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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (June 18, 1999)
june 18 . 1999 - ju st o n ly rTiT¡?!n news H ello H ate Recent anti-gay goings-on smack of darker days by Inga Soren sen ing in Tanner vs. Oregon Health Sciences University, which stipu lates that state and local governments must offer domestic partner benefits to same-sex couples, and that gay men and les bians are protected from employment discrimina tion. “Is the rhetoric going to start up again?” pon ders an exasperated Bliss, who hopes the demon strators won’t be back. “What do we do? Confronting them isn’t healthy,” she says. "We’ll tell people to just ignore them.” P F L A C isn’t the only says. “Nobody expected it. It never crossed my mind that something like that would happen.” Eyewitnesses say the demonstrators at the PFLAG meeting and the prom eventually left after making their point. Neither Bliss nor Rodriguez know if the protesters were the same people, or whether they are affiliated with any organization or group. Portland Police Bureau spokeswoman Sgt. Cheryl Kanzler says she hopes the two incidents are an aberration. “I haven’t heard of a problem,” she says. “Hopefully it won’t happen again." Kanzler adds she has no clue why the pro testers are appearing now. I n other news, Basic Rights Oregon obtained a copy of a flyer touting the formation of the “O C A underground." The piece includes a cartoon of a young male soccer player saying to a friend: “They need us, dude!” It then announces: “O C A volunteer rally to kick-off the Student Protection Act signature collection drive. Meet the heroic Captains of Thousands, who have each pledged to bring 1,000 signatures.... Join together with the other O C A stalwarts as we PRAY for G od’s blessing on the signature campaign!” It goes on to encourage those aged 12 to 21— namely “young Christian activists with a mission to overthrow the dominant liberal order through the power of Jesus Christ”—-to come to the initial meeting of the O C A underground and “strategize ways to organize young people throughout Oregon.” The Student Protection Act refers to an ini tiative filed last August by the Oregon Citizens Alliance. The measure, which is poised for the 2000 general election, would prohibit public schools in Oregon from discussing homosexual ity and bisexuality “in a manner which encour ages, promotes or sanctions such behaviors.” BRO volunteer coordinator Nerissa Ediza says it seems there is a “stepped-up effort” of late by anti-gay activists. As for the O C A underground, Ediza says she’s very happy about the recent establishment of the Queer Youth Network, which features steering committees in cities throughout Ore gon to organize queer youth and their allies, keeping them up-to-date on what’s going on politically and otherwise. The anti-gay efforts, Ediza says, “are why we formed the Queer Youth Network.” Just Out contacted the O C A ’s headquarters in Brooks for comment and was informed the O CA ’s policy is to “not speak with the media.” I group t to attract anti gay attention: A week and a half earlier, demon strators showed up during the prom held at the Metropolitan Communi ty Church of Portland at Northeast 24th Avenue and Broadway. The event, orches trated by the Sexual An unidentified protester welcomes queer youths to the prom host Minority Youth Recre ed by the Sexual Minority Youth Recreation Center ation Center, was his has never, ever happened designed to give queer young people a chance to before!” indulge in a high school ritual on their own The voice on the other end of terms. Same-sex couples, many dressed in tuxes the line is that of Anne Bliss, and gowns, came to dance and relax— but director of the Portland chapter before they could, they were forced to endure of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and the demonstrators on the sidewalk in front of the church. Gays. It’s the morning after the group’s June 8 meeting, at which roughly 50 gay and gay- “We did not expect that,” says Venae friendly folks had converged for the monthly Rodriguez, youth services manager for Phoenix gathering at the First United Methodist Church Rising Foundation, which runs SMYRC. at Southwest 18th Avenue and Jefferson Street She says three demonstrators were on hand in downtown Portland. yelling horrible things like “Fags die from For the most part, the get-together was simi A ID S.” lar to the copious confabs that had preceded it; According to Rodriguez, a flurry of neighbors attendees mingled and snagged a moment to get and passers-by stopped to see what was going on caught up on one another’s lives. Members of and to offer support to the youths. the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus offered their A couple of Portland police officers arrived to keep the situation in check. musical gift, as they had done in the past. All seemed peaceful inside the church, but “The youths were really beyond its doors it was a different scenario. upset,” she _____ „ ------- VOUNG “There were a couple of protesters out on the O C A sidewalk picketing with sandwich ® ? ? *5 ' 3 0 boards and shouting things like ‘Do you have AIDS yet?’ ” explains Bliss. a f” “We’ve been meeting for years and that has never happened.” Not even during the volatile days of measures 9 and 13. Those who lived in Oregon in the early ’90s will likely recall the intensity of those campaigns, particu ,a ietve 0 » ° ^ larly over Measure 9; reports of hate crimes soared, public and private debates raged for months. It was high-octane edginess that sometimes turned ugly. And yet, picketers failed to harass Portland PFLAG. “I don’t know why this is happening now," says Bliss, though she agrees it may have something to do with recent publicity over House Joint Resolution 29, an anti-gay measure crafted by conservative state lawmak _ J ___________________________________ ers upset with the Oregon Court of Appeals rul- StfSSSB*-- aña "-’I a North Portland Veterinary Hospital Like any family member our pets need good healthcare. At North Portland Veterinary Hospital, we provide the very best medical care along with big doses of tenderness and compassion. 285-0462 2009 N.Killingsworth