2 ▼ july 5. 1 9 9 « ▼ just out
just out
s in c e 1 9 8 3
steppin’ out
PUBLISHER AND EDITOR
contents
Renée LaChance
VOL. 13 NO. 17 JULY 5, 1996
ASSISTANT PUBUSHER
Ten Ventura
FEATURE
COPY EDITORS
Cyber liberation
Kelly M. Bryan
Karen Kantor
I t ’s a virtual com m unity:
The Internet is linking a n d
transform ing queers
w orldw ide
REPORTERS
Inga Sorensen
Bob Roehr
Rex Wockner
(p. 19)
CALENDAR EDITOR
Kristine Chatwood
DEPARTMENTS
PHOTOGRAPHER
Linda Kliewer
World news
H ungary legalizes sam e-sex
com m on-law m arriage;
R om ania bans gay sex i f it
upsets the neighbors
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR
Meg Grace
ADVERTISING REPS
C. Jay Wilson Jr.
Marty Davis
(P- 4)
National news
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
E. Ann Hinds
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Rupert Kinnard
FORMATTER
Wowed by the crowd: Four thousand picnickers made this year’s Peacock in the Park the biggest ever. Ray Southwick, one
o f the event organizers, says that $5,000 was donated by individuals and organizations fo r the Audria M. Edwards Youth
Scholarship Fund.
C oretta S co tt King speaks a t
A tlanta Pride; A ID S a n d
anim al rights activists clash;
tw o lesbians are m u rd ered on
the A ppalachian Trail
Christopher Cuttone
(pp. 5-9)
TYPESETTER
Local news
Christopher Cuttone
DISTRIBUTION
Ambling Bear
Rachel Ebora
Helen Ford
CONTRIBUTORS
Sasha Alyson
Kristine Chatwood
Cathay Che
Christopher Kamera
Lee Lynch
Will O’Bryan
Gip Plaster
Eric Rofes
Richard Shumate
Just out is published on the first and third
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guest editorial
An uncomfortable
silence
The accusations against Cmdr. Mike Garvey and the lack o f public support from
the gay community point up our own confusion about sex
by the Rev. Roy A. Cole
he silence is deafening. In the midst of the accusa
tions and the assumed guilt, the silence convicts us
of our ambivalence.
Mike Garvey, an openly gay man who, until
recently, was commander of the Portland Police
Bureau’s Central Precinct, has been accused of paying for sex
with a male prostitute. As his career falls to shreds, what does
Mike hear from the gay male community? Nothing! Who of our
leaders are making public statements to support this man in
what must be the most wrenching experience of his life? The
silence is deafening. The ambivalence is uncomfortably real.
The accusations made against Mike and the lack of public
support and encouragement point up to us our own confusion
about sex. Oh, we know how to have sex— safe sex, risky sex,
unprotected sex, lethal sex. We have lived through more than a
decade of having the mechanics of gay male genital sex ex
plained to us ad nauseam. Yet we don’t quite have the “who”
and the “when” of sex figured out as a community of men.
Most of us grew up equating sex with sin. Many of us grew
into adulthood hiding our sexual activity from parents, family
and friends. We became adept at clandestine sex. Sex in the
dark. Sex without names, without strings, without accountabil
ity. The images we continually see as gay men reinforce sex as
a casual recreational activity—just look at the latest mailing
from Atlantis, or a Damron guide, or even the back pages of Just
Out. Sex is for sale; sex is for fun; sex is for emotionally healthy,
out, gay men. Monogamy and long-term committed relation
ships are great, but until they come along, we are free to
celebrate sexuality without the constraints of celibacy.
Yet here is Mike Garvey, accused of paying for sex. If he did
what he is accused of, then his error is that he didn’t pay for it
the old fashioned way with two or three drinks at the bar, with
admission to Club Continental or, for the more genteel, with
dinner and a movie. Mike may have bought sex through an
escort service— something that any number of gay men have
done or may yet do— yet our public silence about it points out
how uncomfortable we are in openly and honestly discussing
sexual ethics for gay men.
If it is OK to play on Sauvie Island or at Rooster Rock, if it’s
OK to run up our phone bills with 900 numbers, if it’s OK to
trick when the mood and opportunity present themselves, then
what makes it not OK to buy sex? We need to answer these
questions for ourselves and as a community.
Eric Rofes, in his new book Reviving the Tribe, states that
“Often anxiety and confusion about our individual sex lives go
unstated.... [Significant numbers of gay men in America
appear to be experiencing confusion, dysfunction, impotency,
and deep ambivalence about sexuality and intimacy between
men. Those who are single increasingly become frustrated with
the limited options for meeting appropriate men.”
In our anxiety about appropriate sexual activity, we must
not allow Mike to bear the weight of this cultural confusion
alone. The questions raised by these accusations are valid
questions for us to address in the full light of day. To fail to do
so continues to reinforce the perception that sex is dirty and
must be hidden away.
If Mike paid for sex with a male prostitute, then he will have
to face the consequences of that action with his employer. But
he does not deserve to be treated as an outcast from the gay
community. We, you and I, have no basis on which to judge or
condemn him. He is a member of the gay men’s community.
Let us not do as so often is done: Let us not shoot our wounded.
Rather let us draw near and extend a hand and a heart that offers
compassion and comfort to one who is hurting.
A rson strikes a local church;
Oregon F reedom to M arry’
holds a Ju ly sum m it; the
low dow n on P ortland Pride
(pp. 11-17)
COLUM NS
Venturing out
Sasha A ly so n 's travel tips
w ill p o in t you
in the right direction
(P- 31)
Stonewall baby
1969: the birth o f
a m ovem ent, the birth o f
a colum nist
(p. 32)
Amazon trail
The dem ise o f a '76 Volvo
spells car trouble
(p. 33)
ARTS
Books
A lan H elm s tells
tales o f the gay high life in
N ew York; an excerpt fro m
R eviving the T ribe
(PP- 27-28)
Cinema
A bevy o f qu eer film s jo ck ey
a t the starting gate o f sum m er
(p. 29)
Theater
Shakespeare reigns this
season a t O SF
(P- 30)