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2 8 ▼ ju ly 2 1 . 1 9 9 5 ▼ j u s t o u t
M y MISSION
...is to help clients
achieve their financial
objectives As an
advisor my role is to
educate and motivate
them to take the
actions necessary to
reach those financial
goals.
Planning for...
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FINANCIAL
AD VISO RS
ESTATE
RETIREMENT
ACCUMULATION
BUSINESS
I simply do it better!
O
Whether it's listening
to your wants and
needs, developing a
presentation of
properties, or
negotiating your
transaction, be
assured that your
satisfaction is my
ultimate objective
Call me at
Bridgetown Realty —
because there is
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by
Donald Falk
Bridgetow n Realty
( 503 ) 287-9370
( 503 ) 655-8015
&
n t iq u e s
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B er n a d ette B reu
A
P a r e n t ’ s C
Robert Bernstein sends a message to parents of gay men and
lesbians that mere acceptance is not enough
M illion D ollar Producer
(5 0 3 ) 2 5 5 -4 9 0 0
(3 6 0 ) 6 9 4 -3 1 1 7
ne
bought & sold
t iii : acoustic
RETRO SPECTIVE
TO UR
SNOWMAN
EVENT
Richard Shumate
is wife, Myma, doesn’t care for the
analogy, but Robert Bernstein plows
ahead anyway. Some parents, he
says, view their child’s homosexu
ality like they would view a case of
hemorrhoids.
A little uncomfortable. Not life threatening.
But certainly not something to discuss with the
neighbors or the folks at church.
And those are the very parents Bernstein
H
00 h
right organizations.
“I tried to find a variety of people and a variety
of stories,” he says. “I found these individual
stories dramatic and inspiring.”
Bernstein’s book is introduced by Robert
MacNeil of the Public Broadcasting Systems’
MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. MacNeil is one of a
number of celebrities whose stories are chronicled
in the book. Others include Republican presiden
tial candidate Barry Goldwater; Broadway pro
ducer Joe Papp; U.S. Rep. Lynn Woolsey of
California; Robert Mosbacher, a Cabinet mem
ber in the Bush administration; and former Port
land Police Chief Tom Potter.
“I have a gay son, and that’s all right with me,”
MacNeil writes. “What is important is my son the
person— his character, his generosity, his talents.
His sex life is of no more importance to me than
that of his heterosexual brothers and sisters, or of
my close friends.”
hopes to reach with his new book Straight Par
ents, Gay Children. Other books have been writ
ten to help parents cope and learn to accept. His
book is aimed at getting them to act.
“Unless and until we stand up and speak out,
growing up gay is going to
remain an extremely difficult
proposition,” says Bernstein.
“I think it is up to us parents
to make it clear that that is not
acceptable.”
Bernstein is a retired tax
attorney from Maryland who
spent many years working for
the U.S. Justice Department.
When his daughter, Bobbi,
came out to him in 1987, he
says it wasn’t a shock be
cause he already suspected
she might be a lesbian. But he
went to a P-FLAG meeting to
support his ex-wife, Bobbi’s
mother, who was having a
more difficult time accepting
her daughter’s sexual iden
tity.
In P-FLAG, Bernstein
found a home and a cause,
and his book is, in large part,
the story of how P-FLAG and
its members have spoken out
and stood up for gay men and
lesbians in their families.
“ Bobbi’s coming out has,
in a way, created a whole new
life for us,” says Bernstein.
“We found something that
really invigorates us and
makes us feel like we’re do
ing some good. We’ve met so
Introduction by Robert MacNeil
many marvelous people. It
erf the MacNeil Lehrer NewsHour
has done so much to raise our
consciousness.”
“I’ve often told Bobbi that
if she ever decides she made
Straight Parents, Gay Children uses a
a mistake when she came out,
don't tell us.”
series of personal anecdotes from parents
Straight Parents, Gay
Children uses a series of per
who have come, in Bernstein \s words,
sonal anecdotes from parents
“not just to accept but to celebrate
who have come, in Bern
stein's words, “not just to
their gay children. ”
accept but to celebrate their
gay children.”
During book signings, Bernstein says he is
Among those parents chronicled are Jim and
often
approached by gay and lesbian youth who
Elise Self of Grants Pass, Ore., who led the fight
tell him they are buying the book in order to send
in their community against Oregon’s anti-gay-
it to their parents. That’s music to his ears.
rights initiatives, going public on the front page
“I would like to reach the millions and mil
of their small-town newspaper with the revela
lions
of parents who are. well, OK about it but
tion that their daughter, Jennifer, is a lesbian.
kind of reticent,” he says. “If all the family and
Bernstein also tells the story of Bonnie and
friends of gay people spoke out about the gay
Buzz Frum, evangelical Christians in Colorado
people in their families and among their friends,
who have a gay son. They campaigned against
society’s homophobia would be on its way out.”
Amendment 2 and headed up a P-FLAG chapter
in Colorado Springs, home to dozens of religious
Keeping Fa mi lies Together
Robert A.
Bernstein
NANCI
GRIFFITH
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