Oregonian: not
fulfilling Its function
To the Editor,
The Portland community is under fire from
the right wing and law enforcement agencies,
but the Oregonian is not reporting this
dangerously increasing harassment.
The right wing and law enforcement
agencies accuse their targets of being violent
and criminal. But who is really causing
violence and crime?
The police closed down the music club
Satryricon and falsely accused their patrons of
rioting; the gay youth club Night Scene is
raided by police, using the phoney excuse of
drug sales. Black youth are routinely
terrorized by police. The Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms invades the homes of
environmental and political activists, the state
Department of Justice seizes the records of the
Oregon Chiropractic Physicians Association.
Neo-nazis beat up and terrorize Blacks,
lesbians and gays. Native Americans, and
anti-racists. Anti-abortionists insist it is their
holy duty and right to insult, assault and abuse
women seeking to enter clinics for abortions.
The Oregonian has a responsibility as
journalists and as the only daily in the state to
accurately report these occurrences and to
inform the community of these dangers.
Instead these incidents were not reported or
the interpretations of events was from the
point of view of the police or the right. There
is no investigation of the bigoted and
reactionary agenda of right wing groups and
of their plan to restrict the rights of most
groups in the state. Whatever happened to the
honorable role of investigative journalism,
and to the duty of the press to challenge
powerful official agencies who endanger the
community?
The Oregonian’s pages present anti
abortionists who attack women as if they were
civil rights martyrs instead of those who seek
to limit, not extend freedoms for women and
men. The police harassment of the anti-racist
SHARP group, and their lack of targeting the
real danger of the neo-nazis was reported as if
the police were protecting the public with
their focus on SHARP. I have never seen a
Metro/Northwest front page article on the
failure of neo-nazi youth to keep an appoint
ment with the police. The police attitude
towards the racist groups is tolerant and
apologetic, and consists of lip-service, minus
action. They save their smear tactics and
hostility for those committed to fighting
racism. The police attitude can be summed up
by the quote ‘They (SHARP members) may
not be anti-racist, but so what.” To most of the
community it is THE important point that they
are anti-racist. SHARP was very visible in the
Coalition for Human Dignity protest against
White Aryan Resistance leader Tom Metzger
when he was in Portland. They demonstrated
against Coke because of Coke’s business in
South Africa. They have also been active in
joining ACT UP in defending the rights of
lesbians and gays and are in support of a
woman’s right to choose abortion. The black
community, women, gays and lesbians can’t
be so cavalier toward whether a youth group
is committed to fighting neo-nazis or aping
them.
The police and law enforcement agencies
must stop their attacks on our civil rights and
on the groups that seek to uphold the rights of
women, gays and people of color. Community
and activist organizations seek to stop vio
lence by opposing bigoted groups who have
no respect for the civil and human rights of
others. The Oregonian should start fulfilling
it’s function to inform the community as to
who is really causing violence and who is
seeking to stop it.
Adrienne Weller
Portland Radical Women
An open letter to
gays and lesbians
To the Editor:
Since November 1989, Nightscene, a gay
TV talk and entertainment show, has been
airing on public access channels throughout
Oregon and Southwest Washington. I did not
realize at the time the tremendous need in our
community for gay entertainment and
dialogue.
The only criticism received has been
directed at the language and choice of words I
have used to express my feelings. Some
viewers must feel that since we have thrust
ourselves into the most powerful medium of
communication, the use of such language
could be projected as a bad reflection upon
our community.
Since this is the only show in town, the
least I could do is refrain from language that
tends to wade in the gutter. In these days of
AIDS and gay bashing, we as a community
have enough to deal with without my stoking
the fire.
May I offer my sincerest apology to those
of you who found my language offensive and
to those who probably plugged their ears
whenever they saw my lips move. I has
always and will continue to be our goal to
provide information, discussion and
entertainment for our community and the
enlightened heterosexual viewers.
M
The "Notorious" Rosey Waters
Portland
Violence ignored
To the Editor, _
When I come nose to nose with the
handiwork of irrational, homophobic people it
shakes my personhood to the core. The recent
threats to a sister choir member sent me back
on a painful journey through my own sexual
and physical abuse. Driving by Laurelhurst
Park I shudder and hold me breath the way I
used to as a child when strange noises and
phantoms loomed in the bushes after dark.
My gay brothers are being attacked in that
park right now, here in Portland in 1990.
Gretchen Kaufory lawn signs are
STEPHEN D. YEW,
disappearing — twice from my own yard.
