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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 16, 1996)
ju s t o u t T a u g u s t 1 6 , 1 9 9 6 ▼ 3 letters Even queers can screw up To the Editor: Mike Garvey allegedly broke the law. When evidence surfaced, investigations were com menced both internally by the Portland Police Bureau and by the district attorney’s office. Many of us read the reports with great interest. It’s not a happy moment when a member of our community has his laundry hung out to dry in public. It’s painful and it’s sad and it goes to show that, yes, Virginia, even queers can screw up. Methinks Roy Cole is way off base [“An uncomfortable silence,” Just Out, July 5,1996] in his scathing denouncement of the gay community if he thinks that we’re going to get up in arms at this point in the process. First of all, these are allegations, hardly a Rodney King verdict. Just exactly what would you like to see us do, Roy? March down to police headquafters and make complete asses out of ourselves before the facts from the investigation are made public? No thanks. We did that before. Remember Azalea Cooley? Has anyone asked Garvey what he wants? Considering his position and connections within the legal community, I’m quite sure he has hired what he feels is very capable counsel to handle his affairs. Has he come forward to ask the gay community for our support? It’s news to me if he has. Regarding Cole’s convoluted logic regarding his perception of gay courting habits, all I can say is, “Let’s talk, Roy.” Inviting another person out to dinner and to a movie is hardly in the same ballpark as hiring a prostitute—at least in the world I live in. If I count my movie ticket stubs against the number of times they’ve led to a sexual encounter, I’d say it’s probably not the most cost-effective way to get laid. If having sex was the only thing I was interested in, then hiring a call boy would probably pay off a lot quicker. However, the last I heard prostitution is illegal, and when you do illegal things you sometimes get in trouble. Remember Ben Merrill? If the issue of unrestricted access to prostitu tion is what’s on your agenda I suggest you take a trip to Amsterdam. It’s legal there, and you’re sure to get what you want—at a rate that’s much less than what you probably spend calling 976 numbers. Oh, yes, one more thing, Roy. Why don’t you ask Just Out why we haven’t heard any ink spilling onto paper to cover this issue? On this point we do agree: “the silence convicts us of our ambivalence.” David Diehnel Portland Editor’s note: See the June 21,1996, issue fo r our report on the Garvey story. Sexual consumers have rights, too To the Editor: Please forgive me if I rant for just a moment about your July 19 guest editorial. Please don’t mistake my disagreement with it as a suggestion that I found running it inappropriate. Our job, as journalists, is to entertain, educate, sometimes to amuse, but whenever possible, to make people think. Every time I read or hear something from the Council for Prostitution Alternatives I get ex cited, hoping it will be something I can support. But every time I process their words I just wind up being pissed off. Not content to discuss a topic that presumably they know at least a little about (prostitution), they have to start pontificating about things they know nothing about. "We are told,” they say, “that dancing naked on stage or on top of tables in bars full of clothed men is liberating.” Then they add some unrelated comments about the media’s misrepresentation of gay people. And then comes the most ironic statement of their editorial: “Let’s stop buying into oppressive stereotypes.” Amen to that. But it’s easier to preach than it is to practice. But I agree: Let’s stop buying into the stereo type that whenever a woman removes her clothes she instantly becomes a victim and any men in her proximity immediately become predators. Let’s stop buying into the idea that starring in an adult movie is a clear sign of mental dysfunction or coercion. Let’s stop stripping sexuality and self- determination away from those who’ve got the guts to do what we’d never do. Let’s stop buying into the lie that it’s wrong to get turned on looking at another person unless we’re going to marry them. Jill Simons and Paddy Lazar want to make the world of sex out to be one of the predator and the prey ..They fail to understand that not everyone expresses their sexuality in the same way. They do not want to see that the legal adult [sex] industry is far different from what it has been and from what Simons and Lazar’s Dworkin-like hal lucinations would have us believe it to be. Many women (and men, as well) do find exotic dancing to be liberating. Some do it to pay the bills, some because they get to work with their friends. And, tragically, there are sick, addicted and confused men and women working as well— just as there are in all segments of our society. These people need help, but destroying an indus try just because someone’s on a moral crusade won’t help anyone. We need more rights, not fewer. And that means rights for sexual consum ers as well as sex workers. By the way, if you like to read, write or perform sexually explicit material, your right to continue doing so legally is at risk. In November, Just Out readers can join me in telling censors what we think of them while continuing to extend the free-speech protections we deserve by voting No on 31.1’m a big girl and I can make up my own mind. I believe other Oregonians are just as ca pable. M edical Malpractice & Personal Injury A tto rn e y Free Consultation No Fee Unless You Recover 295-1940 Hala Gores In teg rity , E x p e r ie n c e & 12th Floor, 621 SW Morrison R e s u lts Beaverton 646-3824 4000 SW 117th Corbett 244-3934 5909 SW Corbett Division 233-7374 3016 SE Division Fremont 288-3414 3449 NE 24th Hillsdale 244-3110 6344 SW Capitol Highway Marketplace at Mill Plain (360) 695-8878 8024 E. Mill Plain Vancouver, WA Theresa A. Reed, Editor Exotic Magazine Gross generalization To the Editor: Having read the recent guest editorial [“An other oppression,” Just Out, July 19,1996] I take umbrage at the self righteous tone. First of all, people have been enjoying the freedom to buy and sell sex for thousands of years (biblically speak ing, it’s the oldest profession). Now while I staunchly deplore the use and abuse of minors by adults for any reason, what goes on between consenting adults is both a right and a privilege of all of us. This pleasure may include a variety of expressions— watching a video, consensual sex, masturbation, etc.— and it may involve money exchanging hands. My point is, what adults do is both the adults’ responsibility and privilege. If adults decide to sell sexual pleasures, it is their right. If adults feel “oppressed” by this, they are responsible to change their situation. Perhaps the real problem is alcohol/drug abuse, which also is often a part of prostitution. The solution seems to be alcohol/drug abuse prevention, not prevention of prostitution or pornography. Also, I take serious offense at the naming of It’s My Pleasure as a shop that is "perpetuating a myth and colluding with homophobia, violence, sexism and young people’s oppression.” It’s My Pleasure does not allow people under 18 to shop in the separate adults-only room, nor are there videos for sale or rent that portray youth in a “pornographic” or sexually explicit manner. The singling out of one shop that has done a tremen dous amount of good in our gay, lesbian, transgendered community for many years and Exotic Home Furnishings l 3 T • • • • • O Íí J j ! il g®(R A 'm Frien d ly Sales Fle e t Prices Huge Inventory Exc e lle n t Service Good A d vice mmz X A x/ {£ "tfour friendin tke auto industry e have just uncrated our most recent finds from India & Nepal. It’s worth the trip. N ew 8 Used C ars & Trucks M M Vans 8 Spurt Utilities 503 - 226-0006 1 - 800 - 527-7542 120 NW 23rd Ave • 228-4388 Open Mon-Sat 10:30-6 Sun 12-5