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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 15, 1995)
« 4 4 « » i • «* • « * • 10 ▼ M p t w n b w IS , 1W Ï ▼ J u s t o u t LUnderstanding Viatical Settlements I f A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS, national news A human face History Month events aim to acquaint the populace with the contributions made by lesbians gay men and bisexuals , ▼ ■ f hi I m a g in e THE VALUE ~ OF AN EIGHT MINUTE VIDEO. If you’re living with a terminal illness, this is the one videotape that can help you understand the advantages and financial opportunities o f viatical settlements. Life Benefactors’ professional staff has the experience and knowledge to help you understand the steps necessary for cashing in your life insurance policy. N o application fees. Quick turnaround. Fully confidential. And, most importantly, maximum T I T T) f . t n value for your policy. For more information VTjC DCnCIdClOib, L/.I. A V I A T I C AL S F T T L F . M F.N TS C O M P A N Y and a free videotape or brochure, please call Kit Carson at Life Benefactors, L.P., 1-800-285-5152. We are everywhere. THE LESBIAN C O M M U N ITY PRO JECT UPCOMING EVENTS Friday, Sep t 15, 7 pm LC P & C EP present PrUo Bingo! NW Service Center. N W 18tti & Everett Free Childcare! D o o rs at 6 30 pm by Steve Chrysler national organization o f teachers and celebrities that fight hom ophobia in schools is organizing the second Les bian, Gay and Bisexual History M onth this October. International tennis star M artina Navratilova, award-winning actress Susan Sarandon and Olympic champion Greg Louganis are a few of the many backing the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Teachers Network, creators o f the event. “The assaults o f the radical right are based on defaming us as m onsters and m olesters,” explains the group’s director Kevin Jennings. “O ur ability to put a hum an face on that bogeyman is our strongest defense.” In 1994, a small netw ork o f teachers and com munity m em bers across the country began working to create a specific time when attention could be focused on the contributions o f lesbian, gay and bisexual people to the developm ent o f the United States. Organizations like the Human Rights C am paign Fund and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force endorsed them, and political leaders such as governors W illiam W eld (M ass.) and Low ell W eicker (Conn.) and m ayors Richard Daley (Chi cago) and Thom as M enino (Boston) issued procla mations to celebrate the inaugural event on Oct. 1, 1994. October was chosen to build on existing tradi tions like National Com ing O ut Day (Oct. 11), and to honor the first two m arches on W ashington, D.C., organized by gay, lesbian and bisexual activists in O ctober 1979 and O ctober 1987. Local coordinat ing councils in areas as diverse as Boston, Chicago, San Antonio, San Francisco and St. Louis staged myriad events, and num erous m edia outlets covered the story, raising the public’s awareness o f this history to a higher level throughout the nation. Activists in St. Louis created a gay and lesbian history film festival, and others in Jacksonville, Fla., hosted a “birthday party” reception for Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, who gave the first public speech on behalf of gay rights, in Germ any in 1867. In Boston, 200 community members, teachers and students attended a conference featuring over a dozen workshops. The Gerber/Hart Gay and Lesbian Library and Archives in Chicago sponsored a slide show on local gay and lesbian history. Jennings, a form er high school teacher, ex plained why his group exists: ‘Tw enty-eight per cent o f gay youth drop out of schools, which is almost three times the national dropout rate o f 11 percent. One out o f every three gay youth attempts suicide. Gay youth are at m uch greater risk for being physically attacked, for developing alcohol and A substance abuse problems. I really think a major factor in that is the hostile climate that goes on in schools.” He continued, “There is no school in Am erica where [using derogatory ethnic terms] would be tolerated anymore. Yet “faggot” is said regularly in virtually every hallway in virtually every American high school. The conditions in schools right now are such that it’s literally unsafe for many gay and lesbian youths to go to school. T hat’s wrong, and it needs to stop.” T he G ay, L esbian and S traig h t T eachers Network’s other projects include regional confer ences focused on creating change in schools; re treats which offer support to gay, lesbian and bi sexual educators who are developing curricula and training resources; on-site workshops for schools; and advocacy for youth, educators and families. GLSTN developed the “Gay-Straight Alliance” stu dent support program and helped establish such groups in schools in 13 states across the nation. In 1993, the group helped make M assachusetts the first state to ban discrimination based on sexual orienta tion against public school students. This October, the winning entries o f two na tional student competitions in art and essay writing will be placed in mainstream and lesbian and gay publications around the country. The Visual Arts Com petition determines the official logo o f the second Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual History Month celebration, which will be sold on T-shirts and posters to help fund activities. On Oct. 14, a 400- person conference will be held in Oakland, Calif., to commemorate the month and its goals. The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Teachers Network provides resources, support and ideas to local activists so that they can be more effective organizers in their com munities. The bulk o f the work for History Month is done on a local level. Jennings said, “As confident as I am about our eventual victory, I have some serious short-term concerns about the coming months and elections. O ur opponents are well organized, well funded, and absolutely determined to fight this fight on an all-out basis. As rapidly as we have grown, I know that we m ust move even further and faster than we have if we are to match their commitment. Now is the time to make our greatest comm itm ent ever to saving the next generation from the bigotry with which we were all raised.” . The National Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual History Month Project is asking fo r donations o f time and money. For more information, call (212) 727-0135. FFI 223-0071 fcA Tuesday. Sep t 19. 7 -9 pm The Le sb ian Forum p resents “Yoaag lesbians la the ’90s" W estrw nster Church. NE 16th & Hancock Free Childcare1 FFI Grace 503-864-4446 Saturday. Sep t 23 4 a m ftap n 'i itmmm h m b Dragon Boat Bacas Vancouver Lake W ash. FFI JoEllen 287-4077 Imn 4 Wy b fl Friday. Sep t 29. 7 pm Ovor 35 Dlaos Oat Oer Rhemtander 5035 ME Sandy n w + w .h m tsu ru UJ 1 1 V (503) 223-0071 /T D D Fax 242 1967 f P.O. B o x 5931 ( > Po rtlan d , O R 97228 A n ti-V io le n ce Project 796-1703/1 800 796 1703 The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Teachers Network Is asking local organizations to: • Arrange book displays at local bookstores and public libraries. • W rite colum ns and letters to the editor in local new spapers recognizing the month and educating the public about contributions made by local lesbian, gay and bisexual figures. • Publicize the w ork o f local lesbian, gay and bisexual people who made a significant contribution to the com m unity as a way o f raising m edia and public awareness o f this history. • Advocate with your state and local school boards for inclusive curricular policies, so that full, fair and factual inform ation about lesbian, gay and bisexual history is included in textbooks. GLSTN also asks local activists to make sure schools know that O ctober is Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual History M onth and to help them plan appropriate activities sim ilar to those that many schools sponsor for Black and W om en’s History Months. • Establish bulletin boards or post flyers to educate the com m unity about lesbian, gay and bisexual history. • Invite scholars to give lectures on their work to students. • Arrange for older lesbian, gay and bisexual m em bers o f the local com m unity to come to share their experiences in classes or public forums. • Ask college presidents or school principals to officially endorse the month and to make plans for redressing the current lack o f inform ation on lesbian, gay and bisexual history in their libraries or curricula.