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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 1996)
18 ▼ february 2. 1996 ▼ just out PO R TLAN D ’S local news Us and them An upcoming conference looks at how minds are made narrow by the tactics of hate by Inga Sorensen D 1744 HE CLACKAMAS STREET, PORTLAND OR (503) 33H104 □ □ □ □ * 1 - I t ■ Privacy S e cu rity No -Trace Telephone Press 1# for information. 7K)NW 23rd Ave. • 248-9748 6 3638 SE Hawthorne • 236-7976 N5WER M ERICA- Who answers your phone when you’re not available? Answering Service • 24-hour, 7-day-a-week Live Service • Pagers/Dispatch • Voice Mail - Paging & Operator Revert • 800 Numbers - Order Taking Portland, 503 / 223-1191 Salem, 503 / 391-7270 • Vancouver, 360 / 693-3601 <0 espite overwhelming evidence to people that “it’s good for them to belong to that the contrary, some people continue . [group or cult].” to believe the inflammatory ste “Once that occurs, a brainwashing and disori reotypes about gay men and lesbi entation begins to take place,” she says. ans, most notably, that sexual mi The OCA’s promotion of a skewed anti-gay norities are predators seeking to seduce children video showing a tiny segment of the community, or and exploit the culture at large. literature that links gay men to pedophiles and Do people believe this because organizations serial killers, may be examples of brainwashing like the Oregon Citizens Alliance, sponsor of nu techniques. merous anti-gay-rights initiatives, exercise mind “That in turn leads to a very rigid way of control over their adherents? looking at the world,” says Carver. “Once you get An upcoming conference entitled “The Psy into the mode, it’s easier for you to reject over chology of Bigotry: Dualism vs. Diversity,” slated whelming scientific evidence that conflicts with for Feb. 10, will explore that question. what you’ve been told.... You begin to see the Conference planners say the event is designed world as either black or white, not gray.” to examine the similarities be Hence the advent of dual tween cults and the OCA. Pre- “77z£ OCA XVdS g r o s s l y ism: right/wrong, us/them, good/bad. It is a trap, says setters will compare the pro- th e tr u th a n d Carver, that OCA follow cesses used by cults to coerce and . ° . . . convert to the tactics used by the b e l U g V e r y m a n i p u l a t i v e ers— as well as gay-rights oca . in order to get people to advocates—can fall into, par- They will also “examine the r u their beliefs about tic“1 ,arl>! 8jven techniques and u n d e rly in g J f rr<1J political climate statewide mechanisms of hate groups in g®y people. They U S e and nationally. “If that happens, people polarizing communities, explore taCÜCS similar tO those can really limit their experi employed by cults. » ences in life,” she says. als how they can combat their — Carol Carver In addition to Carver, pre effects.” senters at the conference will The gathering is sponsored by Health Oriented include Lee Knefelkamp, Ph.D., and Milton Professionals for Equality, the Oregon Psycho Bennett, Ph D. logical Association, and the International Commu Knefelkamp is a nationally known speaker and nication Institute. Mental health professionals, as professor at Columbia University. She is one of 16 well as interested members of the public, are wel members of a national panel designed to explore come to attend. the relationship between democracy and diversity in U.S. culture. She will speak on mind control and According to Carol Carver, Ph.D., a psycholo gist in private practice in Corvallis, HOPE was the manipulation of dualism. formed “around the time of Measure 9” by a group Bennett is the co-founder of the International of mental health professionals who wanted to bring Communication Institute in Portland. He recently their expertise into the dialogue about gay and completed an article about the cult process, and lesbian issues. will show an anti-gay video to study the role of “The OCA was grossly slanting the truth and propaganda in that process. The registration fee is $50. The conference will being very manipulative in order to get people to be held from 8:30 am to 3 pm at the Lake Oswego follow their beliefs about gay people,” says Carver, who will be presenting at the conference. “They United Church of Christ, 1111 SW Country Club use tactics similar to those employed by cults.” Road in Lake Oswego. Call 235-7072 for further information. Tactics, says Carver, designed to persuade 9 v For a personalized quote call John Carter today! 9 ^ We've got lots o f things to make your valentine sw e e t on you! cj> Q v G S G tz& s o i "We keep uou in good spirits!* <0 Jewelry - Gifts - Decorative Housewares Gandies - Aromatherapy Sr other Enlightments Rubber Stamps - Cards - Journals - Toys 3633 SB Hawthorne - 230-7740 - Open Everyday! _____________ email - Presents 2 ©aol.com V “ Don’t ask, don’t tell” under scrutiny Judge Thomas S. Zilly, U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington at Seattle, recently heard from lawyers on both sides of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” de bate. Zilly did so during a Jan. 19 summary judgment hearing where opposing ar guments were presented by attorneys representing U.S. Navy Lt. Richard Watson and the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Navy. Watson’s discharge and subsequent legal challenge of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy are based on a state ment of sexual orientation, not on conduct. Zilly has previously ruled, in the case of Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer, that the DOD’s former automatic discharge policy for a simple declaration of one’s homosexuality was unconstitutional. This is the first case before Zilly under the new policy ban ning service by gay men and lesbians. In August 1995, Zilly issued a preliminary in junction against the Navy forbidding Watson’s dis charge and guaranteeing his career security pending the outcome of this case. Watson made his state ment about orientation while an ROTC instructor and graduate student at Oregon State University in Corvallis. He is currently serving at a military facil ity in Everett, Wash. He is represented by a consor tium of San Francisco, Se attle and New York law firms. m Richard Watson Inga Sorensen