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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (July 19, 1996)
2 ▼ ju ly 1 9 . 1 9 9 6 ▼ jus« o u t just out s in c e 1 9 8 3 stepp in’ out PUBLISHER AND EDITOR contents Renée LaChance VOL. 13 NO. 18 JULY 19, 1996 ASSISTANT PUBUSHER Ten Ventura FEATURES COPY EDITOR Kelly M. Bryan Dykes and bikes REPORTERS STPers converge on a lesbian-owned RV park Inga Sorensen Bob Roehr Rex Wockner (P- A new attitude CALENDAR EDITOR Portland Men & Masculinity Conference challenges cultural barriers Kristine Chatwood PHOTOGRAPHER Linda Kliewer (P- Meg Grace ADVERTISING REPS Put down that lawn mower and hearken back to the true purpose o f summer C. Jay Wilson Jr. Marty Davis (p. 17) CREATIVE DIRECTOR E. Ann Hinds DEPARTMENTS GRAPHIC DESIGN Rupert Kinnard Christopher Cuttone TYPESETTER guest editorial Christopher Cuttone DISTRIBUTION Another oppression CONTRIBUTORS There is more to prostitution than sexual freedom and convenience, namely homophobia, sexism and violence Just out is published on the first and third Friday of each month. Copyright © 19% by Just out No part ot Just out may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. The submission of written and graphic m aterials 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 advertisem ents that are offensive, demeaning or may result in legal action. Just out consults the Associated Press Stylehook and Libel Manual 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 display advertising 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 Just out is available for $2. Advertising rates are available on request. The m ailing ad d ress and telephone numbers 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. World news Taiwan debuts a daily gay and lesbian radio show (p. 5) National news Ambling Bear Rachel Ebora Helen Ford Joyce Batten Kristine Chatwood Cathay Che Christopher Cuttone Rachel Ebora Christopher Kamera Lee Lynch 15) Summer readers, some are not ADVERTISING DIRECTOR FORMATTER 13) v by Jill Simons and Paddy Lazar e’d like to address another core issue besides the homophobia regarding the incident in volving Cmdr. Mike Garvey: the issue of prostitution in our queer community. In his July 5 guest editorial regarding Garvey in Just Out, the Rev. Roy A. Cole of Portland Metro politan Community Church asked, “[I]f 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?” Our question is, “How can we allow the exploitation and violence that is inherent in the nature of prostitution to happen to one segment of our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community?” It is understandable that there is a lot of confusion. We are constantly bombarded by the media with images of women and men “choosing” lives on the street, in clubs or massage parlors. We are told they make big money, live well and enjoy their “jobs” of giving 10 blow jobs a day and having sex with strangers in the back of cars, in alleyways or motel rooms. We are told that dancing naked on stage or on top of tables in bars full of clothed men is liberating. Of course, the media also portray queer people as psychopaths, murderers, vampires; as lonely, unhappy, confused. Let’s stop buying into oppressive stereotypes. Nothing about being in the life of prostitution is glamorous. To begin with, the average age of entering prostitution in the United States is 13. We have repeatedly heard stories from prostituted youth of being molested and physically and/or emotionally abused at home. (We realize that this is not everyone’s story.) Add in homophobia and coming out as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered and it makes sense why so many queer teenagers see suicide as their only way out. Some young queer people courageously decide to get free from their families, or they get thrown out. But where can they go? Imagine being a young person with no home, no money, no job, no high school diploma, and internalized messages about your lack of worth. What are the options? Inevitably, some young people end up in prostitution. To them it might look like “survival sex” that gives them a place to stay or food to eat. Often young boys get “mentored” by older gay men who take them under their wings, exchanging shelter and other basic needs for sex. This becomes a rite of passage into the gay men’s community. It is one of the many forms of prostitution. It is bad enough that young people end up living on the streets. It is even worse when we retell their life stories of abuse by living out our fantasies and “needs” on them for the exchange of money. A majority of people experience multiple rapes, beatings, torture, kidnappings and sometimes murder in lives of prostitution. After all, as johns/janes we pay them to do what ever we want. Isn’t that how it’s justified? Sex for the big bucks. Then why is it that studies show that 93 percent of prosti tuted people have experienced homelessness? Although a million dollars a week is being spent on prostitution and pornography in Portland, survivors of prostitution are not making the profit. The hurting of our brothers and sisters has got to stop. It stops by us remembering that the men and women being used in prostitution are not enjoying it. When men in our community spend money at Fantasy Video and other pom shops after the bars close, and when women stop off at It’s My Pleasure to pick up a lesbian pom video for the weekend, we are perpetuating a myth and colluding with homophobia, violence, sexism and young people’s oppression. Prostitution is not an identity. It is the lack of, the theft of one’s identity. Prostituted men and women are treated as blank screens on which sexual fantasies are projected. And these sexual fantasies become the dismal reality of the person ex ploited in prostitution. It has to stop. Let’s spend our money on creating resources for young people leaving home. Let’s find a different way to orgasm than off the backs of prostituted people and be account able to every person in our community. Jill Simons and Paddy Lazar are advocate counselors at the Council fo r Prostitution Alternatives. For information and referrals, call 223-4670. Savor the first year since 1992 that is free from anti-gay ballot measures nationwide (pp. 6-7) Local news U.S. Reps. Furse and Blumenauer tell the crowd at the RTP Garden Party why they voted for DOM A (pp. 8-9) COLUMNS Profile Gay historian Allan Berube gets Mac Arthur Fellowship; queer pioneer Harry Hay brings his radical ideas to Portland (pp. 10-11) ARTS Visual arts “Straight Shooting ’96 ” gives a youth 's-eye view (p. 26) Theater Damn Yankees is devilish fun (p. 27) Cinema Striptease is a film with a split personality—and they don’t get along (p. 28) Tongue in groove Cibo Matto: Eat it up! (p. 29)