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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (May 19, 1995)
4 ▼ m a y 10. 1 0 0 5 ▼ Just o u t etters Southern Oregon Hearth & Womansource Present Full Moon In June On th e b a n k s o f b e a u tifu l Lake O f The W oods in S o u th e rn O regon Carolyn Brandy Percussionist Extraordinaire ChrystOS of the Menominee Nation Lesbian Poet Alice Di Micele Singer/Songwriter Olga Loya Storyteller Musica Femina Flute/Guitar Duo Shelley Phillips Celtic Harpist Rashida Oji Singer/Songuriter Francinc 4 Nymiah _ p!u? Workshops Women Made Crafts Progressive Folk Duo ltd ttW te Carol Steinel Radical Standup Blue Lightning iS Rock, Country & Blues ft Mistresses O f The Groove Early Registration Fee - Must be postmarked by May 1 0 ....... Sliding Scale $80 -150 Late Registration Fee - May 10 through June 1 ......................Sliding Scale $100 -150 We welcome all girl children and boys under 6 ...........................Ages 3 and Up-$ 10-20 For Brochure & Registration: (503) 488-8445, or write: Full Moon In June, c/o Womansource, Box 335 J, Ashland, OR 97520 Realize the Alternative 0 Locally Grown, Organic Produce 0 Whole foods Deli • Catering 0 Gourmet & Ethnic Foods To Go 0 Bulk Foods & Fresh Breads 0 Vitamins, Herbs and Homéopathies H o i Front C O <) I» I: I? A T I V I: Q I? O C I: l> Y 2375 NW Thurman • (503) 222-5658 Open to All 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Daily Summer Hours 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. "W e 'd like to get to know you" A special introduction; Mention you saw this ad in Just Out and CUSTOM FRAMING IS Assembly is f r e e - You pay (or the materials • Complete Projects only • Uniframes excluded ^Picture This 9 F R A M IN G G A L L E R Y 2801 SE Holgate • Portland * 236-1400 Plenty of FREE parking at our convienent Eastside location Mon.*Fri. 9:30 am - 6 pm • Saturday 10 am -5:30 pm I n ik liM l . . — I..i — H L, y . i i „ L . , . m L _J , , L.. .I C ., •pprwA iw corn pm re profecn onry wot to oe (OfnDHreO wim oirwr orrers Mark Mardon Portland other and maybe they just needed a place where they can really be with each other, without us guys hanging around. I began to look at my own life and how I act on my own sense of values, and I realized that those women were exactly right. Women do have a legitimate need to be among themselves, and only themselves, sometimes. As a gay man, I need that sometimes, too. I go to gay bars for that. I’m one of those men who feel uncomfortable when women come into a bar where I go to be around men only. I feel in vaded—just like women would feel if I were to have walked into that women-only space at the bookstore, no matter how polite I might have been. It isn’t because I hate women or don’t want them around, it’s because I sometimes need to be around just men, and there are almost no other places on earth where I can do that. Forgive me if I feel protective of those few places where I can go- There really is a difference between men and women, whether they are gay or straight, and that should be respected by both. I encourage lesbian women to establish places where they can really be among themselves and to stop criticizing men for wanting to have similar spaces. There are a lot of things that lesbian and gay people can work together on. We are continuing to develop more areas and organizations where we interact with relatively little friction. I believe that both [communities] need those places where we can be with ourselves, and we both need to stop trying to violate each other’s spaces in the name of political correctness. Just because we want to be alone sometimes, doesn’t mean we’re anti-social. Overtly transparent Gregory Franklyn Portland No reason to accept responsibility Cultural Festival for Women - June 9, 10, 11 To the Editor: Although it may seem like nit-picking, if Howard Dana is to convince us of his schoolboy crush on Greg Louganis [“My Eternal Crush,” Just Out, April 7,1995], he should at least get his facts right. Louganis never competed in Barcelona. It was in Seoul in 1988 (where Dana was supposedly watching so intently) that the diver hit his head. Dana also implies that we (the gay commu nity) should accept some responsibility for Louganis’ low self-esteem. Somehow, we should have been more supportive and allowed him to retain his humanity. If I’m not mistaken, it has only been recently that Louganis even acknowl edged his sexuality. How could we as a commu nity have been expected to support someone who does not even acknowledge that he is a part of that community? Louganis’ story is certainly sad and much too familiar. I think he has much to offer us as some one we can hold up to all Americans as a hero. We can use him to force straight society to confront its homophobia. He was an Olympic hero to straight Americans long before they knew he was gay, and they are going to have a tough time reconciling their irrational fear of us with their admiration for him. However, Dana’s lust is not a reason for me to accept responsibility for Louganis’ problems. To the Editor: You have a consummate skill at getting on my nerves with your editorializing feature articles. Case in point, the overtly transparent slant in the article “The Great Divide” by Inga Sorensen [Just Out, May 5, 1995]. It is as if Inga is faulting gay men’s establishments for not being lesbian- friendly. It was clear to me that a lot of her perspective on how gay men’s businesses should behave towards lesbian women is based on her frustration that there really aren’t any les bian-only places here in Portland. When one does rise up (and I desperately hope it will be soon) we will see ju st how gay-male- friendly lesbian women feel. Gay men are very fam iliar with bad treat ment at wo m en’s bars, too—just watch how any man is treated when he walks into a women’s bar alone. It isn’t because we hate each other, either. We work together on a lot of things: the Lucille Hart Dinner, CAP, Phoenix Rising, Our House, the Pride March, No on 13, and on and on. But I learned something from shopping at that women’s bookstore on Northeast Broadway that closed a few years ago. There was a “women only” space in that store. When I saw that sign it sent me into a whole self-examination of what was so terrible about me that women wanted to exclude me from that room. The process brought me to the place where I began to realize that lesbian women may not have anything against me at all. Maybe what they really mean is that they have something/or each I ’m one o f those men who feel uncomfortable when women come into a bar where I go to be around men only. I feel invaded... Editor’s note: Starky's and the Cadillac Cafe, two o f the establishments mentioned in the fe a ture, list themselves in lesbian and gay directories as welcoming business from both the gay male and lesbian communities. The Crow had welcomed women, up until the night we wrote about. Ifeel certain that if any ofthese establishments designated “men only" space it would be hon ored by the majority o f lesbians in our community. Another way to divide and conquer To the Editor: As the capitalist economy stagnates in perma nent recession, big business tries to save its own neck by attacking the workers who produce the profits. Legislators rally round the cause, propos ing bills that gut unions, demolish immigrant rights, and destroy affirmative action. The right wing tells small business people that unions are the problem. They tell gays and lesbi ans to blame teen moms on welfare, people of color to blame gays and lesbians, and they tell white males that the problem is women and people of color. We need to see anti-affirmative action HB 3394 for what it is: yet another way to divide and conquer. White male workers need to join the rest of us against big business. Corporations are cut ting jobs by the thousands and slashing health care benefits and pensions. To add insult to injury, instead of paying their fair share in taxes to fund quality services for all, they pocket the money through tax loopholes. There’s enough wealth in this country to meet the needs of all working people. Together, men and women of all colors and all sexualities need to demand our rights. We create the wealth. We have the right to control and use it. Maijorie Sandoz Portland ..........................
