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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (April 5, 1996)
j u s t o u t ▼ a p r ii 5 , 1 9 9 6 ▼ 3 just out step pin’ out s in c e 19 83 PUBLISHER AND EDITOR contents VOL. 13 NO. 11 APRIL 5,1996 Renée LaChance COPY EDITORS Kelly M. Bryan Jeff Boswell FEATURE REPORTERS After the Party Inga Sorensen Bob Roehr Rex Wockner A couple looks back at the farewell gathering that inspired It’s My Party (p- 31) CALENDAR EDITOR Kristine Chatwood PHOTOGRAPHER DEPARTMENTS Linda Kliewer World news OFFICE MANAGER Finland may legalize same- sex marriage; 15 openly queer candidates are on the ticket in Brazil (p- 6) Teri Ventura ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Meg Grace ADVERTISING REPS National news C. Jay Wilson Jr. Marty Davis Georgia Supreme Court upholds sodomy law (PP- 7-12) CREATIVE DIRECTOR E. Ann Hinds Local news GRAPHIC DESIGN Sexual orientation-based hate crimes decreased in Portland in 1995; Evergreen AIDS Response sets up shop in Vancouver (pp. 15-19) Rupert Kinnard FORMATTER Rachel Ebora TYPESETTER Christopher Cuttone DISTRIBUTION Ambling Bear COLUMNS CONTRIBUTORS The spin we’re in Letting go of life Kristine Chatwood Cathay Che Rachel Ebora Kevin Isom Rupert Kinnard Lee Lynch Richard Shumate A new column brings you snapshots of Oregon’s political scene— guaranteed: no posing (p. 21) Hastening one's death when faced with terminal illness should be a matter of choice Profile by Renée LaChance lit is published on the first and third !♦♦*«««»* t» i* )4 »4 t i l t t4 V# A * •* i t O i Í é i i l t é « i * * « A U é A t é t A ti Ml «4 <A tl 4 «4 n this issue you’ll find the story of a family who attended This would not clear the way for Oregon’s Measure 16, the real-life party for Los Angeles designer Harry Stein however, which passed with 51 percent of the vote in 1994. that is the basis for the movie It’s My Party. The movie That measure would allow physicians to prescribe lethal doses gives a fictionalized account of the two-day party Stein of drugs at the request of a patient who is terminally ill and held for his family and friends prior to his committing diagnosed with six months to live. An injuction prevented the doctor-assisted suicide to escape the debilitation of PML, law a from going into effect, and now the state is asking U.S. complication of AIDS. The couple interviewed relays their District Court Judge Michael Hogan to remove the injunction experiences and share photographs from the party. and allow the law to stand. The court’s next hearing on Measure The issue of assisted dying is disturbing to some, yet it 16 will be on April 23 in Eugene. reflects the experience of many terminally ill people. I t’s My The results of a survey of Washington state physicians was Party subtly brings to light the debate over the right to choose recently published in the Journal o f the American Medical the time and place of one’s own death, and the role that family Association. The survey questioned 828 physicians on how and friends play in that decision. In addition to this movie and often and the reasons why patients asked for help in dying. The several books, the right to die is being explored in the federal survey found that 26 percent of the doctors had been asked to courts. help end the life of a patient, and of those, 27 percent granted Two recently published books on the subject include Final the request. The patients who requested help to hasten death Acts o f Love by Stephen Jamison, Ph.D., and Why Suicide? by were more worried about emotional pain than physical pain; Eric Marcus. Jamison’s book explores the philosophical as they were concerned about becoming incapacitated, a "burden” pects of assisting someone to die, while Marcus’ book literally to their families. The survey illustrates that many people facing answers 200 of the most frequently asked questions about death would like control over how and when it will happen. It suicide, including assisted suicide. Both books illustrate sce also shows that some doctors already cooperate in hastening narios that one should consider before agreeing to help some death. one to die, or before choosing to hasten one’s own death. The proliferation of AIDS and cancer has many of us The judicial system is weighing the constitutionality of a witnessing the final days of people we love. Some choose to person’s right to die. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in end their own lives with the help or support of family and San Francisco overturned on March 6 a Washington state law friends, while others hang on to life with everything they’ve got that banned assisted suicide. The court found a constitutional until it eventually slips away. It is increasingly important for right to die for adult patients who are terminally ill and mentally each of us to decide where we stand on the right-to-die issue, for competent. Washington’s attorney general immediately an ourselves and our loved ones. nounced that she will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to consider The ruling of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court should stand, and the issue. The Supreme Court has until June 30, the end of its the injunction against Measure 16 in Oregon should be lifted. current term, to agree or decline to hear the case. If it declines, The government needs to recognize the importance of assisted the ruling of the circuit court will be the definitive law allowing dying and one’s right to choose it, so that legal and humane the right to die. boundaries can be drawn. 4 * | II * ♦ » ♦ ! ♦ I | ♦ ♦ M l M l 4*4*41» '»'♦’♦’♦Vi *V« »V»T *'♦ » Vi ♦ i V i ’ i * » * » 1*1 | | I I I I F riday of each m onth. Copyright ©1996 by ju st su t No part o f Just out may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. T he subm ission o f w ritte n and grap h ic materials is welcomed. Written material should be typed and double-spaced. Just sut reserves the right to edit for grammar, punctuation, style, liability concerns and length. We will reject or edit articles or advertisements that are offensive, demeaning or may result in legal action, just out consults the A ssociated Press Style Book and Libel Manual on editorial decisions. Letters to the editor should be limited to 500 words. 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Advertising rates are available on request T he m ailing ad d ress and telephone num bers for just out are PO Box 14400, Portland. OR 97293-0400: (503) 236-1252. The phone number for the advertising department is 236-1253. Our fax number is 236-1257 Our e- mail address is JustOut2@aol.com. 4 4 t I 1 1 t I I I I I I 1 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I U l i t U II M I I II I I I 4 4 I I I I 4 4 4 I I I I 4 4 * I M 4 II 1 4 4 I 4 » 4 4 4 4 GALON comes out for fun in Coos County (P- 23) Peach buzz A tale of intrigue draws the curious to Savannah, Ga. (p. 36) Amazon trail Assunta Femia carries on a nuns ’ tradition: the good fight (p. 37) ARTS Theater Ruth Pointer talks about Ain’t Misbehavin’ (p- 29) Cinema Queer cinema awards we 'd like to see... (p. 34) Tongue in groove Sink into the cheesy comfort of Japan's Pizzicato Five (p. 35) t M M I 1 M f M t I M I » ♦ % % % • • • ♦ I