IO ▼ d t c t m b t r 2 , 100 4 ▼ ju st o u t NEW YEAR’ S EVE BASH! 24/7 PRODUCTIONS TICKETS Advance $20 $30 tor CouplM $25 at door local news After the ballot SEATTLES BIGGEST HOTTEST PRESENTS GAY AND LESBIAN DANCE Pfi AT FREEZE FRAME! From PIER 48 Over 100,000 Sq Ft of I Dec. 31, 9 pm - 4 i A BENEFIT FOR the Lesbian Avengers to a Roberts tribute to a gathering of queer public officials, it’s a political potpourri v ALICE B. TttfiATRE by Inga Sorensen T TKAVEU HOTEL PACKAGES 1(800) 227-8886 I (206) 441 « 6 2 2 S p e c ia l M id n ig h t T t C o u n td o w n w ith TICKET OUTLET» Ssa/Tac (206) 233-7948 Sookane (308) he campaign manager for the No on 13 Committee— the group which raised and spent nearly $2 million to defeat Ballot Measure 13, an anti-gay and -lesbian rights initiative— says the group will likely transform into a permanent organization designed to educate voters about human rights issues. “We’ve been holding meetings around the state to hear people’s thoughts about the cam paign,” explains No on 13’s Julie Davis. “Gener ally the feedback has been positive. They liked the literature we used and our message about defend ing everyone’s basic civil rights. What we are hearing is that people want a permanent organiza tion that is electorally focused and one which will continue to educate and work with voters year round.” Ballot Measure 13, which would have amended the state constitution to bar state and local govern ments from enacting measures prohibiting dis crimination based on sexual orientation, was de feated during the Nov. 8 election by a 51 percent to 49 percent vote. (State officials have until Dec. 8 to certify the ballots and announce official election results. Currently, figures show that 621,450 Oregonians voted against Ballot Mea sure 13, while 582,544 favored it.) The measure was sponsored by the Oregon Citizens Alliance— backer of 1992’s Ballot Measure 9 which lost 53 percent to 47 percent. The OCA plans to take another crack at passing discriminatory initia tives in 1996. “We’re just beginning to look at the numbers. It will take a few weeks to sit down and look at how people voted on a precinct-by-precinct basis. Once we do that we can assess which of our strategies worked, which did not work, and why,” says Davis. Following that, she says, there will be a more in-depth discussion about creating a full-time organization: “We’d have to explore what the structure and goals of the group will be. Do we want to go ahead proactively with an initiative of our own? That could be tricky because we’ll likely be fighting an OCA initiative, thus we’d essentially have ‘yes’ and ‘no’ campaigns going on at the same time. That could be confusing, to say the least.” Davis says the new organization would likely be fashioned after one in Kentucky known as Project Fair Vote, which makes ongoing contact with voters a top priority. “They do this all the time, not just in the heat of a campaign,” says Davis. “That’s what we want to do. People are less pressured and can really think about issues when they are not in the midst of a volatile climate leading up to an election,” says Davis. For now, Davis says, the No on 13 Committee is attempting to retire a $20,000 debt; volunteers are also needed for a variety of tasks. “Donations would be greatly appreciated and we have lots of data entry that needs to be done,” she says. No on 13 can be reached by calling (503) 222-6151. C o u n cilw o m a n S h e rry ^ a rris & S enator Elect Cal Anckipson P E R F O R M IN G L IV E ' E ve ly n C h a m p a g n e K ing # D A N C E A R T IS T K ym S im s S in g in g h e r s m a s h hit T o o B lind To See It" "S h a m e ", & N e w R e le a s e 'l D o n 't K n o w If It's R ig h t" 1 M ust Be Free M odel Search by Top Selling G ay Publications Deneuve & 10% M agazines Fashion Show "Vanity Vintage" ^ Funk You & Raghaus TICKETS Vancouver 604)868-1753 Portland 503) 236-0606 F U L L B AR 21 and over with 10 SPONSORED BY: TICKETS Vancouver 1)888-1753 »ortland 503)236-0606 Witt#» I FUNK YOU 10PERCENT *,EIRr ^ NG ------ ----------- 2U“ GALLERY DENEIVE n neighboring Idaho, the Lesbian Avengers— a national direct action group— says gay and lesbian visibility does not have to be compro mised in order to defeat an anti-gay and -lesbian rights initiative. The group, which is among those taking credit for the defeat of Proposition 1, a discriminatory initiative which was defeated Nov. 8 by a 51 percent to 49 percent margin, says the proof is in the election returns. "We worked with local gays and lesbians who felt it was important not to bury the gay issue. We feel lesbian and gay visibility iscriticaltoourcivil rights movement,” says Christina McKnight, who was among a group of eight Lesbian Avengers who journeyed from the East Coast to work full time on the anti-1 effort. “That sometimes made the No on 1 campaign [the Idaho equivalent of Oregon’s No on 13 Committee] a little agitated. They focused more on a ‘discrimination’ mes sage.” McKnight says her group concentrated on three counties in northern Idaho where local gay men and lesbians— supported by the Lesbian Avengers Civil Rights Organizing Project— ran an "out, visible, grass-roots campaign [which] defeated Proposition 1 by much higher percent ages than the average Idaho vote.” LACROP held forums in which lesbians and gay men spoke openly about their lives, danced together at a “traditionally homophobic and violent nightclub,” and held a lesbian and gay freedom day picnic. “These events were designed to empower gays and lesbians living in Idaho,” she says. Greg Jackson Colleague Eileen Clancy adds: “Successful, long-term political movements are not formed by gathering a thousand recruits to lick postage stamps. LACROP’s strategy is to bring lesbians and gay men into the movement to share ideas about what direction that movement should take. Hierarchical, centralized campaigns with a single ‘message’ do not provide room for individuals’ political growth.” The group focused on Latah County, which it describes as historically more liberal than the rest of northern Idaho— “but not by much.” After three months of queer-visibility actions and “out” door-to-door canvassing, McKnight says Latah County defeated Proposition 1 by a 61 percent to 39 percent vote, the second highest “no” vote in the state. The other two counties LACROP worked in— Bonner and Nez Perce— are also conservative, says McKnight. Nez Perce is a predominately working-class timber and manufacturing county; Bonner County is very rural and has a strong conservative presence. McKnight says both coun ties showed an unexpected 54 percent “no” vote, higher than the capital city of Boise and the Idaho average. By comparison, Kootenai County— where LACROP did not campaign, and which is often considered the second most liberal county in northern Idaho— showed a 46 percent “no” vote. “What that says to us is that you can win a campaign without compromising gay and lesbian visibility,” says McKnight. “Statewide campaigns