just out ▼ juno 6. 1997 ▼ 3
just out
since 1983
PUBLISHER AND EDITOR
Renée LaChance
COPY EDITOR
contents
steppin’ out
VOL 14 NO. 15 JUNE 6, 1997
Kelly M. Bryan
REPORTERS
FEATURES
Inga Sorensen
Bob Roehr
Rex Wockner
Moving pictures
Queer Asians and Pacific
Islanders break silence
CALENDAR EDITOR
(p. 23)
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Kristine Chatwood
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PHOTOGRAPHER
Smells like
queer sprirt
Linda Kliewer
OFFICE MANAGER
is :::;* * *
Will O’Bryan
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ADVERTISING DIRECTOR
An overview o f
Pride's wild ride
(P- 31)
DEPARTMENTS
Meg Grace
ADVERTISING REP
Marty Davis
World news
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Tasmanian ban on gay sex is
vanquished after 25-vear battle
E. Ann Hinds
(pp. 6-7)
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Rupert Kinnard
National news
FORMATTER
Clinton pledges an AIDS vaccine
in 10 years—can it be done?
Christopher D. Cuttone
(pp. 9-15)
TYPESETTER
Christopher D. Cuttone
Local news
■
Oregon ENDA: here’s hoping
the third time's a charm
DISTRIBUTION
(pp. 16-19)
Kathy Bethel
Rachel Ebora
Karen Leekbee
Donald Rogers
editorial
CONTRIBUTORS
Kelly M. Bryan
Christopher D. Cuttone
Rachel Ebora
Lee Lynch
Will O’Bryan
Suzanne Sigmund
Flora Sussely
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COLUMNS
Profile
A Colombian man waits fo r the
decision on his plea fo r asylum
(P- 32)
A public response
Steve Duin s story on the “Leaving Silence ” exhibit
underlines the need fo r more awareness of marginalized communities
▼
by Leslie Griep
teve Duin, a Metro page columnist for the Oregonian,
wrote a satirical piece about “Leaving Silence: Queer
Asian Oral History Exhibit” in the May 18 edition of
that paper. This exhibit was created in Seattle and has
been brought to Portland by Asian and Pacific Is
lander Lesbians and Gays. Duin skewered those he thinks
suffer from a “morbid preoccupation with se lf’ and showed his
scorn for those he feels are self-indulgently trumpeting their
own existence. His final lament is that “there is no longer any
virtue or future in suffering in silence.” Duin wrote his column
on the basis of the press release and has not, to my knowledge,
seen the exhibit nor did he talk to the contacts listed on the press
release.
In responding to Duin’s column, I realize that some prob
ably will view this as the whining of a “fringe-group type” with
no sense of humor. I’m sure that there are many Oregonian
readers who agree with Duin that all those groups out there
seeking visibility are just annoying (an opportunity to “hoot
and holler and embrace our exclusivity”). This caused me once
again to stop and think about the importance of visibility and
community, and to talk with others about it and respond
publicly.
The exhibit is about breaking down misconceptions and
stereotypes about Asians and queers by making visible the
various lives and stories of some members of our community.
Visibility is important on many levels. For the individual,
particularly those of us from groups that arc not typically
acknowledged, exposure to the lives of others like us serves to
provide individual “validation.” This lets us know that we are
S
not the only ones. Promoting such an exhibit can help us find
each other and build our community.
It is also important for the communities with whom we
interact and overlap. Through awareness, acknowledgment and
contact, we help others gain a greater understanding of lives
different from their own and thereby foster understanding of
each other.
And it serves to enhance broader societal goals. A highly
functioning democratic society is based on the participation of
its inhabitants. To have institutions that truly serve the citizenry,
voices that represent the breadth and depth of society must be
acknowledged. The reality is that the majority of our institutions
do not reflect the breadth of our society. It will remain so until
we find each other and let others know we exist.
APLG decided to bring this exhibit to Portland to increase
the visibility of queer Asians to each other, to the broader queer
community, to the rest of the Asian communities and to the
community at large. The lives represented on the panels are an
incredibly rich and varied sampling. We will be using this
exhibit to hoot and holler and embrace our inclusivity.
Finally, I want to thank those who sent me copies of the
letters written to Duin, his editor, and the Letters to the Editor.
They represent to me the respect and value placed on recogniz
ing both the distinctions and links between our many commu
nities.
Leslie Griep serves on the hoard o f Asian and Pacific
Islander Lesbians and Gays, which helped to bring the
"Leaving Silence" exhibit to Portland.
Amazon trail
I t’s hard to imagine being scared
by Ellen DeGeneres
(p. 40)
Stonewall baby
M usings on Eat her’s Day from
the new gay frontier
(p 41)
View from here
Providing economic safety nets
fo r youth can be done creatively
(P 42)
ARTS
Theater
The spectacle o f Beauty
and the Beast;
Love! Valour! Compassion!
comes to Artists Rep
(pp. 33-35)
Cinema
Boys Life 2 is a promise o f
more to come in September
(p. 37)
Entertainment
Pride Divide addresses the
’queer gender gap ’
(p. 38)
Tongue in groove
Jocelyn Enriquez kicks ass
(p. 39)