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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (March 21, 1997)
ju st o u t ▼ m arch 2 1 . 1 9 9 7 ▼ 3 The Community’s Home Loan Resource V IE W F R O M H E R E ► New purchase ► Refinance/cash out ► 100% equity loans ► Pre-approved loans ► Pre-qualification by phone or fax Student teachers ► Residential, commercial & investment property ► Appointments at your convenience Once again college campuses are pointing the culture toward change ** I ’m available when you are! ” Office 297-9900 780-1561 A A A MORTGAGE Æ fir à Advocates by Patricia Nell Warren espite controversy— indeed, because of it— the 6th annual Southeastern Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual College C onference just stam ped its fiery lambda on Bible-belt sensibility. Site this year: Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. Big lesson o f the weekend: Anti gay hate can spark a powerful reaction among fair-minded straight youth and adults. Over 300 students came from every state in the region, for the biggest turnout yet. Co-chairs Allie Sultan and Michael Grantham titled the gathering “And Liberty for A ll.” Three days, Feb. 14-16, were packed with workshops, networking, a re source fair, a coffeehouse, on-line chats, book signings, a fund-raising reception, a banquet and a dance, plus an open meeting to discuss what campus will host the ’98 gathering. A hardworking volunteer corps from M TSU ’s Lambda Associa tion supported the co-chairs throughout. A preconference blast o f hate e-mail, death threats, sulfurous sermons and edged editorials had fizzled by opening day. The student organiz ers simply publicized threats to the media. Thanks D film finished to loud applause from the packed auditorium. Keynote speeches came from Torie Osborne, Lynn Shepodd, Paul Yandurra and myself. David Mixner, also scheduled to speak, got caught in airline-strike snarls and was unable to reach Murfreesboro. M ainstream media— local press, CBS and NBC affiliates— gave this historic conference the notice it deserved. The campus TV station pro vided positive coverage. Unfortunately, major gay news media were absent. But regional com munity publications, including Xenogeny, did support “Liberty” with enthusiasm. Allie Sultan told me: “ I have received dozens o f e-mail messages since Sunday. People have already started to become more active in the South.... On Saturday I’m going to Asheville, N.C., to be at a joint meeting with three college LGB groups from the area. [I’ve been] talking with some heterosexual people in my classes...it gives me a new, different sense of happiness to be accessible for heterosexual people as well as the gay community here at M TSU!” Colleen Weed 9 9 0 0 S. W. W ilshire Street • Portland, Oregon 9 7 2 2 5 impulse VIDEO Bring in this ad and receive 1 FREE RENTAL! r R i ’ c u s t o m e r er P n t h *1- When you rent another video at regular price p e m o • » W M » W X lrm n im im ll/ IMPULSE V I D E O Y 10 12 O S .W . H a l l Bl (near W ashington Square) 2-46-8328 8 5 1 1 S . W . T e r w illig e r B lv d (across from Chez Jose's) 452-8254 e s s e S .W . Capitol H w y (next to Nature's in Hillsdale) 245-8351 Calvin Klein TR U N K SHOW ? 'i q \ m 'A , Evenings/Weekends SA + . A P R I L 5 + H T here ’ s N o T ime L ike the P resent To P lan for the F uture . What’s stopping you from planning for your mm financial future right now? No time? All it takes is one hour to get started. Too Confusing? I'll explain all the options clearly, in language you V to cool and last-minute efforts by moderate church groups in town, who called for a show of Christian love over a show of rage, the conference went off without incident. The Baptist Student Union, stepping over elders’ protests that their action was condoning homosexuality, served a big Southern breakfast to the conference-goers, complete with grits. They still believe that traditional marriage is the only permissible place for sex, the Baptist kids explained, but they were uneasy about the frenzy of hate and wanted to make a Jesus-like gesture. Focus o f the frenzy was a screening o f It’s Elementary. This popular documentary, with its message that grade-school kids need positive information about gay issues, had been protested elsew here in the U nited States. Sultan and Grantham told me that initially the MTSU adm in istration shrugged off their requests for tightened security. But after a look at the death threats, and a phone call from civil-rights attorney Abby Rubenfeld (who got Tennessee’s sodomy law dismissed), MTSU grew concerned about pos sible violence. Filmgoers walked into Tucker Theater past a metal detector and campus secu rity. Outside, several squad cars patrolled. But only a few shivering picketers showed up. The can understand. No huge pool of cash avail Michael G rantham ’s comment was: “The re sponses from across the country are great. They really make us feel like w e’ve done what w e’ve aimed to do. Allie and I hope that everyone feels empowered enough to initiate a much needed social change throughout the Southeast and United States.” Personally, I left M urfreesboro feeling more hopeful. There are growing signs that hate reli gion will be rejected by the fair-minded among Christian students and adults across the country. Indeed, the South is not the monolith of redneck religion that some believe it to be. The South birthed Thomas Jefferson and religious freedom. The South was where a black openly gay Quaker activist named Bayard Rustin helped the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. develop the civil-rights movement of the ’60s. Next year’s Southeast conference may well be greeted with more howls of protest. But no doubt about it, these empowering youth events are denting the Bible belt. Patricia Nell Warren is author of The Front Runner and other books. able? You don't need thousands of dollars to start As little as $50 a month can provide big returns Make today the day you stop making excuses Call Floreid Walker and make an appointment instead FLORF.ID WAI KF.R (503) 238-6036 •6626 3) 291-7713 wacldell.com Waddell fr Reed M N V V IAI M R Y H FA