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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 1997)
Just out T novom bor 2 1 , 1 0 0 7 T 17 That's the SPIRIT he office headquarters in North Port land o f Sisters in Portland Impacting Real Issues Together is cluttered with an energetic m ishm ash o f objects. Multicolored children’s art festoons the doorway near a poster of Malcolm X; dried roses in an old jar at the window are juxtaposed ▼ with various photos of young African American by Suzanne Sigmund women with arms linked, sporting triumphant smiles. A splash of black, red and gold bursts from one comer: a poster of the film Set It Off, with Queen Latifah gazing at you in proud defiance. And there’s the straight-to-the-point banner in big red letters, “ Youth in Action.” The w allpa per may be peeling and a fresh coat o f paint ■ P % wouldn’t hurt, but no matter, this is an office poised for purposeful action. yoüM &lfoflíM 's CoMMlTTte SPIR IT’s prime mission is to empower women— straight, lesbian and bisexual; women o f color and low-income women— helping them ORTt U SU C to deal effectively with sexual and racial ha C H O & L /S rassment. Giving them solid tools, both inter nally— encouraging a don ’t-mess-with-me, can- do attitude— and externally— with hands-on V t A llH u self-defense training— so they can develop a sense of personal safety and control. Chris Kelsaw, 30, found out about SPIRIT about a year and a half ago, attended some of the self-defense classes and found them “very pow erful.” As an African American lesbian, what ini tially interested Kelsaw enough to check SPIRIT - out? “ Basically, the fact that it’s the only organi zation in the Portland Metro area that deals with young w om en o f co lo r and low -incom e A bulletin board in the SPIRIT office chronicles efforts by its Young Women’s Committee to educate girls women,” she says. “The self-defense class has about dating violence. helped me empower m yself to set boundaries and feel safer, knowing I have the power to protect is more timely, or dealing with a situation where especially lesbian relationships. And then feeling m yself verbally as well as physically. Being able to your partner wants to have sex and you’re not like you can access the same resources as straight communicate what you don’t want and being able ready. Other times, a role play about homophobic women, when they themselves have a hard time to diffuse situations before they escalate to where teachers or straight students making fun of a accessing it.” you’d have to use physical force.” lesbian teen at school might be most needed. Focusing on the common ground for women in According to coordinator Amara Pérez, SPIRIT “ Incorporating it into the role play that we do violent relationships across the board, no matter often collaborates with Movements in Change, a and in the language that we use,” asserts Pérez, “so what their sexual orientation, is one important local self-defense organization that has been train there’s not this perception that w e’re talking about piece of the picture. And lesbian or bisexual women ing SPIRIT instructors in effective self-defense. a straight world; that these experiences extend experiencing domestic violence or dating violence “ I think the thing about SPIRIT is that we have beyond straight life.” can often feel stigmatized. really incorporated anti-racism and anti-sexism Kelsaw nods her head in accord. “Yeah, I’ve “ Part of it is just gay, lesbian and bisexual into our self-defense classes,” says Pérez, “We been in the audience for many of the role plays and people being able to name it themselves,” says incorporate homophobia into our classes, and talk seen the reaction of the youth and how the discus Pérez, “because there’s this perception that women about the fact that domestic violence happens in sion afterwards has always been really good,” she don’t beat other women.” same-sex relationships with the same frequency as says. SPIRIT also collaborates closely in this area it does in heterosexual relationships.” Pérez, a pragmatic leader whose political rheto with Bradley-Angle House, a domestic violence ric is open and direct, leans forward in her chair, shelter in Portland that offers support groups for ole-playing is one method that SPIRIT staff nodding, as another important point comes to women in same-sex violent relationships. Pérez ers and members use to confront thorny mind: “And how do institutions deal with that adds that the Bradley-Angle House is currently issues assailing lesbian, bi and straight differently, or don’t deal with it at all. What is trying to integrate gay violent relationships into women. Som etim es it’s a girl-to-girl role play, challenging for people who are in those relation their efforts to combat dating violence. dealing with the challenges of being in a lesbian ships [is] to access resources and help when there’s Pérez feels that lesbian, gay and bisexual people relationship where you’re experiencing dating a double burden there because you ’re in a relation need to recognize that homophobia is a type of violence. Som etim es a role play about com ing out ship that is not really taken seriously, number one, oppression that, while not completely similar, is T A new organization helps women of color and low-income women of all sexual orientations stand up to oppression SPWT s p tv p s ATiN^no w ette R Package Deals from $99.00 B irth d a y • Wedding • Trqnk P arty • C o a s ta l • N ig h t Life ...a n d “A N ig h t with Darcelle XV & Co.” 503 * 240*9646 Th e P antheon Lim ousine S e rvic e he rgfit to be let alone is the most comprehensive of rghts and the rght most valued by civilized people." — J u s t i c e L o u i s B r a n d e is Rogers & Rodz Attorneys at Law Crim inal defense by a form er judge, state and federal prosecutor, and state and federal public defenders G a y owned and opera ted. 506 S.W. Sixth Avenue, Suite 900f P o rtla n d O R 97204 (503)294-9998 like racism and sexism in the way it’s been used to break down communities and oppress people in general. “Even for girls who aren’t gay, lesbian or bi sexual,” says Pérez, “ to be aware of where homophobia fits in the work that we do and being able to use the word ‘homophobia.’ W e’ve got 12- year-old girls saying, ‘We don’t want homophobia in our schools. ’ And you know, I didn’t know what that word was when I was 12 years old. It’s like the fear of and the discrimination of gay, les bian and bisexual people. And if they can say [that] in the same breath as saying that we believe that everybody has a right to just live their lives and feel safe and feel good about themselves.” Right now, SPIRIT is working with Tri-Met on a new safety brochure to address the very real issues o f gender and racial violence on buses and on MAX. Tri-M et’s old brochure, Pérez maintains, is unrealistic and outdated, talking about things like “keep your hands inside the windows.” After going door-to-door and surveying in the community about people’s typical experi ences surrounding these issues, Pérez and her cohorts asked Tri-Met to create a new brochure addressing homophobic and racially motivated hate crimes. Tri-M ct agreed, and the new bro- i chure is now in the works. It is slated to be 1 completed sometime in the next few months | and will be distributed throughout the city. m P T 1 he concept of gender is a critical issue at SPIRIT headquarters. As Pérez relates, £ J L gender is one way that people make as sumptions and oppress people. There’s the old “boys should act like this, and girls should act like this.” Sound familiar? Cultural gender stereotypes leap to mind: girls wear pink, boys wear blue; girls don’t do auto mechanics, boys don’t do ballet; the only “normal and natural” relationships are between members of the opposite sex. Uh-hunh. Adds Pérez, “And when they act outside that box, what are the consequences? How are they targeted? And what this does to young people’s identity, not only development of identity but sexual identity.” Pérez, clasping her hands together, leans for ward, her expression intent: “Our main work has been getting institutions and individuals to realize that safety is a broad concept. Not only being safe from racism, sexism and homophobia, but feeling like we can experiment and explore our sexualities. We should not allow those oppressions to divide us; we should be working together to make changes.” For more information about SPIRIT, call 283-5340. To contact Bradley-Angle House, call 281-2442. 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