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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 5, 1999)
39939 o u t who Network decides to appoint as our “expert” providers? Queers need to recognize that what is occur ring is nothing less than straight exploitation and colonization of queer mental health issues. M argaret D eirdre O ’H artigan Portland A gross injustice To the E ditor : 1 can no longer remain silent. As the former fund development director of Phoenix Rising Foundation, 1 have waited in vain for the board of directors of Phoenix Rising to tell the public why they abandoned that agency. The donors who so generously supported Phoenix Rising during its 20-year history deserve an explanation and humble apology. The so-called “crisis” that occurred at Phoenix Rising was one that could have and, with proper fiduciary oversight, should have been prevented. Phoenix Rising’s demise is hardly the subject for the self-congratulatory backslapping in Roy Cole’s letter in your Oct. 15 issue. Only the blameworthy seek to avoid the harsh glare of analysis that properly attends the betrayal of a community. This ostrich-like atti tude is precisely the reason that Phoenix Rising went down. In the absence of proper fiscal oversight, a community-supported agency with a half-mil lion dollar annual operating budget was reduced to extinction within a year. Phoenix Rising’s “caretakers” sold out Phoenix Rising because they vainly refused to admit that they had grossly mismanaged this valuable community resource and breached our community trust. That selfish decision wasted a critical opportunity to enlist community sup port. Phoenix Rising died because its former finance director neglected to maintain the agency’s books and failed to pay federal and state taxes. (He is the subject of a criminal investiga tion into fiscal misappropriation.) Rather than accept personal responsibility for their negligence and lack of financial over sight, the executive director and the board first chose to hide the suspected embezzlement. And contrary to the self-serving spin pro mulgated by those who squandered the public trust, our community was generous. Over the years, Phoenix Rising flourished because of the generosity of its donor base and the commitment of its responsible board mem bers. Community commitment to Phoenix Ris ing cannot easily be dismissed. Frankly, it sickened me to hear Allanya Guenther write cavalierly in Just Out last spring about “crisis and opportunity.” Her personal fail ing assumes shameful and epic proportions when measured against the mission of the agency and the sheer number of people it helped, and could have helped, were it permit ted to survive. J awea M ockabee Portland Where’s the B in GLBT? To the E ditor : This started as a letter to protest Just O ut’s glaring lack of coverage of bisexuals in the com munity. It has become more than that. I had an enlightening conversation with Entertainment Editor Oriana Green, the author of one of the articles I was questioning. The fea ture was called "Brave Steps,” and it appeared in the Oct. 1 issue. I found out that a part of the story was cut for “lack of space." The section that was cut had in it Anne MacArthur’s story. Anne is bisexual and an active member of the community. 1 was very disappointed that her story was not included. While I don’t doubt the truth of Green’s statement that she had run out of space, I won der if you could have gotten away with a coming out article that had no lesbians in it! Here’s the enlightening part, and for this we have to go back a little further. In July, after the gay pride issue was released, I wrote a letter decrying the fact that of the 18 people profiled in the feature article, not one was bisexual. I was wrong. It turns out that not one person was brave enough to identify as bisexual. At this point I realized I needed to address my com ments not merely to Just Out editors, but to the whole queer community, many of whom are afraid to identify as what they are: bisexual. Just Out is merely a reflection of the queer community, and the truth is, many of you are still in the closet. As soon as you come out as bisexual in this town you get everything from discounted to harassed. This is a shame, in a community that needs to pull together to face all kinds of gay bashing. This is more shameful in light of the fact that those of us who are out— i.e., honest—about who we are, identify just as strongly as queer. We work for the same causes you do, con tribute to the same organizations, participate in the same events, and face similar issues regard ing our families, our children, our work lives. Bisexuals are legitimate and committed members of this community. We want to be pro filed, too, so younger folks can have the role models we never had. We want our voices to be heard and our issues to be aired and the myths about us to be dispelled. We want to educate, so that more of you who are lesbian or gay, but sleeping with your opposite sex friends, will feel free to say who you are without shame or harass ment. Please include us in your features and give us opportunities to speak for ourselves. 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The celebration, to be held at the First Uni tarian Church in Portland, will incorporate tra ditions from the Irish, Mexican and Native American heritages, as well as “something old, something new, something borrowed, some thing blue.” Family and friends will gather from as far away as Texas and Lousiana for this merriment. The Walker-Guzman family sends their appreci ation to the community that has allowed their family to grow and flourish. Hoka-hey! John's Marketplace is locally gay owned and operated and welcomes ALL to our wine tastings. Call for fund-raising opportunities for your nonprofit group. Visit our Web site www.marketplacewines.com for newsletter & tasting schedules. f f n fiP ty U lu n ef >. . 4 lu iln o r t t a f * tie 7 i/la y e 3535 SW Multnomah Blvd. 503-244-2617
