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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1990)
Psychotherapy for Eating Disorders and Related Problems • overeating, binging, purging • anxiety, depression • substance abuse, codependency • relationship and sexuality concerns • life transitions and goals " ... A more rewarding passion than food: true intimacy, belonging and self worth.” Joni Cady, MSW, RCSW (503) 635-5163 Insurance accepted. Working Toward a Just Society EMILY SIMON The phone won’t be ringing anymore... Government pushes “clean art” loyalty oath Six arrested over anti-gay housing policy O n months to come, hundreds of writers and other artists whose work is funded through the National Endowment for the Arts will be forced to sign anti-obscenity agreements before cashing their checks. The clause alerts the recipients that no NEA money may fund art that is “obscene,” as outlined by last year’s controversial legislation. The legislation defines obscene as “including but not limited to depictions of children, or individuals engaged in sex acts.” Those who have received the forms so far (mostly writers) say they are confused as to exactly what it means, vis-a-viz anything they wrote in the past or anything they write in the future being held against them. The inclusion of “homoeroticism” in Congress’ definition of obscenity has naturally upset many gay artists, despite federal assurances that the legislation protects work deemed to have artistic merit. I ix students at the University of California at Irvine were arrested recently for protesting against the university’s denial of allowing gay and lesbian couples to live in family dormitories. About 100 students blocked a door at a noon rally, but most left after two warnings from campus police. The demonstration organizers said the blockade was symbolic of nontraditional couples being “locked out” of campus housing. Students and administrators said the rally was so planned that police already knew whom they were going to arrest and had finished most of the paperwork before the protests started. The protest followed an ultimatum last month to Chancellor Jack Peltason from a student group called the Shantytown Committee. It demanded that the university recognize domestic gay relationships and hire openly homosexual teachers. The six will be arraigned April 7th. ver the past several years I had grown clairvoyant of telephone calls from Jay Brown. Somehow I knew when Jay was on the other end of a jangling phone; usually about two days before copy deadline. But Jay’s last call to my office didn’t mention anything about getting off my ass and putting another column together. We just talked about things in general, and then he paused for a second or two between labored breaths and said “Jack, just keep on doin’ what you are doin’.” And then we said our good-byes. It would be Jay’s last phone call to me. Thanks, Jay. You were a great editor and inspiration to me. You never told me what I should or could not write. And when one of my items ruffled some feathers or attracted attention from the established media, you were the first to call with congratulations. Even though that phone won’t be ringing again. I’ll just keep on doin’ what I’m doin’. S IM O N . K R A M E R 6 TOTH-FEJEL Attorneys 506 SW 6th. Suite 510 Portland, Ok 97204 (500) 240-2700 Taste the Midden Treasure at tfte ‘Enchanted ‘BCue ‘Wave Luxury 'Pamper yourself in 'Bictorian elegance. Oceanside Breathe the beach s healing air. %pmance Soothe away stress in warm waters, under secret night skies. 'Washington s 1 st 1 Women s Bed Cr 'Breakfast •PO B ojc 147Seaview, 'WA 98644 206-642-4900 Winter 'Weekday Special Three nights for two, holidays excluded H e calls himself “the most vulgar, vicious comic ever to walk the face of the earth,” wmmmmmwmmmmmmMmmmmmm and as far as I am concerned the title is his. ■smmmmmmmmmmmmmmmMmmm. Andrew Dice Clay, one of the most wMmMmmMmmmmmmmmmmMMM. popular standup comics today, is a swaggering tough guy in a rhinestoned leather jacket emblazoned with “Dice Rules.” His . . . B etw een the L in e s .. . verbal target is anything and everything that challenges white heterosexual male dominance. “I pick on everything.,” he admits. As New York Times critic Jon Pareles observed, “Mr. Clay’s persona, a kind of X- B Y J A C K R I L E Y rated Archie Bunker, could be amusing in small doses. But as he lashes out against women, gays, the Japanese or anyone else who would seem to stand in the way of his Can a gay or lesbian cop hurdle gratification, his popularity shows that others identify with that anger, whether he intends to tests and background checks? exorcise or stoke it.” Ironically, I got my first dose of Dice at a he Portland Police Bureau has a rare gay video bar in Portland (Boxx’s to be exact) opportunity to add more women and and the house was eating up his every word. minorities to its force when 100 new Sorry the tape never got to his especially vacancies are filled in the next few months. caustic remarks about gays. But while there are sizeable numbers of women and minorities among the 2,000 Johnny Ray was openly gay applicants, how many will be able to hurdle the psychological and background checks, especially if the candidate is openly gay or hen pop 50s singer Johnny Ray died lesbian? recently, we read a great deal about his Are such checks skewed in favor of meteoric rise to fame out of a small town in “normal” heterosexual behavior? Will Oregon to some of the biggest showhouses in background checks reveal involvement in gay America. For a fleeting instant, he was on top organizations and activities? of the charts. As a recent Oregonian editorial pointed What we didn’t read in the Oregonian was out, "This is not merely a matter of making that Johnny Ray was gay...and somewhat jobs available to minorities; it is a matter of open about it. A recent issue of the Bay Area giving the police force officers who are able Reporter shows Ray and longtime friend and to relate to the wide variety of citizens with BAR columnist Wayne Friday out on the • whom they must deal. town just a few months before his death. mm • Felony and Misdemeanor Defense • AIDS Issues • Bankruptcy • Consumer Problems • Workplace Concerns • Disabiliry/Social Security • Adoption and Family Low • Sliding scale • Evening appointments This guy’s no Lenny Bruce ........ dd T W S The Supreme Court: not for drag queens A poll recently released by the National Law Journal reveals that Americans are generally ignorant about the US Supreme Court For instance, less than one in four know how many justices serve on the high court and nearly two-thirds are unable to name a single one. The poll of 805 Americans was designed to test the public’s understanding of the court and Americans’ views of leading court issues. Interestingly enough, the poll found that two-thirds of those surveyed believed homosexual acts among consenting adults should be protected by privacy rights. Also, 53 percent of those questioned said the present Supreme Court has not done enough to help women and minorities fight discrimination. House Party is anti-gay T he hit movie House Party is a lot of laughs. Billed as a black version of Animal House, this movie has it all: dancing, music, comedy, goodlooking actors. The only problem is that a lot of that laughter is at another minority’s expense. As Oregonian film critic Ted Mahar wrote, “The film seems to go out of its way to include anti gay humor.” We could use some Act-Up pickets down at the KOIN Center Cinemas where it is currently showing. Storefront Theatre Presents at The Portland Center For The Performing Arts Directed by Rebecca Adams, Michael Griggs and Ric Young J MAY 12—JUNE 24 • RESERVATIONS 224-4001 <2 just out Y 4 ▼ April 1990 For Mature Audiences “ Pf« pnats Endowment from the Ore*on £ I Metropoliten An. Commise*», the N.tiooel for the Am Am Commieeioo, the
