ju s t out
steppin* out
s in c e 1 9 8 3
PUBUSHER AND EDITOR
contents
Rene£ LaChance
CO-EDITOR
Ariel Waicrwoman
VOL. 9 NO. 5 MAR. 1992
CALENDAR EDITOR
Linda Shirley
FEATURE
STAFF REPORTERS
Inga Sorensen
Greg Duran
Outting the
Violence
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Linda Kliewer
The last bastion of silence in
the lesbian and gay
community is exposed
ADVERTISING
Linda Shirley
Amanda Colorado
(p- 1 7 )
Profile
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
E. Ann Hinds
Smokey Sat ter lee, the
recycling queen, is profiled
PROOFREADER
(p. 25)
Eddi Bako
TYPESETTER
Amanda Colorado
DEPARTMENTS
FORMATTER
Letters
(P- 3)
World news
Meg Grace
DISTRIBUTION
Coyote Distributing
SUBSCRIPTIONS
Carol Steinel
Chloe De Segonzac
(p. 5)
On Valentine's Day Queer Nation organized a Love-In on Max to remind people that queer love is
good love. Over 100 lesbians and gay men and 25 police officers participated. Participants, (not
the police), passed out flyers to commuters.
editorial
CONTRIBUTORS
Lee Lynch
Matt Bailey
Marilyn Davis
Rex Wockner
Yolanda Alexander
Sandra de Helen
Nurse Consuelo
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National briefs
ip. 6)
Local news
(p* 12)
OCA watch
(p.10)
Religion
(p.9)
Doffing our fedoras
"Offensive names are perpetuated by their use in newspa
pers and other media."
his is a direct quote from The Oregonian editorial re
garding their decision not to use sports teams names that
are offensive to racial, ethnic, or religious groups. It’s a
stunning blow against institutionalized racism, and we, at Just
Out doff our fedoras to them. It takes a lot of courage to be the
first to rip away one of the last bastions of “socially acceptable”
racism. The Oregonian is the only newspaper nationwide to
listen to the voices of Native Americans who have been
challenging the dehumanizing sports team names for decades.
This issue is really cooking over aiThe Oregonian. The public
responses are running high against the new policy, with some
people cancelling their subscriptions in protest. What is it about
most European Americans that makes us/them resist such
simple, cooperative changes? When is it going to sink in that
EVERY PERSON deserves to be treated with respect and
dignity? This is really a basic concept that is apparently difficult
for some European Americans to implement. The Oregonian
could use some letters supporting the editorial board’s decision
to put their policy where their words are.
T
A publishers struggle
I have a commitment to unlearn my racism. It has taken my
entire lifetime in this institutionalized racist society to leant
racism; it is taking a great deal of time to unlearn it, too.
For me, unlearning racism is an uncomfortable and an
evolving process.
It begins with educating myself about racism and the ways
this society and European Americans manifest it. At each new
level of consciousness, I share with the people around me
materials and ideas I have absorbed. The education process
constantly challenges my comfort levels and creates as many
questions as I find answers.
When I began to incorporate my budding antiracist lifestyle
into my work at Just Out, it was like trying to chew through i
brick wall. Just Out is a monthly paper, so creating change ii
like swimming through molasses.
Racism wasn’t created by people of color, yet they arc the
ones who have to deal with it daily. European Americans have
the privilege of making a choice about dealing with theii
racism. For me there is only one choice to make. It is oui
responsibility as European Americans to educate ourselves and
everyone around us about racism, and to eradicate racism from
our language, our actions and our lives. As European Ameri
cans, and racism’s creators, we have to learn how to recognize
it and challenge it when we see or hear it.
I often fall short of my expectations for myself. I don’l
always recognize racism when I see it and don’t always
challenge it in the moment. I do denial well, so when I hear my
European American friends or co-workers using insidious
racial slurs I think, “oh they’re not being racist, they're my
friends.” European Americans question my ideas when I tell
them I have been told or I have learned that something is
offensive to people of color. They say I’m splitting hairs or they
ridicule me for reaching some new level of antiracism. It is
difficult to stand up to that kind of social pressure, but it is
nothing compared to what people of color face every day.
We have to listen to the people who are being oppressed and
commit ourselves to end that oppression. Revolutions begin
with an individual and a commitment: Just for today, I will not
be racist or oppressive to anyone.
The Oregonian has taken a big step towards chipping away
at the brick wall of institutionalized racism. I hope that we can
all join together to chip away at that wall to make a hole big
enough for everyone to pass through.
Renée LaChance
COLUMNS
Amazon TVail
(p-31 )
Just Dish
(p. 30)
ARTS
Entertainment
Michael Kearns corf esses to a
"little sexual daliance" with
Rock Hudson, Holly Hughes
is in town for a lecture and
free workshop; Minh Tran
will perform "Labor of
Love" and Sandra de Helen
reviews Kind of Heart
(p. 26)