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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 1998)
works hard in her capacity as human resources director to ensure that O PB is a good, safe and fair place to work— for everybody. Maynard Orme is at the helm of one of the most diverse workplaces anywhere in Oregon, I’d wager. It is a shame to see a rare mention of O PB in Just Out publicizing an isolated, negative inci dent perpetrated by a single individual (it is assumed), when the station does so much to enrich and support diversity in our community. S arah B o tt Portland Editor’s note: Bott is employed by Oregon Public Broadcasting. OPB not cool with me To the E d it o r : Some weeks ago, a documentary aired on OPB concerning the history of the Castro in San Francisco. [The Castro, which aired June 16], tastefully covered the late 1800s to the pre sent. It ran one and a half hours and started at 11 p.m. The only reason I knew this show was to air was because of a radio broadcast on National Public Radio in which the writer of the docu mentary was interviewed. N ot a word was men tioned promoting this program by OPB, let alone any previews to whet the potential view ers’ appetites. Contrary to the popular belief that we “diverse” folks stay up late swinging from chan deliers, some of us do go to work in the morning like everyone else. For a documentary this clean and neat, an 11 p.m. starting time is outrageous. The previous evening, O PB aired a show at prime time about the most horrific and inhu mane event of the last 60 years: the Holocaust. Now, tell me why the history of the Castro is so much “worse” than the Holocaust that it should air at 11 p.m. and not earlier? Once again, we are told we’re insignificant— not important. EX) you suppose O PB realizes just how much diverse people like us have con tributed to the arts monetarily as well as artisti cally? (I do recognize O PB as the offender, not PBS as a whole— my father watched the very same documentary in Fresno, Calif., where it aired at 8 p.m.) I feel I’ve been ushered to the back of the bus and told where to sit. And you should too. 1 urge everyone reading this to take a moment to call OPB and tell them you’re dissatisfied with their weak attempt to appear liberal; request they re air the program at a reasonable time; make them aware of your contributions. Be heard. Aren’t you tired of being invisible? K elley B egley Portland Editor’s note: Susan Thomas, O P B ’s director of corporate communications, says mention of The Castro tms included in the June issue of O P B ’s member guide, Oregon Focus. An OPB ad also appeared in our June 5 issue. W hat ’ s M ore I mportant : W here Y ou I nvest O r W here Y ou G et Y our I nvestment A dvice . right, he can. I had the pleasure of knowing Bruner when I lived in Fort Worth, Texas, from 1989 to 1992. During that time, 1 saw Bruner take the A ID S Outreach Center in Fort Worth to new heights of service, effectiveness and caring. He greatly expanded its on-site food pantry and generated massive cooperation from various food vendors. He persuaded a local media firm to donate A ID S messages, in English and Spanish, on huge billboards located on major freeways around Fort Worth. He built a superb corps of volunteers to work one-on-one with those in greatest need. Beyond the world of H IV/AIDS, I saw Bruner rebuild and re-energize the Tarrant County Lesbian-Gay Alliance, Fort Worth’s gay and lesbian general-interest umbrella organiza tion, which provided the community with monthly meetings, relationship seminars, plus many other activities to serve people living in the western half of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. He also gave me invaluable assistance when I started Texas Gay Veterans, which at the time was the only gay veterans group between the Appalachians and the Rockies. He is a genuinely caring individual whose high level of organizational skill is outshone only by his diplomatic prowess. For the first time in 16 years, a great number of taxpayers can ben efit directly from the major Taxpayer Reform Act of 1997. It’s important to start planning now to take full advantage of these new opportunities. I’m committed to help ing individuals, domestic partners, couples and families understand their financial options. FLOREID WALKER (503) 23&6036 l-80048"’-6626 Voicemail:(503) 291-7713 http:/AvwwwaddcU.com The “Facts on Saving and Investing Campaign.” is a national effort to encourage investor education. It represents many of the values that Waddell & Reed has strongly supported for over 60 years. • Americans need financial education. • It’s never to early to begin estimating your retirement needs. • It’s important to set realistic expectations. • We should teach our children to save. Vancouver, Wash. Hevs no friend the E d it o r : I was shocked when I saw that you gave an editorial to the president of the United States as if he were some sort of friend (“Now, a few words from the president,” Just Out, June 5]. While I understand that you may be excited that he wrote to you at all, I wouldn’t consider him a friend of the gay community. He may have signed it, but I doubt, seriously, that he wrote it. Remember that this is the same president who promised to lift the ban on gays in the mil itary in his first 100 days in office, only to sell out the entire community in exchange for a few votes on his economic package. This is the same president who ordered his staff of attorneys to file briefs in no less than three civil suits supporting the military’s desire to dishonorably discharge military personnel for being gay. This is also the same president who supported the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act and filed a brief to the Supreme Court in support of Colorado’s Measure 2. I’ll grant you that he has appointed a few gay people to important offices and made a few rhetorical speeches, but in every instance when he has had the opportunity to enact an actual law that would protect gays from discrimina tion, he has used the power of his office against it. When 1 read his rhetoric on your editorial page, it enraged me that I was reading it at all, much less in a gay publication. I’m a gay man— I know decorating. I can recognize window dressing when I see it, and this tripe is a perfect example. • Start small, think big and know your rights and responsibilities as an investor. Get the facts to make the most of your financial future. For more information call your local Waddell & Reed financial advisor. Wkddell V Reed RNANCUI SU V IC B Floreid Walker - Senior Financial Advisor 500 N.E. Multnomah. Suite 278 Portland. OR 97232 (503) 291-7713 The government agencies and their partners that organized this campaign have not endorsed any particular firms, brokers, products, or services. THE COIIUHITV'S To t h e E d it o r : I was surprised and gladdened to read that Thomas Bruner will be the new executive direc tor of Portland’s own Cascade A ID S Project. (“Movin’ O n U p,” Just Out, June 19]. If anyone can make an organization straighten up and fly P re-q u alification by p h o n e o r fax R esid en tial, co m m ercial & in vestm en t p ro p erty c o rre c tio n Letters must be accom panied by a phone number for verification purposes. Anonymous letters and letters without sufficient contact information will not be published. 1 0 0 % eq u ity loans P re-approved loans Portland In the feature story “Are You Game?” in the July 17, issue o f Just Out, triathlete Ellen Carder was incorrectly identified as Ellen Carter. Just Out regrets the error. v)d >, i N ew pu rch ase R efin an ce/cash o u t G regory F ra n klyn Bruner a great choice FINANCIAL SERVICES Get the Facts. It’s your Honey. Its your Future. R o n R a sm u ssen J r . To Waddell & Reed A p p o in tm e n ts at y o u r con ven ien ce Office 297-9900 Evenings/Weekends 780-1561 “Vm available when you are! Colleen Weed ” JJA MORTGAGE A d v o c a te s 9 9 0 0 S. W W ilshire S treet • P o rtla n d , O regon 9 7 2 2 5