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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 1997)
ju s t o u t ▼ fob ru ary 7 , 1 9 0 7 ▼ 3 just out s in c e 1 9 8 3 PUBLISHER AND EDITOR Renée LaChance steppin’ out contents VOL 14 NO. 7 FEBRUARY 7,1997 COPY EDITOR Kelly M. Bryan FEATURES REPORTERS Inga Sorensen Bob Roehr Rex Wockner Making the way PHOTOGRAPHER Heroes in the passionate adherence to their hearts and goals, three gay African Americans set beacons fo r others to follow Linda Kliewer (p. 19) OFFICE MANAGER This thing called love CALENDAR EDITOR Kristine Chatwood Dating and coupledom: Finding a soulmate is hard enough, but when you do— what do you call him or her? Cory Murphy ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Meg Grace (pp. 20-21) ADVERTISING REPS C. Jay Wilson Jr. Marty Davis DEPARTMENTS CREATIVE DIRECTOR World news E. Ann Hinds GRAPHIC DESIGN New Zealand public TV airs gay parade coverage nationwide Rupert Kinnard (p. 5) FORMATTER National news Christopher D. Cuttone TYPESETTER Christopher D. Cuttone DISTRIBUTION Kathy Bethel Rachel Ebora Darla Moyer-Sims Donald Rogers Megan Weber CONTRIBUTORS Christopher D. Cuttone Rachel Ebora Michael Thomas Ford Lee Lynch Will O’Bryan Gip Plaster Dale Reynolds Daniel Vaillancourt C. Jay Wilson Jr. just SUt is published on the first and third Friday of each month. Copyright 6 1997 hy just s u t No pan o! just out may be reproduced without wntten permission from the publisher. The subm ission o f written and graphic materials is welcomed. Written material should he typed and double-spaced ju st out reserves the right to edit for grammar, punctuation, style, liability concerns and length. We will reject or edit articles or advertisem ents that arc offensive, demeaning or may result in legal action, ju s t out consults the Associated Press Stylehook and Libel Manual on editorial decisions. Letters to the editor should he limited to 500 words Deadline for submissions to the editorial department and for (he Calendar is the Thursday before the first and third Friday for the next issue. Views expressed in letters to the editor, columns and features arc not necessarily those o f the publisher. The display advertising deadline is the Monday after the first and third Friday for the next issue. Classified ads must he received at the ju s t out office hy 3 pm the Monday after the first and third Friday for the next issue, along with payment. 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 Just out arc available for $17.30 for 12 issues. First G ass (in an envelope) is $30 for 12 issues. A copy of ju s t o u t is available for $2. Advertising rates arc available on request. The mailing address and telephone numbers for Just out arc 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 iustOut2(<faolcom editorial Say it isn't so A tireless lesbian activist makes a startling revelation that will rock the lesbian community T by Renee LaChance A study indicates that in utero exposure to AZT may cause increased risk fo r cancer; the DEA will investigate the effects o f medical marijuana use (pp. 6-9) Local news MHRC releases the findings o f its sexual minority youth task force; Lannv Swerdlow returns (PP- 10-17) COLUMNS Stonewall baby A Valentine fo r the girl who saved a gay boy’s reputation (p. 33) or the past seven years, through my company Sea to her. “JoAnn Loulan, the guru of lesbian sex,” I called her. Turtle Productions,! have been bringing JoAnnLoulan Imagine my surprise when I received a letter from her to Portland to talk about lesbian sex. Over the years recently informing me that she has fallen in love with a man and she has made us laugh and made us cry. 1 never knew begun a relationship with him. He is someone she has known what she was going to do on stage next. One minute for 29 years, a member of her extended family. If it hadn’t come she’d be seriously discussing safer sex or cancer, and the straight next (no pun intended) from her, 1 wouldn’t have believed she’d be parading a member of the audience across the stage it. She said she had given a great deal of thought to whether to trying to establish by looks alone whether the woman was butch nurture her new connection, and the conclusion she came to or femme. after much soul searching was that this man is who she loves Loulan is a nationally known psychotherapist and sex and who she wants to be with right now. educator. She has lived her life debunking the myths about Over the years rumors that Loulan had slept with men would lesbians that are perpetuated by homophobia, and has simulta pop up, and she would publicly dispel them. She would be neously validated lesbian lives. She is the author of several incensed at the thought. Loulan had been out and loving women lesbian primers that hundreds of thousands of women have for 22 years. Now those rumors seem like a premonition. turned to, including Lesbian Sex, Lesbian Passion and Lesbian In her letter she told me she was anxious about how lesbians Erotic Dance. would perceive her now. She still feels like a lesbian, but she’s Loulan has enhanced the sex life of a great number of dating a man. She doesn’t feel like a bisexual, though her lesbians without actually touching any of them (well, only a actions seem to best fit that label. She doesn’t feel like a few). She conducts workshops and has made video and audio heterosexual because being a lesbian has been her life, her cassettes imploring lesbians to have sex, to make it fun, to make culture, her world. "Can one be culturally lesbian while in a it intimate, to do it safe, and above all to make it a priority in monogamous sexual relationship with a man?” she pondered. their relationships. I care about JoAnn, she has become a friend over the years. Loulan gave us the 10-point butch-femme continuum to My first response was shock, sadness and disbelief. That give us some reference points to define ourselves. She has quickly turned to concern for her and the potential repercus conducted surveys and done analysis of the lesbian community sions she could face from our community. I imagine some will that has given us a vocabulary for and a window onto all the feel betrayed, some will be stunned and hurt, and some will be wonders that we are. As a representative of lesbians Loulan has accepting of her following her heart. been a frequent talk-show guest, appearing on The Oprah My hope is that as this news circulates, people will remem Winfrey Show and Donahue. She has lectured at medical ber all that Loulan has done for lesbian equality and visibility schools, served on national lesbian boards, attended political over the past 20-plus years. My hope is that she won’t be judged marches. She has been a tireless advocate for lesbian rights and harshly for falling in love with a person— not a gender. And visibility. while I wish Loulan all the happiness she can have in her Personally, Loulan has been a role model for me in estab lifetime, I can’t help but hope that her new relationship won’t lishing my attitudes about sex and intimacy. I have looked up last forever and that she’ll again fall in love with a woman. F Amazon trail Mother Nature shows her stuff (p. 34) ARTS Interview Eartha Kitt purrs about the good life (P- 27) Books A new biography o f lesbian theater pioneer Eva Le Gallienne (p. 29) Theater Lost in Yonkers threatens to get heavy on you (p. 30) Entertainment The fifth Queer Film Festival opens Feb. 15 in Eugene (P- 31) Tongue in groove Michael Callen s legacy is captured on CD (p. 32)