Is this
sobriety or just plain boredom?;
Singles, dating and AIDS.
h
Tickets for the lecture are $10 in advance and $12 at the door. They
are available at A Woman's Place Bookstore, Artichoke Music,
Music Millenium, and Mother Kali's in Eugene.
(Handling charge may apply).
Workshop tickets are sliding scale $45 to $75. Available at A
Woman's Place Bookstore or through the mail. Call 284-1110
Space limited fo r the workshop • Please fill out attached form and mall by Feb. 15 w ith payment.
N a m e____________ __ _____________________________________________
A d d re ss-------------- --- ----------------------------------------------------
Pho ne ___________________ _ ______________________________________
Please send — tickets for the Feb. 24 evening performance ($10)__
Please send — tickets for the Feb. 25 day-long workshop ($45-75)__
Make checks payable to A Woman's Place Bookstore, include .50 cents for
postage and handling, and mail to : A Woman's Place Bookstore, 1431 NE
Broadway, Portland. OR 97232. For more Information call 264-1J JO.
ju st out T 10 T February 1990
B Y
A N N D E E
H O C H M A N
task force that aims to boost resources
and support for gay, lesbian and bisexual
teenagers has earned a tentative go-ahead
from Portland Public Schools Superintendent
Matthew Prophet.
The superintendent, while not making any
commitments to specific ideas such as holding
sensitivity trainings for staff or adding sexual
orientation to the schools’s non-discrimination
code, did encourage the task force to continue
its work and requested a timeline of
recommendations, according to members of
the group.
Prophet’s response during a meeting last
month on the issue was “encouraging,” said a
member of the task force who did not want his
name used. “He didn’t make any clear
commitments. But even the meeting taking
place would be controversial to some people.”
The Task Force on Adolescent Sexual
Minority Issues includes representatives from
Multnomah County and the school system,
Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon and the
American Friends Service Committee, Parents
and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, the
Lesbian Community Project and interested
individuals. The group formed late last year in
response to a school counselor’s concern that
gay, lesbian and bisexual teens were being
overlooked.
Judy Chambers, alcohol and drug
specialist for the Portland school district, said
she was prompted to launch the task force
after talking with members of a substance
abuse prevention committee of Multnomah
County. That committee, assigned to consider
minority issues, focused only on ethnic
A
Marine Corps
admits error in
sodomy
prosecution
n a brief filed on December 27, 1989, the
United States Marine Corps conceded that
the prosecution of lesbian Corporal Barbara
Baum on sodomy charges last year was
constitutionally flawed. The Corps has asked
that Baum’s conviction, for which she served
six months in prison, be voided and that the
case be sent back for a new trial.
“While we are thrilled that the military has
finally begun to recognize the injustice dealt
Barbara Baum, it does little to mitigate the
horror of the six months she spent in prison,”
stated Brendan Collins, an attorney with the
Washington, DC law firm of Arnold & Porter,
who represented Baum in her appeal.
“We are filing a motion to dismiss the
charges,” Collins stated. “Dismissal of the
charges against her — which were outrageous
to begin with — is the only appropriate
remedy for the egregious and unconstitutional
I
ju st out
minorities and was reluctant to discuss gay
and lesbians teens.
“A number of different things have been
reminding me of the disproportionate burden
sexual minority youth face,” Chambers said.
Statistics demonstrate just how large that
burden is. Suicide is the second leading cause
of death among adolescents in Oregon, and
gay/lesbian/bisexual teens are two to three
times more likely to commit suicide than their
heterosexual peers.
Sexual minority teenagers feel the impact
of society’s homophobia at a time when they
are most vulnerable, members of the task
force said. They have little access to
information about homosexuality and few
adult role models. They suffer from
"hiddenness — invisibility and the rash of
harassment, and oppression as they become
more visible,” Chambers said.
The task force is examining projects in
other school districts designed to reduce
harassment and create resources for gay and
lesbian students. Members hope to work not
only with the public schools but with the city,
Multnomah County and private youth-serving
agencies.
While their progress may be slow, several
task force members noted that the existence of
the group showed a new level of conscious
ness and tolerance.
“Imagine sitting in a room with people
from the gay and lesbian community and the
public school system, ironing out an agenda
that is supportive to gay and lesbian youth,”
said Donna Russell Red Wing, executive
director of the Lesbian Community Project.
“It was astounding to me.”
_
conduct of the military in the case.”
The Marine Corps acknowledged that the
judge in Baum’s court-martial erred in not
excusing, or more extensively questioning, a
juror who was tainted with prior knowledge of
her case. The juror had been present at
Baum’s “Article 32 hearing,” a procedure
similar to a grand jury hearing, and thus he
was familiar with facts in the case. According
to the Marine Corps, the m an’s subsequent
service as a juror at Baum’s trial raised the
“vivid appearance of impropriety.” His
“extrajudicial knowledge of essential facts” in
her case, the Corps stated, “may well have
prejudiced appellant’s right to a fair trial.”
In a case closely related to Baum’s, the
ACLU’s Lesbian and Gay Rights Project
represents a second Marine, former Staff
Sergeant Christine Hilinski, who was
penalized solely for testifying as a character
witness for one of the lesbians court-martialed
at Parris Island. The ACLU has filed a
complaint on behalf of Hilinski which alleges
that her sanction was unconstitutional and
seeks to have her military records corrected.
The officer who was responsible for Hilinski’s
discipline. Colonel Nunnally, was juror in the
Baum court-martial, which was another
ground upon which Baum’s conviction has
been challenged.
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