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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 2000)
7.2000 BOOKS ..............¥ .............. i i 4807 NE Fremont Street 284-8294 Giving it to the bigots BOOKS & MUSIC PUZZLES & GAMES ART & CRAFT SUPPLIES Recommended equally for the prejudiced and the proud, a new novel looks hack at Oregon’s fight against hate by O riana G reen | hile writing The Second Coming of Curly Red, Portland author Jody Seay says, “I got braver than 1 ever thought I’d be.” Since the themes of the book are compas sion and tolerance, at midlife Seay decided to come out to her extended family and hoped they would find their own measure of toler ance. She had reason to be concerned about some of her more conservative relatives. To a cousin who had “found Jesus in a most unpleasant way,” she said: “D on’t claim to be a good C hristian and then hate everyone w ho’s | not just like you.” Happily, \ even he came around after ! reading her novel, which does a good job of showing i straight readers how it feels ! to be on the receiving end 1 of hate crimes aimed at the queer community. The novel is set in O re gon in the early 1990s and dramatizes the impact of anti-gay ballot measures on a small community. T he story focuses on a lesbian couple, Cory and Leigh, and their relationship with their new neighbor, a recent widower named Curly Red. Red, like the author, is a transplant ed Texan, and the sage-scented setting of cen tral Oregon works well for both of them. Seay, who grew up on a ranch and has friends in central Oregon, is familiar with the toll the two battles at the ballot box took on gay men and lesbians who live in such isolated areas. “T he gays got hit pretty hard out among the cowboys,” she says, adding that many of the incidents of harassment in the book are drawn from life. The author, who had moved to Oregon by then, remembers how repulsed she was about the goings on here. “T he ickiest part about ’92 and ’94," Seay recalls with vehem ence, “was that you had to really look at people and try and figure out if you could trust them — is this person gonna vote against my life? W hat an appalling idea— that every few years we get to vote on a whole group of people’s lives.” The way she dealt with her frustration was to write about the experience, specifically for the audience that needs the message most: the straight world, and the people who still harbor such hate. “1 knew it was a mainstream book, and I knew the rest of the country needed to know about this,” Seay says, gratified that readers have written to tell her they’ve changed their homophobic views thanks to Curly Red’s story. Seay, who m aintains a Reiki practice in three states and makes regular trips back to Texas and O klahom a, saw some of her ultra conservative clients moved to tears at a reading she gave in Tulsa. Seeing them so visibly affect ed “was a huge deal for me,” she says. Long before she realized her own lesbian nature, Seay, who is part Cherokee, learned to root for the underdogs. "My m other used to make us cheer for the Indians when we watched a cowboy a movie," V V t «l k«'* * » • STORYTIME Saturdays 11 am Huge New Year's Sale ends Jan. 9!I* * Bring this ad in from Jan. 10 to Jan. 31 tor $3 off minimum $10 purchase. Portland's only independent children's bookstore Call today for a free qualification over the phone First Time Buyers ♦ FHA/VA Loons Self-Employed ♦ Complicated Borrowers Bankruptcies & Foreclosures ♦ Credit Problems Investment Properties ♦ Pre-approvals 100% Financing Programs she remembers, adding that such a position was a bit dicey in ranching country. Though this is Seay’s first novel, it is receiving some encouraging national reviews. Her char acters are originals and well-developed. She has a good ear for how people talk and a gift for layering emotional impact into her chapters with a powerful yet light touch. O ne of the author’s favorite passages describes the death of a lesbian character and her reunion with her longtime partner: “In Cambridge, Massachusetts, one night, as the earth rolled over on its belly, Della Heron did the same and never woke up, passing from this life to the next as peacefully as a butterfly set tling on a cactus flower. Just as she had known in her heart the way it would happen, her Bon nie was there to greet her, to take her hand and help her step across, to welcome her home.” It seems very fitting that The Second Coming of Curly Red is published by Firebrand Books, because Seay is herself a firebrand, stirring the conscience of readers who might have vestiges of homophobia lurking in their psyches. In fact, as a way of confronting known homo phobes, the author advises giving her novel to “people who don’t know you or who don’t like » you. Seay, who doesn’t lack for passionate opin ions, has this to say about fueling the homo- phobic fires with explicit images at pride cele brations: “Don’t show people your nipples, show them your heart; don’t flash your genitals, flash them your soul. Your nipples will get us nowhere, but your heart will get us every where." The characters who battle the religious right wing in this novel display enormous heart and do receive their just reward. Give it to a bigot with love. ■ T he S econd C oming of C urly R ed by Jody Seay. Firebrand Books, 1999; $13.95 softcover. The author will read from her novel at Powell's City of Books, 1005 W. Burnside St. in Portland, at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 7. “After a long day on the job site, nothing beats bubbles and beer in my remodeled bathroom. Thanks for taking our hands and guiding us through the maze o f refinancing. We couldn't have done it without your care and expertise! Bryan ” Christine C. 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