2 ▼ d a c tm b a r 10, 199 4 ▼ ju s t out
just out
sin ce 1983
steppin’ out
Renée LaChance
contents
EDITOR-AT-LARGE
VOL. 12 NO. 4 DECEMBER 16,1994
PUBLISHER A N D EDITOR
Ariel Waterwoman
REPORTER
FEATURE
Inga Sorensen
CALENDAR EDITOR
Under the covers
Jann Gilbert
A reading list for book lovers
seeking refuge from
winter’s blustery cold
(PP- 17-21)
PHOTOGRAPHER
Linda Kliewer
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR
Meg Grace
ADVERTISING REPS
DEPARTMENTS
E. Ann Hinds
Jewel Robinson
World news
The U.S. grants asylum to a
Turkish gay man
(P- 3)
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
E. Ann Hinds
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Rupert Kinnard
National news
COPY EDITOR
Joseph Steffan loses in court;
Jeffrey Dahmer is killed;
a Catholic condom ad
draws criticism
(pp. 4-10)
Kelly M. Bryan
TYPESETTER
Jann Gilbert
DISTRIBUTION
Ambling Bear
Local news
OFFICE MANAGER
Some area newspapers
will print notices o f queer
unions and births—
but not The Oregonian
(pp. 13-15)
Aaron Bong
CONTRIBUTORS
Aaron Bong
Kelly M. Bryan
Kristine Chatwood
Renée Cherry
Jann Gilbert
Christopher Kamera
Lee Lynch
Matthew Nelson
Bob Roehr
Rex Wockner
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editorial
Now he's gone
too far
Clinton axes Joycelyn Elders for a frank answer to a frank question
▼
COLUM NS
Spirituality
Episcopal woman is honored
by the Four Winds Church
( p - i n
Sports
Bowling fo r dollars!
(p. 36)
by Renée LaChance
ill Clinton was my choice for president. I expected
him to walk his talk. I expected him to live up to his
promises. I expected him to do far more than he has
done.
Fresh out of the gate, he broke his promise to
end the ban on lesbians and gay men in the military. I wrote that
off as Clinton needing to reach a compromise and figured there
must be more going on behind the scenes than anyone was
telling us.
Then he appointed Joycelyn Elders his surgeon general.
Appointing someone like Elders to formulate the public health
policies for the United States was the kind of thing I hoped for
from Clinton. Here was a woman who would voice the concerns
of millions of underrepresented individuals regarding public
health.
She immediately spoke out against attitudes that promoted
disease rather than good health: racism, sexism, homophobia,
ignorance. She spoke her mind and she spoke it explicitly,
making her a target of Republicans and right-wing Christian
leaders, and a renegade in the Clinton administration.
After a speech at a World AIDS Day event at the United
Nations, Elders was asked whether more candid discussion and
promotion of masturbation would be helpful in the campaign
against HIV and AIDS. Her response was the straw that broke
Clinton’s back, and, on Dec. 9, he asked for her resignation. I
expected more from Clinton. I expected him to respect and
honor the actions of people he appointed to key positions. After
I • t
ARTS
all, he had worked with Elders when he was governor of
Arkansas and she was the director of the Arkansas Department
of Health— he knew what she stood for.
So what was the damning answer to the question?
In keeping with her shoot-from-the-lip style, Elders re
sponded: “I’m a very strong advocate of a comprehensive
health education program.... I feel it should be age appropriate,
it should be complete, and we need to teach our children the
things that they need to know. And we know that many of our
parents have difficulty teaching certain things. And for that
reason, to make sure our children are informed, I’ve always felt
that we should make it a part of our schools. I feel it’s the only
institution we have where all the children go. And at present in
our schools, it’s very incomplete, and only 5 percent of schools
have a comprehensive program.
“As per your specific question, in regard to masturbation, I
think it is something that is part of human sexuality and it’s a
part of something that perhaps should be taught. But we’ve not
even taught our children the very basics. And I feel that we have
tried ignorance for a very long time, and it’s time to try
education.”
That these words should be the ones to end Elders’ tenure as
surgeon general makes me furious. Furious at a society that is
so sex-phobic that it won’t tolerate frank responses to frank
questions. Furious that that phobia has perpetuated the AIDS
pandemic. Furious that I don’t know what to do with that fury
because it so quickly turns to grief.
Cinema
Local film goes to Sundance;
escape holiday hubbub
at the movies
(pp. 28-29)
Music
Seattle's Marge Starks;
Harvey M ilk’s life
inspires an opera
(pp. 30-31)
Entertainment
PAM awards grants
to performance artists
(p. 32)
Aural gratification
Thirty must-have CDs fo r ’94
(p. 35)