4. 1M6 ▼ 3
To P lan Y our
tters
Nader is no friend
T o the Editor:
In his letter to the editor [Just Out, Sept. 20,
1996], John B aiker attacked most O regon D em o
cratic m em bers o f C ongress and President Clinton
for their pro-D O M A positions, and he advised
gay/lesbian/bisexual voters to support Ralph
Nader.
I hope your readers will also see the article “ It
isn’t easy being G reen” in the Oct. I issue o f The
Advocate. It seem s that Ralph N ader is not sup
portive o f hom osexual rights. He refuses to ac
cept and to endorse the strong pro-gay plank in his
ow n party’s platform , and he refuses to answ er
questions about gay marriage. This is our “friend”?
A “protest” vote for N ader (or other m inor
party candidates) could have the sam e result in the
national elections that it had in the 1994 C alifor
nia race for secretary o f state, in which G reen
Party votes prevented the election o f an openly
gay D em ocratic candidate.
C linton is certainly preferable to Dole! L et’s
not help elect conservative R epublicans in som e
kind o f protest against C linton’s or any Democrat ’ s
D O M A action or any other position regarding the
so-called “gay agenda.” W e are m uch better o ff
with office holders w ho have actively supported
us— even if not all o f the time.
Lyle M. Tucker
Lake Oswego
There are no coincidences
T o the Editor:
In her criticism o f O regon’s recent state-sanc
tioned m urder o f D ouglas Franklin W right, Deni
Starr asked: “Is it a coincidence that a m an thought
to be a hom osexual was the first to die?”
The answ er is, no.
On Jan. 4, 1994, W ashington State’s first
execution in nearly three decades was that o f
W estley A llan Dodd. D odd, Just Out readers may
recall, was the V ancouver man convicted o f the
1989 rape and m urder o f 4-year-old Lee Iseli.
M argaret D eirdre O ’Hartigan
Portland
There’s Quakers, and then
there’s Quakers
To the Editor:
Recent issues o f Just Out contained articles
giving positive press to the open-m indedness and
acceptance o f the queer com m unity by the Q uaker
church. Before your readers rush out and join the
nearest Q uaker church, this lesbian bom unto a
fourth-generation Q uaker fam ily from Newberg
feels com pelled to clarify a couple o f items.
First, there are two very different versions o f
Quaker. O ne is the m ore open and accepting
(w hat was called the “East C oast,” or Friends
Service C om m ittee, faction). The only M eeting
in Oregon that I ’m aw are o f as representing this
“earlier” form o f the church is located on South
east Stark Street in Portland.
The other form o f Q uaker is com posed o f the
Friends churches in the N orthw est Yearly M eet
ing. These include entities such as G eorge Fox
College, R eedw ood Friends Church, W est Hills
F rien d s, T ig ard F rien d s, N ew berg F riends,
Sherw ood Friends, etc. In the m id-’70s, the N orth
west Yearly M eeting declared hom osexuality to
be against the teachings o f the church. The Yearly
M eeting has not changed its stance. This is a very
conservative group ideologically sim ilar to the
Foursquare C hurch or the most conservative Bap
tist church. G row ing up queer in this church and
com m unity, I observed not only disdain for ho
m osexuals, but also incredible sexism and all the
usual forms o f fear and intolerance.
Surely there are individuals w ithin the Friends
church who are truly open and accepting. How I
wish I had met one in the 20 years I lived within
the confines o f that church. Q uaker teachings
may offer som e im portant m essages, but the
Friends church fails to im part them. And it fails to
support its queer children.
Joyce Mills
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Thanks for the memories
To the Editor:
I want to take this opportunity as I finish the
last few weeks o f my reign to thank the gay
com m unity for the best year o f my life.
A lot o f you have asked me if I would do it all
over, or if it was worth it. Yes, but I find m yself
feeling a little melancholy. This year has gone by
too fast, and I have so many things I want to do.
But it has been worth the time, tears and money.
W e’ve done a lot this year to bring the Rose Court
back into all o f our gay bars and organizations.
M y hope is that this is a new beginning. W e have
raised more m oney for charity than ever before.
W e have tried a lot o f new things; some worked,
some did not, but we made the effort. It is nice to
see all o f us w orking together again as a com m u
nity. Some said I ventured where angels feared to
go. W hat can I say? I love a challenge.
A fter this year I am convinced that Portland’s
gay, lesbian, bi and transgendered com m unity is
more than alive and well; they also care. Thank
you to all the bars for your hard work and support.
I have heard through the grapevine that you would
like me to stay on another term. That is very
sweet, and believe me, I would if I could! I still
believe that anyone could buy a crow n or m edal
lion, but it takes work to represent a city. W hen
one person struggles to dig out o f gay oppression,
separatism and apathy, they lift the whole com
m unity with them.
Thank you, Portland, for kind words, gifts,
laughs and hugs. I am proud to have served as
your 38th empress. The colors may fade, but the
m em ories never will.
A p ro u d m em ber o f the co m m u n ity
f o r more than 2 6 years
RICHARD C. LEVY
Vice President
Associate Broker
4445 SW Barbur Blvd.
Portland, OR 97201
(503) 222-3807
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