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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 19, 1997)
. ju s t o u t ▼ S e p te m b e r 19 1997 ▼ 3 just out s in c e 1983 PUBLISHER AND EDITOR Renée LaChance steppin’ out contents VOL. 14 NO. 22 SEPTEMBER 19,1997 ASSISTANT EDITOR Kelly M. Bryan FEATURE NEWS EDITOR Inga Sorensen Autumnal arts REPORTERS Breezing through an eclectic selection o f art events that may get buried in the mainstream press Bob Roehr Rex Wockner EDITORIAL ASSOCIATES Christopher D. Cuttone Will O’Bryan (p 21) CALENDAR EDITOR Kristine Chatwood DEPARTMENTS PHOTOGRAPHER Linda Kliewer World news OFFICE MANAGER Princess Diana s death saddens queers worldwide; Arab emirate of Dubai expels HIV-positive foreigners (pp 4*5) Will O’Bryan ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Meg Grace ADVERTISING REP National news Marty Davis CREATIVE DIRECTOR E. Ann Hinds GRAPHIC DESIGN Rupert Kinnard PRODUCTION Christopher D. Cuttone DISTRIBUTION Trina Altman Kathy Bethel Lynette Boatman Jim Galluzzo Graphic Oasis CONTRIBUTORS The Boston AIDS Writers Group Michael Thomas Ford Dale Reynolds ju s t out is published on the first and th ird F rid ay of each m onth. Copyright © 1997 by just o u t No pan of just out may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. The submission of w ritten and graphic m aterials is welcomed. Written material should be typed and double-spaced ju s t out reserves the right to edit for grammar, punctuation, style, liability concerns and length. We will reject or edit articles or advertisements that are offensive, demeaning or may result in legal action. Letters to the editor should be limited to 500 words Deadline for submissions to the editorial department and for the C alendar is the Thursday before the first and third 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 the first and third Friday for the next issue. Classified ads must be received at the just •wt office by 3 pm the Monday after the first and third Friday for the next issue, along with payment Ads may be accepted by telephone with VISA or MasterCard payment. 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 ju st su t are available for $17.50 for 12 issues First Class (in an envelope) is $30 for 12 issues. A copy of ju st s u t is available for $2. Advertising rates are available on request T he m ailing ad d ress an d telephone num bers for Just salt are 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-m ail address is JustOut2@aol.com. uest editorial Preserving history Our help is needed once again—this time to bring the biography of one of our greatest writers to completion Political scientists report on shifts in public attitudes on sexual minority issues; queer journalists bask in mainstream media acceptance at Chicago conference; U.S. Circuit Court orders feds to pay attorneys’ fees for Keith Meinhold (PP- 7-11) Local news The Portland bi community is flourishing; officials announce decrease in AIDS deaths for 1997 but emphasize the battle is far from won; RTP dinner will honor Elli Work, PFLAG; Friends of PWAs auction is set fo r Oct. 5 (PP- 15-19) by Dale Reynolds hosen by the late gay playwright Tennessee Wil rights. The now 75-year-old Leverich has been forced to pay liams to write a two-part biography on his life, back the money previously advanced for the second volume, Lyle Leverich assumed he would be given carte leaving him quite a bit shy of what he needs to produce a blanche by those closest to Williams. thoroughly investigated biography. It is ironic that a widely After the playwright’s death in 1983, the es lauded author, living only on his Social Security money, lacks tate, which controlled access to all of Williams’ published the necessary funds to pay the comprehensive research ex works, was essentially taken over by one of Williams’ closest penses needed to produce a book as detailed as the first volume. friends, Maria St. Just. For nearly a decade she stopped any The San Francisco Performing Arts Library and Museum and all scholarly use of his plays, letters and journals, includ has established the Lyle Leverich Research Fund. The fund has ing those Leverich was previously authorized to use. It wasn’t been endorsed by such heavyweights as playwrights Arthur until she died in 1994 that the material was freed up for Miller and Edward Albee, both contemporaries of Williams. research. Williams was one of the The tale o f why this second volume has not yet been most important U.S. literary Leverich was Finally able to put the finishing touches written is com plicated. The stalling o f the p roject by figures of this century and on his huge tome, Tom: The was the most openly gay St. Just's refusal to allow Leverich access to the Unknown Tennessee Will playwright before Stonewall. iams. It is thought to be the research m aterials he needed fo rc e d several publish Today a Terrence McNally greatest biography published ers to pu ll out o f their agreem ents. Leverich a p or a Mart Crowley or a Tony on the author of The Glass proached W. W. Norton, who advanced a huge amount Kushner can be as openly Menagerie, Cat on a Hot Tin gay as they want and no one o f m oney to secure the rights. The now 75-year-old bats an eye. Progress is slow, Roof, Night o f the Iguana and Leverich has been fo rc e d to p a y back the money, A Streetcar Named Desire. and history needs this sec Volume one of the biogra ond volume on the life and leaving him quite a bit shy o f what he needs. phy, which appeared in 1995, works of Thomas Lanier covers Williams’ life through 1945. Volume two is supposed Williams, who early on took the moniker o f ‘Tennessee.” to cover from 1945 to the playwright’s death. Preserving our history is an important investment for our community to make. The tale of why this second and last volume has not yet been written, let alone published, is complicated. One publisher after another contracted for the rights to print the book, but the Dale Reynolds is a contributing writer for Just Out. stalling of the project by St. Just’s refusal to allow Leverich The San Francisco Performing Arts Library access to the research materials he needed forced them to pull and Museum can be contacted at 399 Grove St., out of their agreements. Leverich approached publisher W.W. San Francisco, CA 94102, (415) 255-4800. Norton, who advanced a huge amount of money to secure the CO LU M N S Reasons for hope While debate continues on the possibility of an HIV vaccine, development and testing proceed (p. 13) My queer life Writer’s block sends one columnist to a cooking class— with slippery results (p. 33) ARTS Cinema Tom Selleck and Frank Oz dish the inside dope on In & Out; Ted Sod discusses Crocodile Tears, his film about an HIV-positive man's pact with the devil; and more Sensory Perceptions reviews: Leather Jacket Love Story and Some Prefer Cake (PP 29-31)