just out ▼ fobruary 3, 1009 ▼ 3
SERIOUS I N J U R Y & DEATH
C LA IM S resulting from:
letters
Angry at the loss
To the Editor:
I just recently learned that Ariel Waterwoman
died on Jan. 3. Her love and energy and fighting
spirit will be missed.
I also learned that Assoto Saint died in 1994,
and it makes me mad. I’m angry that we’ve lost
yet another sister to cancer and yet another brother
to AIDS. I’m angry that the queer community has
seemed to lose its fighting edge and has devel­
oped a short memory.
I’m angry that Assoto’s passing hardly made
a blip in the predominantly white gay media. Like
Ariel, Assoto spoke the truth about the isms that
are strangling our community from within and
without. He loved fiercely enough to fight the
violence we face day to day, be it physical, eco­
nomic or medical.
Oregon, don’t let Ariel’s struggle for the com­
munity and against cancer pass without someone
expressing some outrage. Queers cannot afford to
fail to acknowledge that one of us has died from
the scourges that we are dying from. It is up to us
to make sure THEY—the right, the liberals who
make us their cause of convenience—know that
we will not die silently and unnoticed.
I will miss you, Ariel.
LaTricia Ransom
Beijing, China
Warrior of light
To the Editor:
Although I didn’t know her well personally, I
knew her well enough to know that she was one to
speak the truth and to understand that that’s all
that’s really required of any of us right now.
Speaking the truth.
Ariel was like sister friends I know all over this
country who are warrior women. Warriors of
Light. Webster’s defines a light as that which
makes it possible to see, anything that emits or is
a source of light, a person whose brilliant record
makes her/him an example for others.
The Warriors of Light that I know provide
knowledge, enlightenment and mental illumina­
tion. Ariel Waterwoman was and still is a Warrior
of Light. Let us say her name aloud often. Now
and forever...Ariel Waterwoman.
Must one be a poster boy?
To the Editor,
I feel the need to comment on your “Media
Briefs” section for the Jan. 6, 1995, edition.
Michael Stipe’s response to questions about his
sexuality has continually been “None of your
business!” This does not sit well with the people
who want Michael to confirm what they are sure
they already know. You decided to label his
response as “absolutely homophobic.” Then you
decided to call the question homophobic because
it wasn’t "Are you straight?”
Michael and R.E.M. have continually been on
the positive side of this and various other impor­
tant issues, yet you’ve decided that since he doesn’t
want to open his sex life to public scrutiny, he
must be a closeted homophobe. You even jump to
the conclusion that since he doesn’t want to dis­
cuss it he must think it is “evil” or “vile” to be
homosexual. He says it doesn’t matter if he is
straight or gay, and you say it does. Why does it
L
ook
fo k
N K X T ISSU K S
e a d l in e
F
Editor’s note: "Media Briefs ” is compiled by
A l Kielwasser and Tom diMaria o f the Gay and
Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Just Out
prints a diversity o f opinions and insights that
may or may not reflect those o f the editor. Yours
is one. By the way, Tom Hanks won the Oscar fo r
his performance in Philadelphia, not Michael
Keaton.
16
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Loving nature
will be missed
Lonnie “Ray” Riley quietly left this earth Jan.
7, 1995, after a year-long battle with AIDS. His
loving partner was at his bedside at the time of his
transition.
Ray’s loving nature and playfulness will be
missed. His inventiveness, strong character, and
love of people will live on in his memory and
spirit.
He is survived by his longtime companion, Joe
D. Gray of Portland; his sons, Donnie and Dwayne;
and his parents, Gordon and Kathleen Buening of
Seneca, Mo. Ray is also survived by several
brothers and sisters.
Graveside services were held Jan. 13,1995, in
Seneca. A memorial service was held at Portland
Metropolitan Community Church on Jan. 21,
1995. Remembrances may be sent to Portland
MCC.
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Bill Leeds
Portland
TRANSITION
Avel Gordly
Portland
( d
matter that a person must state their orientation at
all? Does stating one’s orientation determine the
validity of what follows? Isn’t that what we are
working against?
It would be great if more celebrities felt com­
fortable enough to make their sexuality public
domain, but do you really believe they should be
badgered into it? Obviously you do. Try this on:
Michael is straight, but his sexual ambiguity
serves to get the point [across] that sexual prefer­
ence is not something [on which] to base one’s
view of another, so he leaves the mystery un­
solved. (Michael Keaton made a similar point
when he avoided all gender-specific speech when
he won his Oscar for Philadelphia.) Would you
then notice all the positive things that he has
helped accomplish, or would you turn your guns
on another public persona who wasn’t meeting
your standards of furthering the cause. With the
rise in conservatism and the Democrats losing
their hold on grass-roots involvement, you would
think there would be plenty of organizing and
letter-writing campaigns to be done to help turn
that tide instead of infighting and blurring the
issue further by outing people.
I have read your magazine for some time now,
but I am starting to wonder what "The Issue” is. I
thought “The Issue” was the right for consenting
adults to private sexual lives without the threat of
reprisal from other individuals and groups who
would like them to behave otherwise. Are you not
becoming one of those groups or individuals?
Must one be a “poster boy” for the cause before
you acknowledge that one is indeed making a
difference in people’s view of sexuality? I found
this brief to be ludicrous from the headline to the
“homophobe’s” address at the conclusion.
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