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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (June 7, 1996)
j u s t o u t ▼ ju ris 7, 1 9 9 6 ▼ 3 just out s in c e 1 9 8 3 steppin’ out PUBLISHER AND EDITOR Renée LaChance contents VOL. 13 NO. 15 JUNE 7, 1996 ASSISTANT PUBLISHER Ten Ventura FEATURE COPY EDITORS Kelly M. Bryan Karen Kantor A tale of two “citys” The City o f P ortland wants to close The City N ightclub REPORTERS fnga Sorensen Bob Roehr Rex Wockner (p- 21) CALENDAR EDITOR DEPARTMENTS Kristine Chat wood PHOTOGRAPHER World news Linda Kliewer South A frican Archbishop Tutu writes in support o f gays ADVERTISING DIRECTOR (P- Meg Grace 5) National news ADVERTISING REPS C. Jay Wilson Jr. Marty Davis Q ueers nationw ide rejoice o ver A m endm ent 2 victory CREATIVE DIRECTOR Local news (pp. 6-13) E. Ann Hinds GRAPHIC DESIGN Rupert Kinnard FORMATTER 13th International AIDS Candlelight Memorial and Mobilization: Mourners gathered May 19 at Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland to remember the loved and lost. G ay and lesbian candidates take a breather before N ovem ber . (p- 15) Christopher Cuttone COLUM NS TYPESETTER Christopher Cuttone Independently speaking DISTRIBUTION Ambling Bear Rachel Ebora Helen Ford CONTRIBUTORS Kelly M. Bryan Kristine Chatwood Beren deMotier Rachel Ebora Marvin Liebman Lee Lynch Will O’Bryan Richard Shumate Daniel Vaillancourt C. Jay Wilson Jr. just out is published on the first and third F riday of each m onth. Copyright ©1996 by ju s t out No part of ju st o u t may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. T he subm ission o f w ritten an d g rap h ic materials is welcomed. Written material should be typed and double-spaced just out 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 Associated Press Style Book and Libel Mamud on editorial decisions. Letters to the editor should be limited to 500 words. Deadline for submissions to the editorial department and for the Calendar is the Thursday before the first and third Friday for the next issue. Views expressed in letters to the editor, columns and features are not necessarily those of the publisher. The d isplay ad v e rtisin g deadline is the Monday after the first and third Friday for the next issue. Classified ads must be received at the just out office by 3 pm the Monday after the first and third Friday for the next issue, along with payment. Ads will not be taken over the telephone Ad policy. No sexually exploitative advertising will be accepted. Compensation for errors in, or cancellation of, advertising will be made with credit toward future advertising. Subscriptions to just out are available for $17.50 for 12 issues. First Class (in an envelope) is $30 for 12 issues A copy of ju s t out is available for $2. Advertising rates are available on request. T h e m ailing ad d re ss and telephone nu m b ers for ju st out are PO Box 14400, Portland. OR 97293-0400; (503) 236-1252 The phone number for the advertising department is 236-1253. Our fax number is 236-1257 Our e- mail address is JustOut2@aol.com. P reju d ice loses big The U.S. Supreme Court's decision on Amendment 2 is a strong defense against prejudicial forces fo r gay men and lesbians by Richard D. Mohr nock me over with a feather. Like many gay legal writers, I was worried over the pokiness of the Supreme Court’s announcement of its decision on the constitutionality of Colorado’s 1992 anti-gay Amendment 2 referendum. The gay legal commu nity expected that, even in the case of a victory, the court would not speak in aclear, unified voice, that the victory would merely be technical. Not so. Justice Kennedy’s opinion for six justices could hardly have been stronger in its defense of gay men and lesbians from prejudicial forces. Our win in Romer v$. Evans specifically knocked down as unconstitutional the anti-gay referendum initiatives that have swept the country, from Anita Bryant’s 1978 Save Our Children campaign through Cincinnati’s 1993 Issue 3 Amendment. But the case portends major positive changes in gay law and politics more generally. If the decision is applied consistently in future cases, virtu ally all anti-gay discrimination by governments will be struck down. Why? Kennedy’s brief but pointed opinion basically holds that governments cannot simply accumulate anti-gay attitudes, hostilities, hatreds and phobias in policy or law and also claim the laws and policies are rational. Laws “bom of animosity toward the class of persons affected,” laws that do nothing more than cobble together and give voice to prejudices, will be struck down. The court also showed a robust willingness to examine the rationales that governments give for their anti gay laws to see whether they aren’t simply fronts for prejudice. Virtually all current legal burdens on gay men and lesbians appeal directly or indirectly to prejudicial forces. Take judicial decisions that have removed custody of kids from their lesbian mothers on the ground that social recriminations that come to the lesbian mother will damage the child. These decisions simply bootstrap policy off of anti-gay prejudice, and now look to be unconstitutional. In 1986 the Supreme Court had upheld anti-gay sodomy laws solely on the ground that they give voice to popular morality. Again, such thinking now no longer looks K to be good law. And take two biggies: gays in the military and same- gender marriage. The military defends the legal ban on gay men and lesbians solely on the ground that nongay soldiers are made uptight by the presence of gay soldiers. The ban is based on nothing but anti-gay attitudes and so, too, looks ripe for judicial scrutiny. In mid-May, President Clinton’s press secretary explained that while Clinton was strongly opposed to same-gender marriage, Clinton couldn’t give any reasons for his opposition. Well, strongly held, quite specific beliefs for which one can gi ve no reasons are exactly those which are prejudicial. Clinton is typical on the issue of same-gender marriage; opposition to it is nothing but prejudice on stilts— and so now judicially suspect. The opinion is important politically as well. It is written by a very conservative, Republican-appointed judge. Prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court, while an appellate judge on the ninth federal circuit, Kennedy heard four gay cases and voted against gays all four times; in a case that blended marriage and immigration issues, he wrote a vicious and dismissive anti-gay opinion. Clearly conservatives can change and grow. Indeed, a “constitutional” majority of the six judges in the Romer opinion are Republican appointees: Kennedy and Souter were appointed by Bush, O ’Connor by Reagan, and Stevens by Ford. We have less to fear from conservatives and Republicans than most gay and lesbian activists assume. In his three-man dissent. Justice Scalia rants about sexual degeneracy and decay, but his rages— those of the Christian right wing— are impotent. The gay and lesbian movement should stop being obsessed by the far right. In riveting its focus there, it blinds itself to the future that is unfolding before us—with the Supreme Court’s welcome assist. Richard D. Mohr is the author o/Gays/Justice: A Study of Ethics, Society and Law. Log Cabin lays an egg (p. 17) I kid you not A re we people o r perverts? (p- 19) Stonewall baby Revisiting the party (p. 40) Amazon trail Pride com es in steps (p- 41) ARTS Cinema The Oregon Gay and Lesbian Film F estival is a gay old fa m ily reunion (p. 31) Interview Greg Louganis is still m aking waves (p. 35) Theater Buried C hild unearths the blighted A m erican dream ; Norm al Heart still packs a punch (pp. 36-37) Entertainment P G M C goes on Freedom Tour (p. 38) Tongue in groove M arla Glenn w ill m elt you (p. 39)