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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1996)
2 ▼ n o ve m b « r 1, 1 9 9 0 ▼ Ju st out just out s in c e steppin’ out 1 983 PUBLISHER AND EDITOR contents VOL 14 NO. 1 NOVEMBER 1,1996 Renée LaChance ASSISTANT PUBUSHER FEATURE Ten Ventura COPY EDITOR Kelly M. Bryan Vote on it REPORTERS Just Out’s endorsements fo r Nov. 5 reprised Inga Sorensen Bob Roehr Rex Wockner (p. 19) CALENDAR EDITOR DEPARTMENTS Kristine Chatwood PHOTOGRAPHER World news Linda Kliewer Portugal’s Socialist government won ’t offer gays discrimination protections, but Lisbon’s City Hall cosponsors a queer film fest ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Meg Grace ADVERTISING REPS C. Jay Wilson Jr. Marty Davis (P- 4) National news CREATIVE DIRECTOR FORMATTER Nine years later the AIDS Memorial Quilt returns to the National Mall; Ralph Nader refuses to be pinned down on “social-relation" issues Christopher D. Cuttone (pp. 5-11) E. Ann Hinds GRAPHIC DESIGN Rupert Kinnard TYPESETTER Christopher D. Cuttone DISTRIBUTION Kathy Bethel Rachel Ebora Darla Moyer-Sims Donald Rogers Megan Weber CONTRIBUTORS Kelly M. Bryan Christopher D. Cuttone Rachel Ebora Lee Lynch Andy Mangels Will O ’Bryan C. Jay Wilson Jr. ju s t u u t is published on the first and third Friday of each m onth. Copyright © 19% by ju s t o u t No pari of ju s t o u t may he reproduced without written permission from the publisher. The subm ission o f w ritten and graphic m aterials is w elcom ed. W ritten m aterial should be typed and double-spaced, ju s t ou t 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, ju s t SUt consults the Associated Press Styiebook and Libel M anual on editorial decisions. letters to the editor should he limited to 500 words Deadline for submissions to the editonal 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 ad vertising deadline is the Monday after the first and third Friday for the next issue. Classified ads must be received at the ju a t o u t office by 3 pm the Monday after the first and third Friday for the next issue, along with paym ent. Ads will not be taken over the telephone Ad policy No sexually exploitative advertising will he accepted Compensation for errors in. or cancellation of. advertising will be made with credit toward future advertising. Subscriptions to ju s t o u t are available for $17.50 for 12 issues. First Class (in an envelope) is $30 for 12 issues A copy ot ju s t o u t is available for $2. Advertising rates are available on request The m ailing address and telephone numbers for ju s t o u t 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. Local news guest editorial Rising violence on Stark Street brings increased police patrols and public concern; Donna Red Wing says goodbye to GLAAD (pp. 12-15) The elep han t's secret The increasing number of out gay Republicans raises questions of hypocrisy within the party by Marvin Liebman generate enormous quantities of direct mail that year helped ntent on declaring the immorality of homosexuality, and Republicans begin to recover from the Watergate debacle. In on casting the GOP as a bulwark against the ever- 1980, he helped staunch anti-communists sweep the fall elec encroaching “gay agenda,” religious conservatives and tions, putting conservatives in control of the U.S. Senate and others in the party of Lincoln may well be confused and Ronald Reagan in the White House. frustrated by what has become a steady stream of Repub lican comings out. The past few months alone have brought But with the waning of the Cold War, Republicans saw their party’s glue dissolving and had to find another sticky mixture disclosures from Arizona congressman Jim Kolbe and GOP to fill the fissures in their ranks. Their choice, as America and super-strategist Arthur Finkelstein. Who’s next? And when? the AIDS crisis that so many of its citizens still dreaded entered Even as the pool deepens, the revelations raise questions far the 1990s, soon became apparent in a cascade of anti-gay beyond the lives of both men. The main one involves integrity. campaigns. For while Republicans hit Bill Clinton over alleged ethical My quarrel is not with individual gay people active in right- lapses, the rising tide of open homosexuality in GOP circles wing politics. Living in the closet, turning a deaf ear to anti-gay begs the question of whether many Republican leaders are jokes and diatribes, even consorting with and advising anti-gay plagued by hypocrisy. politicians are a Faustian bargain anyone is free to make. I I have known both Kolbe and Finkelstein for many years cannot respect it, but I can accept that it’s all around us. and can vouch for their conservative credentials and their My quarrel lies with those who exploit gay people’s talents, homosexuality. I first met Jim Kolbe in the early ’60s when he aware of the gay people working in their midst while inveighing was a crew-cut young conservative serving on the national board of Young Americans for Freedom, an organization I against their “sin,” “immorality,” and the bogeyman of “special rights.” helped start after the 1960 GOP convention. I met Arthur in This includes Bob Dole. During the Oct. 16 presidential 1976, when he worked alongside me on Jim Buckley’s ill-fated debate, his invocation of “special rights” and “lifestyle” in campaign for re-election to the U.S. Senate in New York. response to queries from the travel agent and the lesbian In their recent disclosures, both men acceded to their clos minister was an insult. If the threat of discrimination were not ets’ being breached more than throwing open the doors them a reality, warranting policies to outlaw it, why did Dole himself selves. Jim Kolbe came out in August under some pressure give it credence elsewhere in his answer? from gay publications. After an illuminating profile in October’s In relying on the professional and volunteer help of gay Boston magazine. Arthur, a strategist for Sen. Jesse Helms, people, either in the war room or the family room, Bob Dole is among other leading gay-rights foes, has not denied his homo not alone. Many other Republicans, including Newt Gingrich sexuality. and Phyllis Schlafly, have close gay relatives— and the cross of Some in the GOP may ask, “So what if there are gay anti-gay politics to bear. Like the elephants, whose likenesses conservatives?” J in and Arthur’s sexual orientations have festoon their lapels, they may not actually forget this fact. They nothing whatsoever to do with their talents as a legislator and may simply keep it in its own compartment, ignoring its political strategist, respectively. On the surface, I would agree. implications on their claims to family values and out of the light Anybody seeing Arthur at work on Buckley’s 1976 bid would of day. have been impressed. His talent in using computers to poll and I COLUMNS Amazon trail The parallels between the elections and Halloween are spooky! (P- 28) Stonewall baby Waiting for HIV test results awakens old paranoia (p. 29) ARTS Theater Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women portrays a woman who has lost her way (p. 24) Cinema The Northwest Film and Video Festival is a banquet fo r the eye and mind (P- 25) Music Singer Geoff Thompson strikes out on his own (p. 27) Tongue in groove Bigotry is clouding Portland’s queer dance club scene (p. 30)