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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 2000)
EpBMout 4 J u s t o u t • .¿■'.„ar* 7. 2000 Proudly Serving The Greater Portland Metro Area o m b and 503/286-1330 « 3 WE R S Located in Historic St. Johns 8 3 0 2 N. LOMBARD * PORTLAND, OREGON 9 7 2 0 3 Phone 503 274-9936 KAREN M. SWEIGERT, MD Obstetrics and Gynecology F*3X 503 274-2660 1130 N.W. 22nd, Suite 320, Portland, OR 97210 Haven't Updated Your Glasses Since Reagan Was Presidenti mmoi in ( um c 775-050 Seeing and Looking Great...Guaranteed! www.justout.com Can we talk? A n open letter t o S utree I rving a n d o th er CONCERNED WOMEN: Sutree Irving’s letter asserting that the trans community has created an ‘us vs. them atmos phere’ ” (Speak Out, Dec. I7J is not only incor rect but threatens to be a self-fulfilling prophe cy. Stereotyping all transsexuals as sharing a common view of recent events at Lesbian Com munity Project and the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival—and by claiming that the trans community has “chosen to both attack and overtake our lesbian community in order to get their needs met”— ignores the opinions and actions of those who have publicly and repeat edly objected to such attacks. More than four years ago, Transgender Nation’s Christine Tayleur articulated the senti ments of many, many transsexuals when she wrote: “Will gaining access to Michigan help one single transsexual get surgery or hormones? Has the Michigan struggle so far helped anyone win a lawsuit to gain employment nghts? How, may I ask, has the protest at Michigan helped one transgendered person (trans if you prefer) keep from being homeless, gain access to a shel ter, [helped] one single transgendered woman to survive domestic violence ?" I’d like to suggest that preconceptions and prejudices be set aside long enough for us to actually dialogue outside the self-serving con straints imposed by LCP’s current leadership. For our part, we could show how the majority of male-to-female transsexuals have been silenced and oppressed by the very same people invading the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival; we could show that the people attacking the festi val have a long history of attacking transsexuals’ access to health care and mocking transsexuals in the most disparaging and offensive of terms. Far from being opponents, the women’s and trans communities have both been victimized in recent years by a handful of people whose accomplishments consist solely -of sowing the seeds of dissension and discord. If we are to stop this victimization we must recognize that it is only the patriarchal status quo which benefits from conflict between us. Please, please, can we talk? M a r g a r e t D e ir d r e O ’H a r t ig a n Portland More on LCP To the E d it o r : I found the recent article written by T.K. Mantese to be for the most part an accurate one (“Aboveboard Meeting,” Dec. 17]. However, there are a few points I would like to clarify. Regarding the lesbian health care issue, after 1 became a board member and during a conversa tion with Ellen Greenlaw, she indicated to me that the previous staff organizer told her that “it had been decided by the board of LCP that les bian health care issues were not a priority.” In the meeting, as I was conveying this infor mation, I followed it up by saying, “of course les bian health care is important to us." There is no board decision that I have ever been made aware of that would indicate anyone on the board conveyed that message to the previous staff organizer. I further stated that I felt it was more likely that the reason it wasn’t happening was our overall lack of volunteers to take on a project of that size. Also, 1 felt that the comments made by Smokey Satterlee were quoted out of context and did not include the comments that I made assuring her that I did not want her to have to identify as a “nontrans lesbian.” That I under stood how hard she and many others had to fight to be able to use that word. It’s unfortu nate, when talking about lesbians, that we have to differentiate. The reason the words are even around is because whom I believe is a lesbian and whom someone else believes is a lesbian may not be the same folks. If we are having events in the com- Hast* aalMngj For this issue, Ju st O ut readers were asked to give their opinions about a topic recently tackled by The Oregonian's arts and entertainm ent staff: “Whose 15 minutes of fame is long since due to be overl” D avid P a lo n s Portland Bar trash D awn S nider Portland Machinist “I’d like to see a pre-empt of George W. Bush—cut him off before he gets any more time." “I’d like to see all the millennium crap be done with, and also all the religious fanatics associated with it.” R ic h a r d C o lom bo Portland J o s h u a D ev lin Musician Chat | Personals | News | Travel | Entertainment | People & PlanetOutcom AVrwpianetout.com | AOl Keyword: PlanetCM engage enjoy “My first thought is Lon Mabon. I was surprised to hear that he’s back at it again.” Portland G ay man “Jesus Christ, mainly because it’s been 2000 years, and in my opin ion the effect of his life on this planet has caused suffering in many ways. His beliefs and teachings have been turned to poison.” You hate questions Just Asking will get the answers! To submit a query, contact Just Out i ia fax at (503) 236-1257; via e-mail at justout@ justout.com; o r n a the U SPS at P.O . Box 14400, Portland, O R 97293*0400.
