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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
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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)