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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (July 1, 1994)
« T |u ly 1. 1 W 4 ▼ juat out SPIRITUALITY W tfw \ , / m m v«' \, / \V/ w V* / w / ' m . / V ,t , , V V ••• ' m H Bay Area UU minister to speak ;)\\ P Make it a weekend M I w p: rffri*! I 13 TH ANNUAL m w proNm ul w m f I I I Sunday, July 10, 9a m/ D u n i w a y , "Park t r a c k p t 2 8 K ▼ mile fun run/w a lk P a c / / o c c n t t o th e M e t r o ^ on 3 a r b u r 3lvd.//M I: i * i i _ P “R e g i s t r a t i o n a n d c h e c k - in ;<J*w jK'V ° t 8 : 0 0 a .m . d a y o f r a c e . /J® k VVt'. ‘«tiling like a bubble bath after a long day’s fishing. N E <pN T IA L Call O M i r o for info : M Gay Unitarian-Universalist Minister Mark Bellentini of Hayward. Calif., visits the Portland area during Lesbian and Gay Pride weekend, July 8 to 10. Bellentini was one of the first out minis ters in the UU movement. He is an inspiring speaker on spirituality and sexuality. Bellentini reflects on coming out: “Because to me ‘out’ means trusting your inward resources instead of everything that religion, psychology, society, the law, public opinion and the media has ever said about homosexuality, I’d say that to come out as a person whose central sex imagery is male-male is also to come out as a mystic—that is, a person whose central religious imagery comes from within, not from the ecclesiastical hand-me- down process.” A special Lesbian and Gay Pride Service is being held prior to the march Saturday, July 9, at 9:30 am at the First Unitarian Church, Southwest 12th Avenue and Salmon Street. Following the service, the church will join the Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade. Bellentini will also preach at the regular Sunday morning ser vices, at 9:30 am and 11 am. First Unitarian has a strong ministry within the church to lesbians and gay men, as well as outreach through events like the Pride Service and participation in the Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade. Every third Sunday at 6 pm there is a potluck dinner where all are welcome. Over 50 people attend each month. kfi) lotions & oils ,'^J/ 3638 SE Hawltiome * 236-7976 710 NW 23rd Avenue # 248-9748 Concerned about AIDS in your community? C ommunity P lanning I n O regon As Required by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Oregon Health Division, ALL 34 county health departments in Oregon are currently involved in community planning for HIV prevention, client services, and outreach. This planning process especially seeks input from gay men, PLWA, PLWHIV, and interested members form the HIV caregiving community. O regon N eeds Y our I nput ! To get involved, contact: Your county health department's HIV program, OR Doug Zeh, Oregon HIV Advocacy Center 1-800-777-2437 xt 151, OR David Lane, Ph.D., Oregon Health Division (503) 731-4029. Confidentiality Assured; Anonymity Possible marriage is a threat Pope John Paul II chastised queer unions as “a serious threat to the future of the family and society” in a 100-page letter on family values addressed to the world’s Roman Catholics, ac cording to a report in The New York Times. The pope said that queer unions could not be “recog nized and ratified as a marriage in society” and warned Catholics to refrain from supporting the notion of gay or lesbian marriage. The document was issued two weeks after the European Parlia ment in Strasbourg, France, offered support for the idea of gay men and lesbians marrying and adopting children. Catholic group endorses civil rights bill Catholic Advocates, a national Roman Catho lic gay rights organization funded and supported by more than 60 religious orders of priests, broth ers arid nuns, has issued a blistering criticism of the Washington state Catholic bishops’ opposi tion to the recent civil rights bill which failed in the state Senate. “It is repugnant that Catholic bishops seek to deny the basic civil rights of gay and lesbian citizens,” said Brother Rich Garcia, director of Catholic Advocates. “The bishops’ opposition is not based on Catholic Church teaching but is based on ignorance at best, and mean-spirited bigotry at worst. They should be ashamed.” While the Catholic bishops of Washington stated that they “oppose unjust discrimination” against sexual minorities, they nonetheless op posed the state’s proposed civil rights bill because “this issue is not only about discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, but about societal acceptance and public endorsement of homo sexuality.” Catholic Advocates challenged the bishops’ position, noting that laws banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation no more endorse or encourage a particular lifestyle than laws ban ning religious discrimination endorse or promote a particular denomination or faith. "The bishops’ stated opposition to unjust discrimination rings empty and false when they refuse to support necessary legislation to protect the basic civil rights of gay and lesbian persons. The bishops’ duplicity and hypocrisy are an embarrassment to right-thinking Catholics,” Garcia said. He noted that all major Protestant denomina tions, the national organizations of Catholic priests, brothers and nuns, and a number of Catholic bishops support gay and lesbian rights. “We do this not because we waver in our faith or in our commitment to our church but precisely because of that commitment,” Garcia said. “The denial of a person’s basic civil rights is contrary to the Gospel and is immoral. We call upon the bishops to have a conversion of heart and to view gay and lesbian persons not as the enemy to be battered down but to view them as our sisters and brothers entitled to justice,” he said. Gay Lutheran pastor defrocked Pastor Ross Merkel of St. Paul Church in Oakland, Calif., has been ordered “removed from the ordained ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America” by a church discipline com mittee. Members of the congregation have defied the committee’s order. As a result of his publicly coming out to his congregation in 1993, Bishop Lyle Miller brought formal charges against Merkel, citing the consti tution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which states, “Practicing homosexual persons are precluded from the ordained ministry of this church.” Bishop Miller has a history of denying ordina tion to openly gay and lesbian candidates and disciplining congregations who welcome openly lesbian and gay pastors. Merkel, a gay man in a committed relationship, has been charged with “conduct incompatible with the character of the ministerial office.” “I’m not angry, and I’m not afraid,” said Merkel. “I feel as if my life is more complete and that I have fewer barriers to maintain, because now there is no great secret to protect. All of that energy is freed up for more productive things.” Gay church organist forced to resign Robert Plimpton, an internationally known organist who has played the pipe organ at San Diego’s First Presbyterian Church for 11 years, has resigned, due to recent decisions by church elders. In a letter to the 1,100-member congregation, the church’s ruling body declared that there is no place at First Presbyterian for employees who participate in, endorse, or support “deviant sexual behavior such as fornication and homosexuality .” “I was not closeted,” Plimpton said, “but...I also have a very strong conviction that anyone who claims Christ as their personal savior has a place in the church.” GLAD event The Gay, Lesbian and Affirming Disciples Alliance will meet at Mercy Center in Burlingame, Calif., Aug. 12 to 15, for its annual gathering. Facilitators are Cynthia Winton-Henry and Phil Porter. For information contact (206) 324-6231. . Compiled by the Rev. Matthew Nelson, an ordained minister in the United Church o f Christ. _