4 ▼ June 6 , 1 0 9 7 ▼ ju st o u t
It's our 10th Anniversary!
Jo in o u r c eleb ra tio n as we sh a re e x cep tio n al savings
w ith o u r valued c u sto m ers.
* 25% ofl* entire custom fram ing projeet
* 20% ofT all prints and posters in stoek
* 10% ofl* all ready made frames.
PIC TU R E TH IS
F r a m in g G a lle r y
2801 S.E. Holgate lllvd.
Portland, OK 97202
REGISTER lo WIN
• 1996 fram ed Mt. H ood Festival of Ja zz p o ster
• $50.00 gift certifica te
• R eady m ade fram e package
(emp. 6 / 30 / 97 )
Annie Bloom's Books
A World-Class Neighborhood Bookstore
Where Shopping is Still a Pleasure
-Armchairs for
weary shoppers
- We've expanded
our gay & lesbian
studies section
-Free special
orders & out
of print book
searches
-Give us your
suggestions for
favorite new or
old titles
7X34 SW Capitol H*y. Portland, Oregon 97219 503-246-0053
..............................Open 9 am to 10 pm d a ily ..............................
Kickers
letters
Commissioner
left out of field
To the Editor:
Rose City Softball Association greatly appre
ciates the support we have received from Just Out
over the past three years. However, the article on
RCSA [“Diamond Heads,” Just Out, May 2,
1997] unfortunately failed to acknowledge one of
our co-founders and key contributors. Open Divi
sion Commissioner Scott Franklin.
Scott was one of three people who answered
the call to deliver the league from idealistic con
cept to tangible reality. He presented the fledgling
RCSA’s petition to the North American Gay
Amateur Athletic Association for membership in
February 1995, mentored his co-founders in the
art of fund raising and development and created
our league’s first corporate sponsor relationship,
with Coors Light.
His experience and vision have been instru
mental in our league’s growth and strength. The
board, the membership of the league and the
public deserve to know fully of Scott’s commit
ment to the league and its activities.
Jim Hernandez
Rose City Softball Association
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
To the Editor:
I’m another one of those people who have
“never written in before, but...” Now I feel the
need.
A car dealership, of all places, has shown that
“our” community is no better or worse than any
other. My partner and 1 recently decided to get one
of those new Toyota Rav4’s, and opted for the 3-
year lease. Once we signed the paperwork, it was
out of Mr. If-you-don’t-come-see-me-today’s
hands and into Ford Motor Credit’s.
One thing led to another (like double the insur
ance), and we needed to return the vehicle. Back at
the dealership, we were told that it would really
damage my credit, but if we really wanted to...
Well, thanks to their workings with Ford, my
monthly payment was reduced to a more reason
able amount, and I am happily driving the same
Rav4 today. This was above and beyond their need
to “make a sale,” as the deal was done for them.
They also went out of their way to make my partner
and I feel comfortable, secure and welcome.
After this was finished, we had to go to the
service department for a new battery for the alarm
remote. When my partner went there (I was at
work), they asked if we were both on the contract.
When he told them that it was in my name only,
they said, "Well, we’ll just put your name on the
service contract anyway, in case you ever need to
bring it in without your partner being here.” That
was a real surprise.
1 sincerely want to thank the staff of Thomason
Toyota on Southeast McLoughlin Boulevard for
being understanding, intelligent people, and I
would especially like to thank Jeff Dreyer in the
sales department for his hard work. 1 want every
one to know that our community has another
“comfortable” place to shop.
James Price
Lee Main
Via e-mail
Stinky feet, sacred ground
C o bb C om pany
P o rt!
To the Editor:
During the hearing on Senate Bill 577 last
month in Salem, I got to hear the testimony of
Oregon’s critics of gay marriage. If you have
never had an experience like this, 1 recommend it
to you. It was there that the notion hit me that I
would like critics of gay people to understand one
of the hallmarks of personal integrity: a respect
for things one does not understand.
Take Moses, for instance. While he was haul
ing himself up the slopes of Mount Sinai, he was
startled by a phenomenon that violated all his
prior experience with nature: a bush that burned
with a fire that did not consume it.
Regardless of the meaning that you draw from
the sign, the point is that Moses did not allow his
perplexity over this perverse, flickering light to
cause him to ignore it or reject it. Instead, his queer
encounter shocked him into a realization of his
own ignorance before the diverse and ceaseless
creativity at the heart of existence, and he respect
fully took off his shoes before getting any closer.
Had Moses been a modern-day “Christian,”
he could have seized the bush and sawed it off,
crowing, “What a bundle I’ll save on my oil-lamp
bills for January!” Instead, he erred on the side of
caution, tiptoeing slowly closer to the queer vi
sion, to extract a meaning. Moses stuck around for
a long time, waiting for the light to illuminate his
mind. Eventually, it began to speak to him about
his obligations as a leader of his people.
It spoke volumes to him about justice, ethical
dilemmas and love.
I wish I had told the senators that I think gay
people shine with the same queer light. I wish I
had said that in our “normal” experience of na
ture, we live in a world where males tend to be
ruthless competitors, but gay men tend to be more
cooperative and nurturing. In a world where na
ture-bred females tend to be submissive, lesbians
tend to assert themselves and strive for accom
plishment. Sometimes I wonder whether perhaps
the defining characteristic of gay men is that they
do not seek to dominate others, and the distinctive
character of lesbians is that they do not consent to
submit to others. Beyond the sexphobic com
plaints of the bigots, ultimately it is these traits
that make gay men and lesbians so perverse in the
eyes of a world utterly inebriated with domi
nance-submission games—including handguns,
police forces and warheads on the one hand, and
barefoot, pregnant chattel on the other.
I like to think that a heart as clear as Moses’
would appreciate this queer gift from God, and
would try to open a respectful dialogue, instead of
rushing up to cut the miracle off at the roots.
Aren’t we perhaps a strange light that they should
approach with their stinky shoes left behind?
Don’t we have volumes to teach them about
justice, ethical dilemmas and love?
Mitch Gould
Forest Grove
Fighting mad
To the Editor:
The news media last month featured a story
about the possibility that U.S. Air Force Capt.
Craig Button committed suicide by crashing his
plane into a Colorado mountain rather than face
the consequences of an estranged lover, another
pilot, exposing Button as gay.
My first reaction to reading this was a mixture
of anger and grief. I wanted to go out and bash a
homophobe. Though it’s yet to be proven, the
story has affected me deeply. I am not ashamed to
say I have shed tears over this. It is so unfortunate
that a gay man felt he would rather die than face
being ostracized by those he held dear.
The A-10 pilot is the elite of the elite. Button
was called by his superiors a “model officer and
pilot.” I plan to send a donation to a local gay
organization in his memory and will encourage
others to do so, should the story prove true.
I am so angry at the religious right and their
kind who have fought us on every front from basic
civil rights to gays in the military and marriage.
They speak of morality, yet refuse us the right to
fair and equal treatment. The fair treatment we
want would lead to a more stable, moral and
responsible lifestyle. Many of us, even without the
legal right to marry, have formed loving and long-
lasting relationships. We would respect our rela
tionships more if marriage was an option, yet they