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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (May 16, 1997)
2 ▼ m ay 16. 1997 ▼ ju s t o u t just out since 1 983 PUBLISHER A N D EDITOR Renée LaChanee steppin' out contents VOL 14 NO. 14 MAY 16, 1997 COPY EDITOR Kelly M. Bryan FEATURES REPORTERS Inga Sorensen Boh Roehr Rex Wockner Spring rite back! Just Out joins the throng gathered to send twins llanya and Ina, a lesbian and a bisexual, and their dates o ff to the prom CALENDAR EDITOR Kristine Chatwood PHOTOGRAPHER Linda Kliewer (p. 18) OFFICE M A N A G E R Will O’Bryan The gift of parenthood ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Meg Grace ADVERTISING REP Marty Davis Mother’s Day and Father’s Day take on special importance when children come to those who’ve waited, dreamed or never dared hope (P- 21) CREATIVE DIRECTOR E. Ann Hinds DEPARTMENTS GRAPHIC DESIGN Rupert Kinnard FORMATTER Christopher D. Cuttone TYPESETTER Christopher D. Cuttone DISTRIBUTION Kathy Bethel Rachel Ebora Donald Rogers Deborah Sundholm Megan Weber CONTRIBUTORS Buffy Adams Howie Baggadonutz Bonnie Ruth Beebe Kelly M. Bryan Christopher D. Cuttone Rachel Ebora E. Ann Hinds Will O’Bryan J u s t o u t is published on the first and third Friday o f each month. Copyright © 1997 by J u s t o u t No pari of J u s t o u t may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher The submission of written and graphic materials is welcomed. Written material should be typed and double-spaced Ju st o u t reserves the right to edit for grammar, punctuation, style, liability concerns and length We will reject or edit articles or adverttsements that are offensive, demeaning or may result in legal action Ju st o u t consults the Associated Press Stvlehook and Libel Manual on editorial decisions letters to the editor should he limited to 500 words. Deadline for subm issions to the editonal department and for the Calendar is the Thursday before the first and thud Friday for the next issue. Views expressed in letters to the editor, columns and features are not necessarily those of the publisher The display advertising deadline is the Monday after (he first and third Friday for the next issue. Classified ads must be received at the Ju st o u t office by 3 pm the Monday after the first anti third Friday for the next issue, along with payment Ads will not be taken over the telephone Ad policy No sexually exploitative advertising will be accepted. Compensation for errors in. or cancellation of. advertising will be made with credit toward future advertising. Subscriptions to Just o u t are available for $17.50 for 12 issues First Class (in an envelope) is $30 for 12 issues A copy of J u s t o u t is available for $2. Advertising rates are available on request The mailing address and telephone numbers foi J u s t o u t ire 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(¿tool com. World news Berlin marks 100th anniversary o f gay rights movement Fans, worshipers and the merely curious filled brew Sisters pub, 53 NW First Ave., to overflowing on Wednesday, April 30, to watch Ellen, as Ellen, come out on El len. Cheering got so loud that the police were called in to restore order. (Well, not really, but it was pretty loud.) guest editorial Merely human Identity-based community is too limiting when your place is in the whole wide world ▼ by Beth he cover article on Ellen DeGeneres in the April 18 issue of Just Out was the final straw that compels me to break my silence. I have been open about my orientation for 10 years. In that time I have wandered through the sticky morass of the lesbian and gay community, trying on various roles and trying out various activities to figure out where I belong. In the end, I have decided that my place is in the whole wide world. Out there with absolutely everyone else, living a human and humane existence. As I went from one interest to another over this 10-ycar period, I attended Lesbian Forums, worked as a bouncer at Cafe Mocha, marched in the Rose City Gay Freedom Band (which I helped found in 1990), attended drag shows at the Embers Avenue and celebrated at Lesbian and Gay Pride each year. I met many people and learned a great deal about the gay and lesbian community throughout my explorations, and I wouldn’t trade my experiences for anything. In recent years something has become apparent to me, however, an observation that has disturbed me greatly since it came to my consciousness. My desire to create “community” in the place where I live seemed to be more and more at odds with the way community was being modeled in the gay and lesbian world. I finally realized why. There is community by geography, where people who live in a neighborhood can learn how to get along, and then there is community by identity, where people who share a common identifying trait can claim a sort of community-without-walls. The more I examined the idea of community by identity, the more I saw walls being put up. not tom down. Due to our very human nature, we seek distinctions by which we form discrimi Ham on nating attitudes about how we live from day to day, and with whom. Community by identity always seems to be about differentiation, about “us” and “them.” If I choose to become an “us” in one group, I will automatically become a “them” somewhere else. As a result, heightened attitudes of fear are created, along with the need to protect oneself from someone else. I have really found myself at a loss for determining “where” I belong, and I can no longer embrace a vision of identity-based community. To me, it is a false and extremely limiting vision. Rather, I see myself as merely human, no greater or lesser than anyone else. I do not need any other label in life than the one my parents gave me at birth. I know people will accuse me of being naive, but my perceptions are so rooted in experience that I cannot take such accusations seriously. I know that I am here on earth to experi ence life. I do so from the place of being human, and identities based on sexual orientation, skin color or religious history no longer carry the same weight they once did for me. That is why I found the cover article on the coming out of a character on a television show to be so anticlimactic. The article’s very existence—indeed, the existence of this and other identity-based publications—only served to remind me of how “somewhere else” I feel these days. In the end, I can only register a quiet sadness. Beth Hamon lives in Portland. Submissions for guest editorials should be typed, double-spaced and no longer than 600 words. Fax to 236-1257, e-mail to JustOut2@aol.com, or mail to PO Box 14400, Portland, OR 97293-0400. (P- 4) National news A transsexual woman fights fo r visitation rights to the sons she has not seen in four years; Hawaii Legislature grants rights for domestic partners, balks at recognizing same-sex marriages (pp. 5-11) Local news Carpenter, Hill and House Democrats vow another showdown fo r Oregon END A; is Oregon DOMA doomed to succeed?; HRC director Elizabeth Birch will speak at MCC Portland (pp. 13-17) ARTS Cinema The life and death o f porn star Alan Lambert; Female Perversions skillfully portrays the twists o f sisters; Love! Valour! Compassion! brings a gaggle o f gay guys to the screen (pp. 31-33) Books Lesbian artists get their due in Damn Fine Art; Gabriel Roteilo points a finger in Sexual Ecology (pp. 34-35) Music Bridges Vocal Ensemble has got a "Seven-Year Itch ” to sing (p. 36) Entertainment Amazon Dragons hosts a fund raiser at the Egyptian Room (p. 37) Tongue in groove Jeru the Damaja takes no prisoners; Lamb will follow you anywhere (p. 38)