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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (July 16, 1999)
july 16.1999.jMt«*7 irrmnews Spend a week on the Oregon Coast... C enter C entral Family CampWFT Ashland's gay and lesbian center settles into new home; idea for Portland center is on the back burner by Inga Sorensen PHOTO BY K.H KIMBALL ou’re our very first incoming call,” says Joan Haukom, sounding a bit exhausted. Its early July and Haukom et al. have been laboring to move the innards of the Abdill-Ellis Lambda Community Center from one locale to another. “Quite honestly, it’s taken us away from the work we really need to be doing,” she says. Like educating the public on gay and lesbian issues and advocating tolerance—worthy causes that sometimes get stalled by tedious roadblocks such as moving. “We’re still in boxes here,” says Haukom, the center’s director. Previously situated at 56 Third St. in Ashland—the only city in Oregon to have a full-fledged gay and lesbian commu nity center—the facility has shifted to a nearby spot at 281 Fourth St., still in the heart of downtown. The Abdill-Ellis Lambda Community Cen ter is named for two local community members, longtime couple Michelle Abdill and Roxanne Ellis, who were murdered in 1995. The killings prompted an outpouring of sup port from people across the country who sent checks ranging from $5 to $1,500 to memorial ize the women, who had been very involved in church, civic and political activities. haunt began. It was a search that went on for months. “Rents in Ashland are very high,” notes Haukom. Finally, however, a new home was secured. According to Haukom, the cunent site— which previously served as a film studio—is larg er than the last, allowing for meetings and dances and all sorts of goings-on. For now, however, the goal is to get the sign up and the boxes unpacked. “So we can do what we’re here to do,” she says. peaking of gay and lesbian community cen ters, a few months back Just Out ran a fea ture story that pondered the notion of a estab lishing one in Portland. Several cities nationwide have queer com munity centers. Five cities—New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Diego and Santa Bar bara, Calif.—have gay centers with budgets exceeding a million dollars. (The L.A. facility has a budget of nearly $30 million.) Sources in the story mulled the pros and cons, and raised questions like: Is a center need ed in Portland? Does it have the financial back ing? Would fund raising for a center suck dona tions from existing groups? Would the space be used for social or political purposes, or both? Who benefits? Who loses? Bob Mensel of the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus was one of those touting the idea, saying a center would demon strate “that there are other avenues of cama raderie besides ballot measures.” At the time he told Just Out he felt partici pating groups would ben efit from a reduction in scheduling conflicts and a big boost in visibility and outreach. Mensel has continued to float the concept, and Just Out checked in with him in July to find out what’s up. Faced with community ambivalence about the creation of a queer “In talking with oth center in Portland, Bob Mensel is pursuing the idea of forming a ers I’ve found that there less formal “community council” doesn’t even seem to be a The financial bolstering allowed a long-sim sense of community much of the time, so I think maybe the first thing to do is try and create com mering idea to actually become a reality, and in munity,” he says. 1996 the center opened . Since then it has Mensel suggests the formation of a commu served as a meeting and organizing space for sex nity council—a gathering of folks (both individ ual minorities and their allies living in southern uals and representatives from interested organi Oregon. The center’s mission is “to develop and sus zations) who meet regularly to let one other know what’s going on. tain coalitions of bisexual, gay, lesbian and “There are so many groups and lots of us sim transgendered people, their families and friends, ply don’t know what the others are up to,” he promoting through advocacy and education a says. “Perhaps that would be a good place to find positive and healthy presence in the larger com out about each other and talk about things like munity.” whether we need a community center." This March, the center received a notice Mensel says he’s currently chatting with peo from the landlord of the (now previous) space ple about the community council idea. essentially saying it was time to clear out. "Maybe we should just do it!” he says. “[The landlord] wanted to turn the spot into a vacation rental,” explains Haukom, adding it ■ To contact the A bdill -E llis L ambda C ommu was a total surprise. nity C enter , drop a letter to P.O. 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