Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (June 19, 1998)
¡une 19. * 1 998 » 9 just out; i * J J o i WHAT’S SIN GOT TO DO WITH IT? Washington: “Riot grrrls. Leatherdykes. A dream come true, except for the rain.” As for Oregon, Girlfriends notes Portland, but only as it relates to the Emerald City: “Portland is a lower-rent version of Seattle, with all of the benefits and cheaper cost of living.” Oh well. G r a y L a d y G ets S o m e L a v e n d e r he New York Times ran a comprehensive 4,000-word story on June 7 entitled “The Second Generation.” The sensitively-written piece takes a look at the often unexplored phenomenon of gay and lesbian parents who have gay and lesbian chil dren. Reporter David Kirby supplies several per sonal stories of gay and lesbian parents with queer children, cites studies, and provides quotes from therapists and others. He writes: “It was only a couple of decades ago that openly gay people started rearing chil dren. Now some of those children are teen-agers and young adults who are realizing that they, too, are gay. In some cases, having a gay parent has made it easier for them. But there are also those who came out to seemingly heterosexual parents, only to have those parents later acknowledge their own homosexuality.” He talks about a group founded in 1991 by New Yorker Dan Cherubin, 33, a music librari an who lives in the East Village and is the gay son of a lesbian who lives with her female com panion. According to the Times, when Cherubin “approached other gay organizations for support, most were receptive but some ‘were iffy.’ ” He told the newspaper, “They thought we were propagating stereotypes— gay people recruiting kids. Some wanted nothing to do with gay children, even if we’re 30.” The report says, “Last year, when he spoke at a conference for gay parents at New York University, Mr. Cherubin said a lesbian mother who had fought for custody of her two young children told him: ‘Nothing personal, Dan, but you’re my worst nightmare.’ ” But the reporter also quotes many supportive people, including Wayne Steinman, 48, the for mer president of the Gay and Lesbian Parents Coalition International, who lives on Staten Island with his partner Sal Iacullo and the 10- year-old daughter they adopted as an infant, Hope Steinman-Iacullo. “Personally, I say who better to raise gay kids than gay parents? We allow our children to T express themselves and be themselves. And we’ve lived through the issues,” said Steinman. O n May 31, meanwhile, the New York Times ran an article focusing on a recently released National Gay and Lesbian Task Force study that finds U .S. acceptance of gay men and lesbians has swelled significantly in recent years, but notes a majority of the population still disap proves of homosexuality. “ It found that though disapproval of homo sexuality had dropped by nearly 20 percentage points since its peak of 75 percent in the late 1980s, it was still 56 percent in 1996, the most recent year examined,” said the Times. Also, gay men and lesbians remain one of the least-liked groups in the country, the survey found. “I think the lesson for us out of this data is that the strategy of education and the continued effort we expend on public education is more important than ever,” Urvashi Vaid, director of task force’s think tank, told the Times. “To the extent we’ve seen changes in public opinion over the last 20 years, it’s been because we have a community that’s come out of the closet.” P laying Lin Dunn and current and former Portland Power players, including Lake Oswego resident Katy Steding, Natalie Williams, Lisa Harrison, Stacey Ford, Falisha Wright, Sheila Frost, Jennifer Jacoby and Coquese Washington. On a related note, Just Out photographer Linda Kliewer has taken photos for Gogol’s biography of Katy Steding for young readers, which is slated for release later this summer. Q G ueer roup AG ■< Ju Sara Gogol P erk U p P ow er F ans F rom the world of publishing, Southeast Portland resident Sara Gogol has penned a newly-released book entitled Playing in a New League— The Women of the American Basketball league’s First Season. (The $14-95 paperback is published by Masters Press.) Y o u wo n ’t find any references to lesbian ism here, but you’ll get plenty of stats and data about selected play ers and coach es, including Portland Power coach e d ia abs W atch dog G rant he Gill Foundation, a Colorado-based phil anthropic organization dedicated to sup porting organizations within the lesbian and gay community, has awarded the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation a $50,000 grant to abet its ongoing work in the next year. G L A A D is a national lesbian and gay media advocacy organization. Its mission is to “pro mote fair, accurate and inclusive representations of individuals and events in the media as a means of challenging discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity.” The organization makes itself available as a resource to media professionals in the news and entertainment industries by providing commen tary, consultation and support; to corporations and professional organizations through its Sexual Orientation in the Workplace seminars; to community activists and organizations through its skills-building trainings; and to the public through its mobilization campaigns and educational outreach. Established in 1994 by Tim Gill, the openly gay founder of Quark Inc., a major software company, the Gill Foundation has distributed millions of dollars to accomplished organiza tions in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans com munity. “G L A A D is extremely proud to be recog nized by the Gill Foundation as a leading player in the lesbian and gay rights movement,” G L A A D Executive Director Joan M. Garry said via a June 12 media statement. “This funding will significantly assist us in our efforts to expand our role as a resource to media professionals. In addition, this grant will enable us to extend our proactive work within our own community. We are enormously appreciative of the G ill Foundation’s generosity.” T i M N Mention the word sin to a gay man and he’s likely to turn around and walk away. Religious fundamentalists have delighted in portraying us as hopeless reprobates addicted to “a sinful lifestyle.” H ow interesting that in the gospel accounts the only hard words uttered by Jesus were addressed to devoutly reli gious men. In his words they would ‘‘strain out a gnat but swallow a camel” in their sin gle-minded attention to the faults of others while neglect ing more important matters such as “justice, mercy and faithfulness” in their own lives. It wasn’t that Jesus failed to recognize the devastating effects of sin— that self-cen tered, self-deluding, alienating flaw perniciously rooted in the hearts of all of us. But rather than judging those labeled sin ners, he felt compassion for them. He knew we are miser able in our sinful state and that self-righteous religious fervor and narrow-minded moralistic prattle are more a sign of the problem than a cure. Instead Jesus called for repentance.The healing of our heart begins with acknowl edgement of our failure to live out the promise of our cre ation. In confession we open ourselves to the forgiving mercy of God. Though we are helpless to change our own hearts, G o d ’s gracious, healing love can gradually liberate us from sinful inertia.Thus we are freed to begin turning our lives around, moving away from self-centeredness to other-centeredness. Gay men shouldn’t think of sin as an archaic notion. It is a fact of life.To ignore its perva sive influence in o u r lives means choosing to remain stuck in the futile pursuit of happiness so characteristic of human nature. The hard truth is that each of us needs to critically examine our motives and actions and then, trusting G o d ’s help, seek to live lives worthy of our best selves. A message from the Anawim Community.