ju st m i
EDITORIAL
by
M a r t y D avis
■ P The IN publication for the OUT population
V o 1.
16
No.
14
May
21,
1999
FEATURE
PIONEERING QUEERS: We can’t prove we were
on the Oregon Trail, but we can offer snippets
of our rich history from 1969 onward
up
19-25
NEWS
LOCAL • Youth activism knows no boundaries;
Portland police send delegate to leather confer
ence; program aids low-income queer families;
Deke Law’s passion for social justice; monthly
column The Queer Profit
pp 6 - 1 0
NATIONAL • Senate hears testimony on hate
crimes legislation; lesbian rights at NOW
summit; New Hampshire O Ks gay adoption
PP 1 1 - 1 5
WORLD • Activists meet to form Gender
Freedom International; Switzerland protects
queers in new constitution
P 17
ENTERTAINMENT
CINEMA • Get Real is wonderfully unrealistic;
Hallelujah is not for the squeamish
p 33
50 is a funny thing
Just Outs publisher laments hitting the half-century mark
woke up the other morning and I was 5 0 .1 was not very happy with
this.
Other milestone birthdays hadn’t had such an effect on me.
Thirty was a blur, but 40 felt fine— like maturity attained.
Fifty, well, 50 has the potential to feel a little old. To borrow from
a local radio station mantra, “1 don’t wanna grow up, 1 don’t wanna grow
up....” I’m sure it’s not politically correct, but I don’t want to get old. I can
accept growing older— but the distinction is important.
Cronism, the American Association of Retired Persons, calcium sup
plements, and camera and colon combinations that would make the
gayest of gay boys wince— these are a few of the exciting new additions to
life at 50.
The membership letters from AARP actually start arriving months
before the Day. This cheerfully provides a virtual ticking countdown to
senior citizen discounts at Denny’s. Discounted pie, is this really any way
to mark a life milestone?
One of my birthday gifts was my very first— and please let it be the
last— issue of Crone Chronicles. Crone, what a word. It clearly brings
visions of Hansel and Gretel to my mind. While the thought of terrifying
small children is not totally without appeal, I can tell you that without
even understanding the concept of cronism, I don’t want to be one.
Maybe at 60, maybe at 70, but for now I’m just not ready.
I’m much too busy dealing with the other annoying and amusing com
plexities of the aging process. Besides, anyone who has ever seen my
kitchen floor can clearly see that I don’t even own a broom.
Fifty brings about creaky joints, multiple pairs of glasses and a forget
fulness that borders on the absurd. At 50, you get arthritis ointment to sit
along side your acne medication. At 50, you watch the 10 p.m. news
rather than the broadcast at 11 p.m. (It’s clear that Kim Singer isn’t get
ting any younger, either.) Soon it’s bound to be the 9 p.m. news for the
baby-boomer crowd. Jay Leno and David Letterman are going to have to
go on without me now. Fifty means you finally really do have to get “prop
er amounts of rest.” I’m already tired of being tired. It’s really kind of pissy.
Physical failures aside, it’s the mental aberrations that worry me the
most. Last week I went to the garden center and returned home with a
cute pig decoration. Egad! Can colorful lawn ornaments be far behind?
Oh please, dear Crone above, don’t let it be the fat lady in the swing!
I worry also that the day will come when I’ll falter during Celebrity
Jeopardy. This will truly mark the beginning of the end. Once state capi
tals go, just what will be left? Do we all become candidates for the vice
presidency?
Fifty means craving the vibrant energy of younger friends. Fifty means
cherishing the beauty of fine lines around the eyes of older lovers. Fifty
means savoring the gracefulness of aging hands. Fifty means embracing
without question the aging process in others, even while finding it hard
to accept in myself.
Fifty means looking at our rainbow symbol and viewing the colors of
diversity in a new light. The soft hues of mellow maturity, the bold bright
colors of youth— all are shades of diversity, all are beautiful colors.
I went to sleep the other night and I was 50. It was fine.
ROOK • Interview with author Jan Clausen
p 34
FOUNDERS • jay Brown, Renée LaChance
ENTERTAINMENT • Gag-free Furball
PUBLISHER • Marty Davis
p 35
NEWS EDITOR • Inga Sorensen
VIDEO • Young men are focus of documentary
ENTER1AINM ENT EDITOR • Will O ’Bryan
p 36
COPY EDITORS • Christopher D. Cuttone,
SPORTS • In this game, love is for losers
p 37
MOSIC • RPM’s monthly CD reviews
Will O ’Bryan
S1AFF WRITERS • Gip Plaster, Holly Pruett,
Rex Wockner
CALENDAR EDITOR • Dehhy Morgan
CONTRIRUTORS • Michael Barrett, Geoffrey
ART DIRECTOR • Rupert Kinnard
Bateman, Stephen Blair, Kristine Chatwood,
Shona Dudley, Michael Thomas Ford, Tim
Joyce, Christopher McQuain, Rosemary
Morrow, Boh Roehr, Sarah Swanson, Pat Young
PHOTOGRAPHS • K.H. Kimball
PRODUCTION • Oriana Green
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR • Meg Grace
ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE • Larry Lewis
p 39
DISTRIBUTION • Amy Aycrigg, Kathy Bethel,
Ed Carder, Mary Hauer, Lake Perriguey,
Marie Price, Jill Simons, Ruth Traut,
David Wardell
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR • Christopher D. Cuttone
...
m i
p 38
SHORTS • Social change, one dildo at a time;
OUT editor in chief is outta there
OFFICE MANAGER • Oriana Green
K
■
im
SISTRATA
V olume 1 No. 15, M ay 11-25, 1984
COLUMNS
• Just Out is available, free of charge, after a 25-cents-per-
issue price tag is dumped. Reasons for the switch?
Homophobia, among others. Seems some readers didn’t feel
comfy being spotted purchasing the paper.
MY QUEER LIFE • Deconstructing Dr. Laura
p 40
TRAVELS WITH BETTY • Road trip journal
• The summer entertainment spotlight is on local talent.
Sarazan James appears in Robin Lane’s Changing Matter, a
production of Do Jump Dance Company. The Northwest
premiere of Dos Lesbos, A Pby By, For, and About Perverts,
opens June 8 at Judy’s, 1431 N.E. Broadway in Portland.
The production stars Carol Steinel and the busy Sarazan
James. Faith McDevitt appears in Hollandia '45 at
Portland Women’s Theatre Company.
p 41
OUTWQRD • Playboy = play, boy
P 42
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• The Human Rights Campaign Fund kicks off its 1984
fund-raising drive by encouraging gay men and women
nationwide to donate $19.84.
• In national news, “Dear Abby” says most gay people
don’t have a choice about their sexual orientation and
are living their lives without apologies or guilt.
• The death of Chester Brinker, a k a Esther Hoffman
Howard, the 24th empress of the Imperial Rose Court,
is attributed to complications from AIDS.
fe a tu r in g
j \ I L > S n e v e s a n a l y s i s .
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O u t in O r e g o n ,
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