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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 1996)
ju s t o u t ▼ January 1 9 , 1 9 9 0 ▼ 3 letters Cool to be cruel To the Editor: Take a look at the enclosed [clipping from the Jan. 3, 1996, Willamette Week]. W hat the hell is that? It’s not a fitting or appropriate tribute or acknowledgment o f the people listed. It’s not funny. It’s not particularly nice. [For this] fluff issue of cutesy filler stuff, one of those talentless hacks actually figured they’d lump these people together with N ew berry’s under the heading “Six Feet Under” ? W hat is that? It must be that “irreverent” thing they brag about in that wordy, pretentious bit o f business about their “m is sion.” It’s repulsive: “Six Feet Under.” If anyone I knew was on that list, there’d be hell to pay. I’m sure Just Out will be just fine with it, though, as you apparently are with every th in g else [Willamette Week\ does in its superfi cial and exploitive treat ment of gay people and issues. Did anyone there read the “review” of An gels in America ? How about the cartoon asking the question “ Raging or flaming?” o f two stereo typical gay men entering a restaurant? Forget about gay stuff: How about the full-page ad featuring a photo of women and children be ing led to their deaths at A u sc h w itz ? W orse, read Publisher R ichard M eeker’s response to the Jewish Federation o f Port land about that and then tell me this man or his pa per is going to be doing anything honorable in the near future. Did you see the bit where they attack W ieden & Kennedy for the ad blitz for OK Cola? This blitz took place in [Willamette Week's] own pages with the most environmentally and civically irresponsible ad insert in the history o f same. I’m not from this ridiculous little town, and it’s astounding to me the passive acceptance o f this pretentious, opportunistic, exploitative piece of crap by the community at large and the gay com munity in particular. Gay people in [that paper’s] pages are a campy, fashionable attraction, an op portunity for self-serving pontification and finger pointing, or discussed with all the humanity and sensitivity o f someone discussing ocelots. And, no doubt about it, objects o f ridicule if that suits [Willamette Week's] purposes at the moment, [as it has] on more than one occasion. Are we not fighting for the same cause? To the Editor: I sit here in my incarcerated state keeping in touch and staying informed through Just Out. In my three years o f incarceration there have been many changes. Some changes have been won derfully welcome, while others have sadly been seen. I read o f gay couples adopting children. I cry over stories o f loving, caring couples being sense lessly murdered. I bask in the splendor of gay and lesbian couples joining in matrimony and it being recognized legally. Then I hang my head in shame when I see the gay and lesbian community still so very divided. Are we not all fighting for the same cause? Damned right we are! M ed ical M alpractice & Look at the letter from the black gentleman wondering why the white-owned and -operated paper would run a cartoon ridiculing Martin Luther King Jr. He w asn’t to know that so-called “political incorrectness” for its own sake is a popular, fash ionable (and white) phenomenon that can lend a paper like that an air o f being “cutting-edge,” in lieu o f anything like original thought or genuine risk-taking. W e’re talking not just white people here, but the beautiful people— all o f them from privileged, well-to-do backgrounds and college- educated courtesy of their parents. They run a cartoon presenting perhaps the most esteemed o f black leaders in a ridiculous light for some faddish, incidental entertainment, and no one, at least no one white, bats an eye? Portland deserves that paper. Don’t let them use your friend’s death as opportunity for a clever headline. That was incredibly disrespectful and glib and blatantly dismissive o f the people listed. W hy? W hat the fuck for? W IC L IA M J A M IS O N art gai»ry «vncr, N. a h i et W A TEÄ W O H A M Just Out actor, canc*r, '2 Steve Henry Personal Injury A tto r n e y Free Consultation No Fee Unless You Recover 295-1940 > I am very hopeful that in the forthcoming year we as a community will grow closer. In doing so, I believe we will see that the battle that is being fought every day will make even more headway. Those o f us homosexuals who are incarcerated have our own battles to fight. We are constantly dealing with harassment and discrimination, both from staff and other inmates. The lack o f unity among us allows this to continue. Once again, with a little unity these everyday problems would be easily handled and dealt with. In closing, I wish each and every one a wonder ful New Year. I ask that we all try to unify [our community]. I believe it will open a much-needed path to what we are all striving for. Give it a try— no one can lose. & 12th Floor, 621 SW Morrison R e s u lts JUST LISTED! Old Forestry Commons 3 bedroom, 2 bath condominium with 2 decks on private, quiet street in the heart o f Northwest. $169,000 W inderm ere Cronin & Caplan Realty Group, Inc. 503 - 225 - 1115 / 503 - 970-3801 Whether they need a fleet of one or one hundred vehicles, more people buy from Damerow than from any other fleet source in the entire Northwest. • No Broker’s Fees • Below Market Finance Rates • Largest Ford Inventory in the Northwest • Prompt, Courteous Service • High Trade-In Allowances • The Northwest's Lowest Fleet Pricing Damerow BEAVERTON Pendleton In tegrity , E x p e r ie n c e Gresham E d ito r’s note: Thank you fo r bringing •anrm Ocrwcn lk: «tato ¡a*w. heart »Rack. 77 this to our attention. The headline is truly rude, J A M E S N A T T IN G E R A->d »odierei Stai* crude and thoughtless. pfofeMOt. AICS. 5S To be honest, most o f us ’ b i u e y r a v e at Ju st O ut stopped fi&nonac/ diaais*. 63 • reading W illa m e tte DEAN E R V 50N fuir;««' Ortrçpn Ct0tt»M W eek long ago. Before CflUrtJu*Cc«,34 P ublisher R ichard N E W B E R R Y 'S *i M eeker and E ditor !« t o f the Jowrtown * tvs-and oi?ri»s, t‘ art&miç pofäs «9 £ Mark Zusmangot their hands on it in the early '80s, W illamette W eek was a respected news paper with news and views that truly repre sented an alternative voice in Oregon. Now it seems an issue doesn 7 go by that W illamette W eek doesn 7 abuse its position in our community while touting the premise o f a "free play ofideas. ” Portland doesn 7 deserve that. Just O ut could dedicate a column in each issue to pointing out and challenging W illamette W eek 's smirking, gratuitous slurs disguised as journalis tic integrity. For one thing, we don 7 have the space or desire to do that. For another, no one here wants to read it on a regular basis. We appreciate the efforts o f those who take the time to send in items they find that are offensive to queer and other marginalized communities. Any one who knew, loved, or was inspired by the people whose names they read listed beneath that headline must have been sickened, as we were. Mark Smith Hala Gores FORD Fleet Sales 4070 S.W. Hall Blvd. • (503) 643-5555 • (800) 871-3673