21. 1
Ju sto « « ▼
New videos highlight
struggle for lesbian and gay
equality
rus, will perform. Admission is $5-$10 sliding
scale and proceeds will benefit the Film Center
and the Rural Organizing Project. The Berg Swann
Auditorium is wheelchair accessible.
Inga Sorensen
Gay Lives and Cultural Wars, a new video
showing “real gays and lesbians and their fami
lies,” will premiere Oct. 24 at Portland’s Clinton
Street Theatre. But the video’s co-producers say
they’d ultimately like to take their project far
beyond Oregon’s borders.
“What we really hope to do is counter the lies
that the right wing is constantly putting out about
gays and lesbians—claims like gays recruit chil
dren and are all child molesters. We also feature
What is
ideo
▼ 27
The
Straight Agenda
Filmmakers John Binninger and Jacqueline
Tumure have produced an answer to the question
on everyone’s lips: “What is the straight agenda?”
It’s a blatantly anti-straight propaganda video
made to parody The Gay Agenda, a video released
in 1992 as part of the right wing attack on lesbians
and gay men in Oregon. Binninger and Tumure
turn the tables on the religious right with this
video.
It opens with scenes of pollution, desolation,
hunger and overpopulation and moves on to link
heterosexuality with these evils. Using the same
strategy that was used in The Gay Agenda, the video
delivers former heterosexuals who discuss the deg
radation of living the straight “lifestyle.” A drag
queen psychotherapist offers a “cure,” and scenes
from Mardi Gras and Fort Lauderdale’s raunchy
spring break festivities reveal the truth behind the
myth of the heterosexual nuclear family.
families who have come to terms with a child’s
homosexuality,” explains co-producer Barbara
Bernstein, a journalist who has covered the reli
gious right for years. “Unlike other videos, this
one is specifically designed for people who think
they don’t know anyone who is lesbian or gay.
We’d eventually like to distribute hundreds of
copies nationally, including to members of Con
gress.”
According to co-pro
ducer Elaine Velasquez, the
tape runs approximately 30
minutes and includes cover
age from Oregon, Florida
and California. The video
features legal experts, psy
chologists, ministers and a
diverse array of gay men and
lesbians, as well as their
families.
“A lot of the footage is
very
m o v in g ,”
says
Velasquez. “For instance, we
profile Mary Griffith, whose
gay son committed suicide
back in 1983 by jumping
from the Everett Street over
pass. At that time, Mary
Griffith was a very active
fundam entalist Christian
who was opposed to homo
sexuality. Her son, who was
struggling with being gay,
couldn’t take it and killed
himself. Because of that,
Mary Griffith has become
very active in the gay rights
movement.”
Bernstein and Velasquez
are working with groups
such as Parents and Friends
of Lesbians and Gays, People
of Faith Against Bigotry, and
the Rural Organizing Project
to distribute the video. Two Jackie Beat as Dr. Roberta Yeast in The Straight Agenda
years ago, the duo produced
Fighting fo r Our Lives, which focused specifi
In several scenes, Tony (Craig Chester), con
cally on the contentious Ballot Measure 9 cam fesses the emptiness of his sexual conquests of
paign. ‘This is much more broad-based,” says
women. He claims no personal aversion to straight
Velasquez. “We don’t focus on one or two cam people: “There’s research to show they’re possi
paigns. We address a number of different issues
bly bom that way.”
and talk with people all over the nation.”
One of the more entertaining aspects of the
Gay Lives and Cultural Wars will begin at 7
video is that as it begins, fact and fiction are so
pm Monday, Oct. 24, at the Clinton Street Theatre,
neatly merged that it takes a while to catch on to
the parody. As scenes progress, they become more
2522 SE Clinton St. Tickets are $5-$l0 sliding
scale and will benefit the Portland chapter of the
and more blatant. Heterosexual sex is made to
Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
sound like torture. Witness Audrey (San Fran
and Feather and Fin, Velasquez’s production com cisco comedienne Suzy Berger), formerly married
and miserable, now happily involved with a
pany. Copies of the tape are $ 10, and can be
woman.
obtained by calling (503) 452-6500.
Binninger is a Portland native whose work has
On a related note, Ballot Measure Nine, a new
screened at international film festivals in Berlin,
video by filmmaker Heather MacDonald, will be
shown at 7:30 pm Tuesday, Nov. I, at the North Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. Tumure is an award
winning filmmaker from Australia. The two were
west Film Center, Berg Swann Auditorium, 1219
brought
together by a mutual desire to expose the
SW Park Ave. in Portland.
absurdity and inaccuracies of The Gay Agenda.
MacDonald and a Portland crew shot hundreds
The Straight Agenda will be shown with Gay
of hours of tape documenting that campaign from
Lives and Cultural Wars on Monday, Oct. 24, at
both sides. Following the screening, Sweetwater,
the Clinton Street Theatre.
whose members include singers from the Portland
, -w
i ’<.' Jann Gilbert
Lesbian Choir and the Portland Gay Men's Cho
» .<j-,t
Sunday N ovem ber 27 • 8:00__
A rlen e S c h n itz e r C oncert H all
tickets at all GI Joe’s/Ticketmaster locations
hone 224-4400.
HAL JONES AUTOMOTIVE
JOY ENTERPRISES
Ron Joy
We love our Just out
customers.
See us for your
automotive needs.
5111 NE Fremont
Portland, OR 97213
288-1130
OUR
s
anm ve
GAY MEN'S CHORUS
(J)fe te m akin g hibkyig!
The fifteenth season of the Portland Gay Men's Chorus
P G M C opens its fifteenth season
is beginning with a rich shared history for our choral
with a showcase of choruses from
family. We reflect on the rich dynamic experiences
opera, Broadway and ballet. The
that we hove shared and look forward to the future.
original music composed for men's
We invite you to join us in our celebration!
voices by such notable composers
All performances this season are at the Intermediate
as Monteverdi, Mozart, Sullivan,
Theatre, Portlond Center for the Performing Arts and ore
Bernstein and Lowe...all presented
A.S.L. interpreted and wheelchair accessible.
in PGM C's highly original fashion.
For Tickets Please call PGMC at 699-8586.
The Portland Gay Men's Chorus
Post Office Box 3223
Portland, Oregon 97208-3223
m v w « .« « ^
1 ■ -1 1 ■ ■ i ■ %
w
* - .»
■' 1,
• % % ,* **
1 ■
■ 1
*
... . i
1