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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (March 20, 1998)
march 20. 199 fl » ITiWiT! news V igil H onors M urdered C ouple A diverse group is united by sadness for the loss of two lives and frustration with the media's handling of the story by Inga Sorensen A misty rain is falling, though not enough to quell the candlelight. C T women and characterized them as somehow freakish and their relationship as problematic, we suffered the loss of their humanity.” The piece describes Gilpin and Anderson as “longtime lovers, partners, sweethearts,” as well as butch and femme, respectively. Portland resident Pamela Hiebert is a friend of Anderson’s mother, Carol. Hiebert is also an out lesbian and the mother of an adult daughter, Amber, who lives in Washington, D.C. Over the years, says Pamela, “Carol doted over her daughter and I doted over mine.” Pamela is attending the vigil with her daugh PHOTO BY LINDA KLIEW ER [Gilpin]’s role in their relationship caused the school when she heard an announcer on the radio station KBBT-FM use the phrase. murder. Instead, you could have named her as a hero for trying to stop this killer and taking the “She laughed so hard she couldn’t even fin first round of bullets herself.” ish reading the story,” says Silver. “I was so Jack, who hosts It’s a Queer, Queer World on upset.” About 35 women and men KBOO-FM and has worked closely with the Silver and others contacted a handful of encircle a bouquet of purple and G ay and Lesbian yellow flowers which has been A lliance Against placed upon a metal milk crate; a rainbow flag is Defamation, an perched behind the makeshift shrine; each per organization that son is grasping a purple candle. monitors the me The evening rush-hour traffic is roaring by, dia’s handling of making it a strain to hear those who speak. queer issues, says, It’s wet and cold and noisy, but somehow “These women that all seems irrelevant. were brutally mur These people have other things on their dered, and some minds. They have come to mourn and remem how the media ber. makes it seem like “This is such a terrible thing, we wanted to they had it com come out and show our support,” says Clancy ing.” Morris, who along with her 16-year-old son, Despite her own Forrest Coffman, has come from Vancouver, media savvy, Jack Wash., to be here, in front of the Ambassador admits that she, Restaurant & Lounge at 4744 NE Sandy Blvd. upon hearing the in Portland. initial news reports, It is March 10, two weeks after Jacqueline formulated an inac “O ctavia” Anderson, 29, and Barbara Gilpin, curate picture in 44, were murdered at this very site. her mind. The couple, who were longtime partners, “I thought, were allegedly shotgunned to death Feb. 24 by ‘Here we have the Eric Walter Running, 47, who has been indict older bearded butch ed on two counts of aggravated murder and a and the younger felon weapon possession charge. Running is bisexual flirting jailed and awaiting trial. with a guy,’ ’’ she Mark McDonnell, a Multnomah County says. “I knew all the senior deputy district attorney, tells Just Out it clues to look for will likely be nine months to a year before the and I still made case goes to trial. He also says prosecutors are these stereotypical Community members gather to share feelings sparked by the incident “leaning towards seeking the death penalty.” errors.” A t this time, few details have been made The media’s power to represent— or misrep media outlets to register their objections. public as to what the trio’s relationship was, as resent— is as awesome as it is frightening, she “If some man had been killed, they wouldn’t well as what actually transpired that night. says. “It’s really scary when you think about it.” have described him as ‘the ugly pimply-faced What is known is that two women are dead. man,’ ” she says. The “bearded lady” reference, meanwhile, Two women who shared years together. rippled across the AP wire and onto the air The way the story was covered, she and oth Coffman says, “It’s so sad that someone waves. ers say, not only dehumanizes G ilpin and would do this. Why do people have to take oth Anderson, it obliterates the seriousness of the Beth Hyams, assistant news director for ers’ lives?” Oregon Public Broadcasting, was at home lis situation— one that involves violence against tening to KOPB-FM when the local newscaster women, violence against lesbians, and violence ''* ritics say the slaughter didn’t end there. against those who refuse to x They charge that much of the main After critics voiced their concerns, conform to society’s rigid gen stream media coverage immediately following der roles. coverage of the case all but disappeared. the killings sent a message that these women After critics voiced their were freakish and in some way responsible for concerns, coverage of the case There was no mention of the women’s their brutal demise. all but disappeared. There was funerals, and although many media The Associated Press and local television no mention of the women’s and radio stations publicly dubbed Anderson funerals, and although many outlets were notified of the March 10 the “bearded lady” because she had some facial media outlets were notified of hair. vigil, only a K PTV cameraman and the March 10 vigil, only a Though the Oregonian didn’t use that phrase, KPTV cameraman and Just staffer Dionne D. Peeples wrote in a Feb. 26 arti Just Out were present. Out were present— a point cle that a police detective said Gilpin and noted by lesbian activist and memorial attendee described Anderson as the “bearded lady.” Anderson were “known for being loving as well Bonnie Tinker. “I thought it was totally inappropriate,” she as argumentative.” “The same media who rushed to give sensa says. Some say the piece left the distinct impres tionalized coverage are not here tonight,” she And it wasn’t just the "bearded” component. sion Anderson and Running were involved in “I don’t think women should be called ladies,” told the crowd. an intimate relationship, and thus the murders she says. In other words, it’s a freak show or nothing. stemmed from a jealous suitor’s rage. According to Hyams, the anchor told her he In addition, the article included a quote from hose at the vigil, however, are here in part had gleaned the wording from AP copy. She a neighbor who describes Gilpin as “possessive.” responded by calling the AP to complain, and to rebuke that notion. According to Peeples, the neighbor “said that A handout distributed among the crowd then sent an e-mail memo to OPB news staffers the relationship between the women at times states, “This vigil is to express sorrow for the instructing them not to use that language again was stormy and that Gilpin sometimes con and explaining her justifications. tragic loss of Barbara and Octavia to our com fronted men who showed attention to munity. Violence against women hurts every Some concerned citizens did the same, call Anderson.” ing and writing the various television and radio one. When Gilpin and Anderson were brutally Critics say framing the story in that way can shot, we all suffered the loss of their contribu stations which used the descriptive. lead a reader to blame the victim. tions to their friends, family and community. Erika Silver, executive director of Bradley- In an as-yet-unpublished letter to the When th e . media treated them 3s n am eless. Angle House, says she was driving her son to Oregonian , Suzanne Pharr of the Lesbian Community Project writes, in part: “The subtext of your report suggested that something about 7 ter, who is visiting for the week. “This is so infuriating,” says Amber, referring to the murders. She admitts to fearing for her mother’s safety. “Hate crimes based on sexuality are far too common a problem,” she says, adding, “I do worry.” For her part, Pamela, who was diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer five years ago, says her battle with the disease has given her “per mission” to be “bolder as an out lesbian.” That in part means standing boldly against violence against women, as she is doing tonight. Sparky Lindsay knew Gilpin when the two attended elementary school together. Lindsay is also at the vigil. She says Gilpin, who was a year ahead of her, possessed an air of independence even back then. “I admired her,” she says, adding, "Barb was very bright and loyal. She had a good soul.” Katharine Babad, a self-described out dyke, transgendered femme and woman with a beard, says she’s sorry she’ll never get a chance to meet Anderson. “ I would have really liked to have known her,” she says, “and now that won’t happen. That makes me furious.” And she’s not the only one. As the memorial comes to a close, a woman in the circle starts to chant, “A woman named Octavia and Barbara died. A woman named Octavia and Barbara died." It is clearly a spontaneous gesture. Others join, repeating the statement in uni son a few more times. Upon the final chant, the woman adds, “And.we. will n ot fotget.thau” ........................ .. .