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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 20, 1996)
2 ▼ S e p te m b e r 2 0, 1996 ▼ ju s t out just out sin c e 1983 PUBLISHER A N D EDITOR steppin’ out contents VOL 13 NO. 22 SEPTEMBER 20,1996 Renée LaChance ASSISTANT PUBUSHER Ten Ventura FEATURE COPY EDITOR Kelly M. Bryan REPORTERS Homo hoe down Inga Sorensen Bob Roehr Rex Wockner C ountry w estern dancing is fu n , g o o d excercise, a n d it can m end a broken heart CALENDAR EDITOR (P- 19) Kristine Chat wood PHOTOGRAPHER Linda Kliewer DEPARTMENTS ADVERTISING DIRECTOR World news Meg Grace Ireland proposes national E m ploym ent E quity Bill ADVERTISING REPS C. Jay Wilson Jr. Marty Davis (p. 4) CREATIVE DIRECTOR E. Ann Hinds National news GRAPHIC DESIGN N ational gay a n d lesbian jo u rn a lists convention draw s 500; D O M A passes, ENDA fa ils in Senate (PP- 5-10) Rupert Kinnard FORMATTER Christopher D. Cuttone Lesbian Avengers in action at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago TYPESETTER Christopher D. Cuttone DISTRIBUTION Kathy Bethel Rachel Ebora Darla Moyer-Sims Donald Rogers Megan Weber CONTRIBUTORS Kristine Chatwood Christopher D. Cuttone Andy Mangels Jeffrey L. Newman Richard Shumate Daniel Vaillancourt Ju st o u t is published on the first and th ird F rid ay of each m o n th . Copyright © 1996 by fust o u t No part of Just out may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher T he subm ission of w ritte n an d g rap h ic m a te ria ls is w elcom ed. W ritten m aterial should be typed and double-spaced Just out reserves the right to edit for gram m ar, punctuation, style, liability concerns and length We will reject or edit articles or advertisements that are offensive, demeaning or may result in legal action J u s t o u t consults the Associated Press Stylehook and Libel Manual on editorial decisions. le tte rs 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. 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O ur e-m ail address is JustOut2@aol com guest editorial A primitive solution Why do people think that the more people we kill , the more problems we solve? Local news O regon attorney g e n e ra l’s office opts to appeal dom estic partnership benefits ruling; Salvation A rm y ch a rg ed with anti-gay bias; m otive f o r arson that destroyed lesbians ’ hom e is still unknow n (pp. 11-17) T by Deni Starr he same day that we, the people of the state of Oregon, killed Douglas Franklin Wright, I read about the slaughter in Rwanda. A million people were murdered in Rwanda in 1993, most of them hacked to death with machetes by their neighbors. Rwanda is not unique. Such genocide is still going on in Bosnia and Iraq. Genocide—the murder of Jewish people by Nazis, Armenians by Turks, Tutsis by Hutus, Kurds by Iraqis, indigenous people of the Americas by Europeans— is not limited by time, geography, race or level of technological development. Genocide is always sanctioned by the governing powers. We in the United States look at Bosnia, Rwanda, Kurdistan, and say it cannot happen here. The fact is, it has already happened here. Ask Native Americans about Camp Grant, Sand Creek and Wounded Knee. Most people believe that killing other people can solve problems. Most of the people who supported the execution of Douglas Franklin Wright believed that killing him solved problems— it certainly keeps him from killing anyone else. But along with that doctrine comes its logical, inevitable, horrify ing sequel: If killing people solves problems, then the more people we kill, the more problems we will solve. Do people in this country really believe that? Consider the fact that recently our Democratic president and Republican Congress changed the law so that instead of three federal crimes being punishable by death, over 60 federal crimes are now punishable by death. The more people we kill, the more problems we will solve. Pat Buchanan and Lon Mabon have declared a “cultural war” on members of the queer communities. Buchanan chal lenged people in the United States to “take our country back, block by block.” From whom? Members of both parties in Congress voted to prevent members of the queer community from being able to marry by passing the Defense of Marriage Act. The message being sent to the populace is that “these people” are a threat to us, and we must defend ourselves. Members of the sexual minorities community, welfare mothers, immigrants— both legal and illegal— are being tar geted by politicians as the source of our country’s ills. There is no reason to believe that immigrants cause problems in this country, Fiscal analysis shows that those who come to our country illegally pay more in taxes than they consume in social programs. This fact did not stop Californians from passing laws to punish them. It is the nature of politicians to scapegoat. It works. We, the people, buy into these beliefs. There is no evidence that welfare mothers or immigrants have any significant impact on the economy, or that gay men and lesbians have anything to do with the perceived disintegration of marriage. But that hasn’t stopped anyone from casting blame. Increasingly, our country is being polarized: The rich are becoming richer, the poor are becoming poorer. Our “leaders” are trying to win our votes by passing laws that punish the unpopular. And now in Oregon, with the killing of Douglas Franklin Wright, we have embraced the concept that killing people solves problems. There are many men on death row in Oregon who killed women, but Wright— who killed men and who molested little boys and who is thus perceived as homosexual— is dead and the “heterosexual” killers are not. Is it a coincidence that a man thought to be a homosexual was the First to die? The more people we kill, the more problems we’ll solve. Where is this belief taking us? More important, is that where we want to go? Deni Starr is an attorney in private practice in Portland. Guest editorials are always welcome, please limit size to 500 words. ARTS Music Free a t last: N eil Tennant fe s se s up; country singer D oug Stevens storm s N a sh v ille ’s “no gays ” policy (pp. 31-33) Books Two lesbian m om s pen a guidebook f o r q u eer youth (p. 35) Theater Say it isn 7 so: D oes the m agic o f G rease work only on cellu lo id ? (p. 36) Entertainment O PB airs fifth season o f In the Life in an ea rlier tim e slot; th e r e ’s still tim e to celebrate the uncensored (p. 37)