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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 16, 1998)
■J . T.»“” ZU* ► .F" y.- just out V January 16. 1998 ▼ 3 just out since 1983 PUBUSHER AND EDITOR Renée LaChance steppin’ out ASSISTANT EDITOR Kelly M. Bryan contents VOL. 15 NO. 6 JANUARY 16. 1998 FEATURE NEWS EDITOR Inga Sorensen Uniforms on parade REPORTERS Bob Roehr Rex Wockner Firefighters, sailors and cops take the city by storm for Portland Uniform Weekend VI, Jan. 16-18 (p. 19) EDITORIAL ASSOCIATES Christopher D. Cuttone Will O’Bryan CALENDAR EDITOR Kristine Chatwood PHOTOGRAPHER Linda Kliewer DEPARTMENTS World news OFFICE MANAGER Will O’Bryan The African National Congress calls for legalization of same-sex marriage; Chinese queers hold an international conference in Hong Kong (P- 6) ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Meg Grace ADVERTISING REP Marty Davis CREATIVE DIRECTOR E. Ann Hinds GRAPHIC DESIGN Rupert Kinnard National news American Airlines backs out of ‘circuit party’ sponsorship; are genotypic HIV tests a boon or a boondoggle? (pp. 7-11) Natalie Williams of the Portland Power PRODUCTION Christopher D. Cuttone DISTRIBUTION Kathy Bethel Marcia Cook James Galluzzo Clancy Johnston Valerie Lutz Retta Offinga Jeminie Shell CONTRIBUTORS Patrick Collins Beren deMotier Dale Reynolds Local news Trans position As others have fought for us, it now may be our turn to fight for others What’s Next? gives people with AIDS a place to sort out the challenges of surviving; OHD puts HIV names reporting on the back burner; Vancouver gears up to offer domestic partner benefits (pp. 12-17) V Just out is published on the first and third Friday of each month. Copyright © 1998 by Just out. No part of Just out 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. Just 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 Calendar 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 out 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 are $17.50 for 12 issues. First Class (in an envelope) is $30 for 12 issues. A copy of Just out is available for $2. Advertising rates are available upon request. Contact Just out at PO Box 14400, Portland, OR 97293-0400; (503) 236-1252, advertising: 236-1253, fax: 236-1257, e-mail: justoutfri’j uslout.com. by Will O’Bryan perspective I’ve never been privy to is the one that floats in the heads of queer-positive straight people. I’ve often wondered if I’d be as enlightened if I had been born into their shoes. It’s easy to fight for gay rights when you are gay. As a matter of fact, it’s downright indulgent. Being lesbian or gay or bisexual can also lead a person to be more progressive regarding a bucket of social issues. How many of us might have chosen far more conservative paths had we inherited hetero-privilege? At civil-rights marches, you see the “Straight But Not Narrow” banners. The Gay-Straight Student Alliance contin gent is there too. “What motivates these people?” I’d find myself asking. I think I’ve finally gotten an answer. Recently, Oregonians have been faced with the prospect that the Oregon Health Plan, one of the most effective public health care systems in the country, may finance sex-change operations. The merits (or shortcomings) of the proposal are not being debated by physicians, psychiatrists and state comp trollers in tasteful meeting rooms in Salem. The (largely ill- informed) debate, about very clinical procedures, is taking place quite publicly in a tone more fitting for 10-year-olds on the playground. The Oregonian employs editorial page cartoons by an otherwise clever Jack Ohman to mock the proposal as on a par with wacky, laff-riot brain transplants. Lon Mabon and Co. is circulating a petition to deny post-operative transsexuals their new genders. The OHP proposal, instead of pointing health services in a direction that would provide a necessary medical treatment to Oregon residents, seems to have signaled open season on transsexuals. Because of this shameful treatment of transsexuals, I now have the insight 1 wanted into the mind of the straight-not- narrow rabble-rouser. Like a lot of people, I’m a little uncomfortable thinking about gender-reassignment surgery. Probably as uncomfortable as not-narrow Suzie Hetero is when she imagines two men enjoying sex together. But that doesn’t mean that Suzie and I can’t spot small-minded fear and inequity when we see it. And in the case of the arrogant attitudes currently being leveled against Oregon transsexuals, you can’t miss it. It slaps any fair- minded person in the face. Hard. Transsexualism, like homosexuality, is something an unaf fected person probably won’t know much about. But certainly, being uninformed has never kept anyone from forming an opinion—even a dangerous one. The crux of the public debate, despite the sane packaging about budget issues and medical propriety, is really just the reaction of people thinking about something largely alien to their little worlds. In my little world, transsexualism is mostly alien. I don’t have any transsexual friends or relatives (that I’m aware of). I am familiar with bigotry, though. If I can’t get beyond my childish squirming at the thought of surgically constructed penises, I’m not letting that bigotry stop with me. Depending on who you talk to, the queer community and the transsexual community are: one and the same, at odds or somewhere in between. Right now, that link is irrelevant. What is relevant is that people are being crucified in the name of gender and sexual norms by repressed people. Sound familiar? It’s time for me to follow Suzie Hetero’s lead and carry the “Native Gender Trans Defender” banner. ARTS Cinema Deepa Mehta’s Fire has lit a match under conservative Indian society (p-27) Books Plays Well with Others presents a loving portrait of innocence lost (p. 29) Entertainment The Jewish Film Festival unreels at the Northwest Film Center; Charles Ludlum 's Camille comes to the Portland stage; start working on your costume now for NLA’s Mardi Gras Ball (p. 30)
