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december 17. 1999 » jMSt OMt.43
11 lesbians like cats, don’t eat meat, lis
ten to the Indigo Girls and have gar
dens,” one girl says matter-of-factly.
“All white lesbians anyway.”
Sitting quietly on the opposite side of the
room, I glance down at the white skin protrud
ing from my sleeves and think, “Hmmm,
should I mention that I’m a cat-loving, vege
tarian lesbian with tickets to the upcoming
Indigo Girls concert?”
1 remain silent. So, maybe some stereotypes
ring true. But what of the stereotypes about that
girl? As unbelievable as it may sound, some
people wonder if African Americans can even
be gay. In an innocent discussion, we are each
determining how we perceive one another.
This is the kind of discovery that happens
at Rainbow every week.
Officially, Rainbow is a multicultural peer
support and activity group for gay, lesbian,
bisexual, trans and questioning youths. It meets
every Monday at the Metropolitan Community
Church of Portland and it’s moderated by
Dionne Fox, a 27-year-old lesbian who adopted
the group from the Urban League a few years
ago.
Unofficially, it’s a way for queer youths of
any color to make friends and unload what’s on
their chests. In the comfortable, secluded envi
ronment of the Family Room, we sit in a circle
amidst quirky paintings and shelves stuffed
with books. The first items on the loose agenda
are introductions and check-ins. Fox wants us
to say our names, what we did for Halloween
and our favorite type of candy.
“I’m 17 and I don’t like candy,” one boy
says, reaching across the table for a bag of
Skittles from the snack box. I watch his top lip
curl into a smile.
Don't dis
a peer
Rainbow offers
Portland-area queer
youth a safe place
to speak their minds
and explore life
by
“I watched Blackula— the movie where
Dracula’s a black man,” another girl says.
The check-ins give the kids a chance to
recap their week for everyone, including what
is going on in school or home, but also emo
tionally. One boy says he’s sad because after he
hooked up with someone at the Sexual Minori
ty Youth Recreation Center, he discovered his
new attraction was moving away from Port
land. One girl is in the middle of writing a
paper about cancer within the African Ameri
can community. Another boy describes his lat
est desire to become drag queen of the year at
Misfits, and his desire to date Bill Gates or
“anyone with a nice car.”
After we go around the room, Fox explains
to me some of the reasons Rainbow exists.
“When I was growing up, I didn’t think
black people could be gay,” she says.
K aty D avidson
She recalls one of Rainbow’s first meetings
when a young girl asked her, “Are you a les
bian?” Fox says the girl had never met any
older, African American lesbians before.
“We tackle issues of racism in the group—
it’s different being a queer youth of color than
a queer youth,” Fox says. “Culturally speaking,
the black community is not too accepting. In
black culture, it’s like you’re not really a man if
you’re a gay man.”
Fox says the Rainbow ground rules are that
everyone must listen to one another, everyone
must respect one another’s right to an opinion,
and everything must stay in the room.
“It’s a support group, but I try to bring in a
lot of discussion about life skills, too, like deci
sion making, safe sex, finances, how to listen
to people, building self-esteem,” Fox says.
I think it’s appropriate that Rainbow meets
in the Family Room—for some of the group
members, Fox plays the role a young, hip sur
rogate mother.
After this discussion, we somehow ease
into the topic of bisexuality. One girl, masking
herself in a deadpan expression, unloads a per
sonal discovery: “Sometimes I have straight
days and sometimes I have lesbian days,” she
says. “Today was a lesbian day.”
“Why?” asks Fox, with reserved curiosity.
“Because today my friend came over to
study and I keep looking at her breasts!" she
replies.
As if on cue, a boy enters the room wearing
his headphones like a clunky necklace. He
grabs a soda, sits down and asks about the
topic of the day.
“We’re talking about bisexuality,” Fox says.
“Oh, I don’t believe in that!" he exclaims.
There’s an exasperated, group-wide laugh
and a debate ensues. Even when the members
approach a heavy topic, the atmosphere
remains friendly and humorous. The kids are
here to listen, but they’re not afraid to call one
other on things when they disagree.
“Just because you don’t understand some
thing doesn’t mean you can dismiss it,” one
says.
This is the essence of Rainbow: It’s about
discovering how people perceive one another,
and realizing how similar the differences truly
are.
“The group has helped me figure out who 1
am,” one boy says. “I don’t know that much
about this gay stuff. I’m still looking into it.”
This, at least, is one good place to do that.
■ RAINBOW is a multicultural peer support and
activity group for gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans and
questionmg youths. It meets at 4:30 p.m. Mon
day at Metropolitan Community Church of Port
land, 2400 N.E. Broadway. For more informa
tion about the group, call (503) 281-8868.
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