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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1992)
30 ▼ January 1002 ▼ Just Sex and power The Coffee Merchants Claire of the Moon might get an X rating, Audre Lorde receives a major appointment in New York . ♦ The finest imported coffee beans, teas, chocolates, and beverage brewing accessories. ▼ by Linda Shirley THE BROADWAY COFFEE MERCHANT 1637 N E Broadway • 2S< 9209 THE HAWTHORNE COFFEE MERC HANT 3562 S E H aw thorne • 230-1222 ... celebrating rhe RUM OR HAS IT that I have more width than depth and on more than one occasion I have exhibited shallowness (hard to believe). For in stance, my December column concerning the OCA’s video could lead some to believe that one’s fundamental civil rights are connected to fashion (or lack thereof) or behavior. NOT! Our civil rights are non-negotiable and it doesn’t mat ter if we walk the streets o f San Francisco with 10 foot dicks trail- ing behind us or walk the streets of P o rtlan d wearing leather, lace and latex. We have no need to be apologists or to engage in self-cen so rin g behavior. A nd — — — —— — — we certainly don’t need the Alternative Connec tion telling us to be nice and not give the OCA anymore ammo. (See editorial in Dec. issue of Alternative C onnectionJ It doesn’t matter what we do, it’s who we are that the right-wing hate mongers hate. It’s not our lifestyle but our lives. Remember we are not talking about gay rights or special rights, we are talking about civil rights. Examples of getting screwed in spite of being nice abound. Joseph Steffen never had sex with any one, he was a nice guy, a top student and still the Navy threw him out o f the Naval Academy and then a homo-calling judge backed the navy’s homophobic stupidity. Look at Karen Thompson, she is a nice woman who lived a quiet closeted life. And look where her niceness got her, eight years o f being dragged through the mud and the legal system just so she could take care of the woman she loved. And through it all Thompson said that if she could have changed one thing, it would have been that she and Sharon Kowalski had been out, living their lives openly and hon estly. Good advice. WILLAMETTE WEEK ran a special holiday supplement in the Dec. 12 issue. In the article titled Titillating Toys, reporter Cate Garrison talked about It’s My Pleasure “providing a comfortable haven for women o f both sexes.” What the fuck? Women of both sexes! What is that supposed to mean? Oh, is Garrison subscribing to the asinine theory that lesbians really want to be men? I called Garrison and asked her what she meant. Her reply was that it was a joke and it meant gay and straight women. Well, I ’m not laughing and everybody knows I have a great sense of humor. In fact whenever I ’m in It’s My Pleasure, I always Find new dildos to laugh at. My favorite, the anteater clit massager. SPEAKING O F SEX, one of my favorite Subjects. Nicole Conn, hands-on director of Claire JUST THE HILLSDALE COFFEE MERCHANT Hillsdale Shopping Center • 244-4622 spirit of Woman in DISH sculpture, photography and fine jewelry DAVID RO LIN DESIGN Dy oppoinrm enr ▼ 233-13Ö3 QUEER NATION COMPUTER BASICS I First computer? Replacing a system ? At Computer Basics We Will Provide reliable, expert, understandable advice to help you select the right computer system for your home or office Always offer top quality, cost-effective products Gladly answer (in English) any questions BEFORE and, most importantly, AFTER you get your new computer Stand behind every system and product we sell ! And We Won't Try to sell you more than you need — ever Try to snow you with techno-babble Bundle low quality software, printers, or anything else in a package deal 6500 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy. FAX • 297-9287 297-9238 I o f the Moon, is refusing to compromise her posi tion (oh and what position might that be) on the lesbian sex scenes. She’s willing to accept an X rating in the belief that there is nothing more beautiful than two women making love. (Can you spell penetration?) It’s certainly not obscene and she’s not going to cut those scenes out of the movie. Three fingers up for Nicole. M ONEY, not sex, is the number one cause of break-ups in most relationships. However these days QUEER MONEY is being seen as some thing worth going after. The cover of the Dec. 16 th issue of Fortune magazine screams from the racks GAY MONEY, the article talks aboutqueer investment firms, socially responsible investing and the fact that more and more corporations are adding non-discrimination clauses to their per sonnel policies because they want our money. Potential advertisers here in Portland and nation ally are recognizing that we are going to be very intentional where we spend our money. We are not going to support homophobic businesses and we w ill support pro-queer businesses. We are becoming an economic force to be reckoned with and it’s time we take advantage of this fa c t One way is to support Just O ut’s advertisers. These businesses make it possible for our community to have a voice. MONEY PART II: Okay, nobody asked me but here is my two cents worth concerning all the various coalitions and campaigns that have been formed to defeat the OCA’s hate initiatives. First, we have No on Hate, then we have the Portland Fairness Coalition, and then there’s the Cam paign for a Hate-Free Oregon. All these groups arc going to need blood, sweat, money and queers. Who do you give your money and time to? All these groups are doing worthwhile and crucial work. So, hey how about this idea, let’s put aside our differences, both politically and personally, just for the next 11 months and work together. What a concept! One central committee raising money and distributing the money. Simple and effective. A people united cannot be defeated. CONGRATULATIONS TO AUDRE LORDE who was just appointed the State Poet of New York. In accepting the award Lorde said “...that this award represents an intense contradic tion coming from a state where a black woman can be raped and sodomized and her white college student attackers be freed in court; a place where date-rape and street violence against lesbians and gay men is on the increase yet the state poet is a black lesbian. We must find ways to use the best we have, .our selves and our work, to bridge these contradictions, to learn the lessons they teach.” Lessons we all should remember and as my friend Holly Pruett says, let’s live our lives as if we were liberated. .iv'VT' IS YOUR PET PART OF THE FAMILY? Physieitn and Surgeon Obstetrics anxivGyjnecology Tender, loving care for the furry and feathered members of your family! 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