I’m reminded once again of the passage of
Measure 8.
How is it that such violence and hatred can
be minimized and even ignored by our
judicial system? What avenues of protest do I
have in a society which panders to the
perpetrator and prosecutes and persecutes the
innocent victim?
All I know to do is be who I am, to the
best of my ability, in all situations. I am a
woman, a lesbian, a survivor, a mom, a
partner, a citizen. I sing in a choir, I pay my
taxes, vote, and obey the laws of the land. I
plant flowers and I plant seeds of tolerance,
love and respect wherever and whenever I can
— and I dream. I dream of a society where
we can all be who we are. I encourage you to
visualize the same dream and be who you are
— heterosexual, bisexual, lesbian or gay.
There is no turning back.
Marge Coalman
Portland
Road service not
available to gays
and lesbians
To the Editor:
In your May issue there was a notice about
signing up a “partner as family” for Chase
Advantage Road Service. This service is not
available to lesbian and gay couples. I called
their 800 number for details and learned that
they only cover a member and “legally
married spouse.” The service representative
said they do not include a partner living
together in a committed relationship. I was
told that if the partner of a member called for
road service, such as towing, they would be
refused coverage.
While AAA of Massachusetts does offer
“associate memberships” to household
residents, regardless of marital status, AAAs
in other parts of the country do not.
Three years ago I brought charges of
discrimination based on marital status against
the AAA of Washington and received a
favorable ruling from the Seattle Human
Rights Department The case is about to be
brought to court by the city attorney’s office.
This kind of discrimination appears to be
widespread, judging from the results of our
publication's recent national survey of lesbian
and gay couples. Twenty percent of the
women and 11 percent of the men said they
experienced membership-related
discrimination as a couple.
We offer a free summary of this survey
upon receipt of a self-addressed, stamped •
business-sized envelope. An extensive survey
analysis is available for $3.95 in the May/June
issue of our newsletter. For either item, write:
Partners Newsletter for Gay and Lesbian
Couples, Box 9685, Seattle, WA 98109, or
call (206) 784-1519.
Demian, Ed.D.
Co-Editor! Publisher
Partners Newsletter for Gay and Lesbian
Couples
Lodging where mountain meets sea
-
D.M.D.
A GENTLE APPROACH TO DENTISTRY
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 8 am-5 pm
1220 N. Jantzen Ave.
Suile 480, Second Floor
Phone:
289-1215
ju st out ▼ 4
▼
June 1990
95590 Highway 101
6.2 miles south of
Yachats, Oregon 97498
Lesbians needed
for book on
Lesbian Families
To the Editor:
I am a white lesbian living in Eugene and
Ashland working on a book on co-parenting
in lesbian families. The book will be an in-
depth ethnography of five families. It will
also include the stories of other lesbian co
parents. The book will begin as a dissertation
(University of Iowa, Women’s Studies
program), then be published so that it is
accessible to lesbians and our children.
I feel that any research should be primarily
for the benefit of the people who participate.
Lesbian families and particularly lesbians of
color are invisible and silenced by a racist
homophobic society. Therefore, the goal of
this project is to let lesbians and their children
tell their own stories in their own voices. We
all benefit from shared knowledge of our
experience and giving voice to our lives.
I need: two African-American families
(one working class, one middle class), one
family that is Hispanic, Native American,
Asian, Jewish or other racial or ethnic group
other than anglo (any class); one inter-racial
family (any class), and individual lesbians of
all racial or ethnic and class backgrounds who
are or have been co-parents (non-biological
mothers) in lesbian families at some time in
their lives.
I need families who have been together for
a minimum of two years, who have at least
one child age six or older living at home, and
who are more or less out to their children. I’d
like all participants to be living in Oregon.
I envision a series of interviews with all
family members individually over about a six-
month period, starting as soon as possible. In
addition, I’d like to participate in selected
family activities (e.g. meals, outing, visits
with friends and relatives).
Absolute confidentiality and strict ethical
standards will be assured at all times.
Please write or give me a call for more
information: Kay Aldrich, 167 N Mountain,
Ashland, OR 97250, (503) 482-3642.
Kay Aldrich
Ashland
I N
M E M O R I A M
Bill Priest, Jr.
April 17, at 6:45, Bill Priest, Jr., aka
Bunny Bee, passed through deaths gates from
complications of AIDS. He was a friend to
the Portland gay and lesbian community and
we will miss him, his love, his vitality and
endearing love of life.
See Vue
( 503 ) 547-3227
Reservations Recommended