r ç m io u t
cation. My most sincere wish is that no one else
suffer the consequences of suicide. My message
to young people who may be contemplating sui­
cide as an alternative to their lives is: Please don’t
use this method to solve your problems and end
your pain. 1 don’t know what else to say other
than, you will he missed way too much.
J u n e S om ers
Portland
OCTA claim ‘deceptive’
To the E ditor :
Miriam Gershow’s claim that the Office of
Consumer Technical Assistance would not sup­
port or fund a project that was exclusionary or
homophobic in nature is deceptive, given her
admission that O C T A funded Janet Foner’s
workshop [Speak Out, Just Out, Mar. 5].
Foner is co-author of re-evaluation counsel­
ing’s policy on mental health, titled What’s
Wrong with the Mental Health System and What
Can Be Done About It. This policy expressly
states that re-evaluation counseling’s long-range
goals are to “assist ‘mental health’ workers to
learn to use the tools of co-counseling in place
of their current theories and practices,” and to
“ensure that all people, everywhere, use the nat­
ural recovery process we call re-evaluation
counseling.”
The founder and head guru of re-evaluation
counseling is Harvey Jackins, whose introduc­
tion graces Foner’s policy on mental health.
Jackins’ published views on homosexuality
should send chills down the spine of every queer.
Jackins claims that “hom osexuality...is the
result of distress patterns (often very early in ori­
gin and chronic) and will disappear by the free
choice of the individual with sufficient dis­
charge and re-evaluation.”
Jackins’ homophobic theories about sexual
orientation and human psychology are as dis­
gusting as the “reparative therapy” garbage pro­
moted by organizations like Exodus.
Had O C TA sponsored a workshop by an
official from Exodus under the guise of “con­
sumer empowerment,” gays and lesbians would
see through Miriam Gershow’s protestations of
innocence like a pane of glass. But few are aware
of Harvey Jackins’ and re-evaluation counsel­
ing’s pejorative view of sexual orientation and
therefore unlikely to recognize the significance
of O CTA ’s funding of Foner’s workshop.
Phoenix Rising Foundation was established
to provide sexual minorities with mental health
resources untainted by homophobia, while Janet
Foner and Harvey Jackins seek to impose re-
evaluation counseling— with its homophobic
view of sexual orientation— upon “all people,
everywhere.”
O C TA ’s role in promoting Foner’s teachings
is inimical to a community such as ours which
values diversity and human freedom.
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M a r g a r e t D e ir d r e O ’H a r t ig a n
Portland
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P a t Y o u n g
Portland
Portland
Historian, gay and
lesbian history
Ferguson Autobody
“The space shuttle
Challenger explosion,
and especially the loss
of Christa McAuliffe.
That just really set me
down hard.”
"The assassination of
Robert Kennedy, in
1968. That will forever
stick in my mind.”
M a t t F e r r is
E r ic N
ie l se n
Portland
Portland
General manager, 12th
Avenue Bar & Grill
Assistant manager,
12th Avenue Bar
“The movie And the
Band Played On.
I wasn’t out yet, and
that was my first
exposure to A ID S
awareness. It kept me in the closet even
longer.”
&GriU
“The death of
Princess Diana. I was
in San Francisco a
week later and people
were weeping openly. There was such a need
for people to be united in their grief.”
S u s ie S h e p h e r d
K a t r in a C o l e
Portland
Portland
Veteran gay activist
Law firm receptionist
“The assassination of
President Kennedy.
It was the beginning of
the madness of the
’60s— it was the loss of
innocence.”
“When the O C A first
reared its ugly head.”
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