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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (April 15, 1993)
Just o u t ▼ aprii 1 9 . 1 N 3 ▼ 3 Cevenfry letters An open letter Valerie Taylor is one of our oldest living national treasures. Whether you bought Whisper Their Love from a drugstore rack in 1957, or Prism in a womens’s bookstore in 1981, or have just heard her name, the fact is she has made a difference in your life. Taylor, now 79, was creating lesbian literature before most of us came out. She writes with humor, hope and triumph about the struggle of old lesbians, poor lesbians, disabled lesbians and all gay people. Even in the early 1960s her Erica Fromm series dared happy endings. When Jeannette Foster, ground-breaking au thor of Sex Variant Women in Literature (1956), was in a nursing home, Valerie was instrumental in creating the lesbian-supported fund which helped pay for Foster’s care until her death. Today, Valerie Taylor needs us to return some of the support and love she has given. She lives with a variety of medical problems. Because of nerve damage in a leg, she uses her arms and a cane for balance. Now she has fractured a shoul der and cannot walk, write or care for herself. Cyde ^ Works Immediate special care is needed for about six weeks. Although Medicare and basic donated health insurance cover a portion of her needs, she has only a social security check to pay for the rest. Arizona has no Medicaid and, low-income as Valerie is, she doesn’t qualify for the slate pro gram. With your help, we can ensure that a pio neering lesbian writer gets the care she needs. Please mail contributions to: Valerie Taylor Fund c/o Antigone Books 600 N 4th Avenue Tucson, AR 85705 — c& > TREK BICYCLES & ACCESSORIES C om e in and test ride the new '93 TREK 930 • Am erican made bicycle technology priced at $529 • 230-7723 2025 SE Hawthorne Blvd. OPEN TUESDAY-SUNDAY M ake checks payable to Valerie Taylor. I f you can’t afford to donate money, let Valerie know what her books have meant to you! Thank you for your generosity, Lee Lynch Cara Louise Vaughn Tee Corinne Barbara Grier Jean Sirius Carol Seajay seemG IS B€U€VinO SUAL A s new g en tlem en s LEGANCE R e s o r t o f f e r in g L u s h G a r d e n ~S f t t i n c s S t y l is h l y d e c o r a t e d S u i t e s P o o l s id e B r e a k f a s t tk l u n c h e o n 908 NUU 23RD RVCNUE Another perspective To the Editor: I am compelled to reply to Margaret Deirdre O ’Hartigan’s letter in the March 1 issue concern ing Senator Allan Spear, president of the Minne sota State Senate. O ’Hartigan said, “The photog raphy of Spear being swom in as Senate president fills me with the same sense of revulsion I would have were Lon Mabon receiving the same honor.” She continued by bestowing the same blessing on Minnesota’s only open lesbian legislator, Karen Clark. I lived in Topeka, Kansas in the late 1970s, when Sen. Spear spoke at our first gay pride rally. His campaign literature is framed on the wall of my study, and I have followed his career closely over the years. I consider myself privileged to have Allan among my friends. Allan Spear ifcas the First openly gay person elected to an American legislature. He has cham pioned the causes of oppressed and working people throughout his career. He has been a good friend to the gay and lesbian community, to African Americans and the working poor. In this era of corruption, greed and immorality among politicians, I can think of no better role model for young gays and lesbians than Allan Spear. Eric Schuman Salem The Lavender Network Board’s racist stand To the Editor: Positive changes are afoot in Oregon’s other lesbian and gay journal, The Lavender Network. Over the last several months, the magazine has boldly attempted to address issues of race, bisexu ality and ageism within regional and national lesbian and gay communities. Under the editorial leadership of Frank Aviles, ayoung twenty-something Chicano from Califor nia, the paper has dared to challenge the dominant paradigm of a largely white, middle-class, gay population in Oregon. Aviles has courageously highlighted the disenfranchised voices of people of color, youth, and bisexuals in the Northwest. We do not live in a vacuum in Oregon. Ad dressing and confronting issues affecting the tra ditionally marginalized lesbian and gay popula tions of people of color, youth, and bisexuals, to name a few, is essential if our community is to move forward. Despite widespread support for the efforts of Aviles and recently increased ad revenues, the The Lavender Network Board of Directors has laid siege against Aviles with charges o f incom petence and unwillingness to do things “the white way.” Since last fall, the board has insisted Aviles take part in organizational trainings so as to bring Aviles in line with the established order of doing business in a largely white, middle-class produc tion staff. In Aviles’ defense, he has spent endless hours building the confidence and trust of writers of color in the Northwest, no small task. Due to his efforts, new voices and faces have graced the pages of TLN. The board and staff should consider that they too must make the effort to accommodate differ ent managerial styles, and perhaps take the neces sary steps to identify and unlearn their own inher ent racism. What hypocrisy for a board to profess respect for diversity, attempt to rattle the status quo by bringing in Aviles, and then fail to reflect on how their marginalization of a man of color in the offices of TLN is in many ways similar to society’s indifference and discrimination against gays and lesbians. I urge businesses to use their economic might by sending a message to the TLN board that their continued advertising support will not tolerate racism within the lesbian and gay community. PORTLAND, O R E G O N 97210 503/221-1459 Moving Sale A D O Up to 50°/. o f f •All ski equipment & clothing •Demo & Rentals Brian Hoop Eugene 0 »Inline Skates TRANSITION Harley “Tim” Steinhäuser A memorial gathering is planned for Harley ‘T im ” Steinhäuser from 4 to 6 pm, April 18 at Hobo’s Restaurant, where he used to work as a waiter. Steinhäuser died at home of complica tions due to AIDS on March 22. He was buried in his home town of San Diego. He was 44. Steinhäuser was bom in San Diego on April 6, 1948. He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War. He moved to Portland five years ago. Steinhäuser is survived by his longtime com panion, Kellan Dean Desper, and his mother and brother. Contributions can be sent to Cascade AIDS Project. •Snow Shoes Bring ad by for free gift Offer good through M ay 31 st NW 24th & Raleigh - 224-4746