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. Box 927, Ash
“We had no idea it was coming,” she says.
But come it did, and the search for a new land, OR 97520; or call (541) 488-6990.
S
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