sbeak
out
ma/ch 3.2000 »
ATTENTION!
m ilita r y s e r v ic e m e m b e r s
From one kind
off Christian to another
A n open letter to those anti - cay protest
ers [“T hey ’ re B a a - a c k ,” F eb . 18] who
APPEARED AT THE PORTLAND PFLAG MEETING
at the F irst U nited M ethodist C hurch on
F eb . 8:
Thank you for blessing me and all who are
gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered. Thank
you for blessing my mom and all the parents,
friends and families of sexual minorities. We
may differ in our religious views. Some of us
don’t believe in Jesus Christ as savior, or even
prophet. Some of us don’t believe in God. Some
of us worship the Earth Goddess, and some of us
worship no deity at all.
Yet by your own faith and convictions—
expressed in the very words of Jesus from the
Sermon on the Mount— you have blessed each
and every one of us. 1 am a Christian, though I
rarely express it. Rather than use a bullhorn to
voice my beliefs, I prefer to follow the teaching
of St. Francis of Assisi: “Preach the gospel at all
times. If necessary, use words.” 1 try to love my
enemies (Mt. 5:43-48), treat everyone in the
spirit of Christ (Mt. 25:34-46), forgive and rec
oncile with everyone around me (Lk. 7:44-50),
carry the burdens 1 have been granted (Lk. 9:23-
27; Mt. 11:28-30), and follow the living Word of
God (Mic. 6:8; Lk. 8:11-18; Mt. 22:34-40). 1 try
not to judge (Mt. 7:1-5; Rom. 2:1-11), I try to
live with compassion and self-sacrifice (Mt.
10:5-15), and 1 try not to sin (Mt. 15:1-20).
But 1 am human and weak. I try to live as a
Christian, but 1 often fail (Rom. 7:14-15). In
fact, I know pagans and atheists who are better
Christians than I.
I am more comfortable expressing my sexual
orientation in my church than I am expressing
my religious beliefs to my gay and lesbian
friends. In our LG B T community, religion is
rarely even mentioned, much less discussed.
When the topic does come up, it is usually
treated as a superficial philosophy, rather than a
personal set of convictions. 1 am bothered by our
distrust of (if not disgust for) religion. But then I
meet people like you and 1 understand.
I see you, a group of self-proclaimed Chris
tians, reviling others, persecuting others and
shouting lies about others, all in the name of
Jesus. I hear you shouting at my friends, at my
own mother, and I understand why we in the
LG B T community fear religion. And maybe my
community is right to fear religion.
Perhaps you are right, and I am wrong. Per
haps God commands us to live with spite, vin
dictiveness, derision, fear, mistrust, alienation
and condemnation. Perhaps I really am con
demned to Hell.
But if I end up in Hell, at least I will go there
out of love and compassion, rather than revul
sion and persecution.
J oel C orcoran
Portland
Honoring pride
in all its diversity
To the E ditor :
In reference to the Feb. 4 article titled “Party
Girl” regarding Pride 2000, the board of Pride
Northwest would like to clear up any misunder
standings that might have occurred.
We value and honor the contributions of
past board members and volunteers. The current
board has built upon their successes, and it is
their work that allows pride to continue to grow
and evolve. No disrespect was intended toward
anyone who has been involved in the creation
of past pride celebrations.
We also want to acknowledge the many con
tributions of Janna MacAuslan, who continues
to serve on the Entertainment Committee as
vice chair and mentor, as well as logistics coor
dinator. Janna’s involvement is an important
factor in the evolution of that committee, and
we hold her work in the highest regard, both
past and present.
Any ideas that were mentioned in the article
are still in development. If you have any con-
lesbian, bisexual and irons social activities would you like to see more available
or more frequent?”
cems, please feel free to contact us. Community
input is very important to us, as it is our goal to
produce an event that showcases the diversity of
our community.
As was mentioned in the article, putting on
pride is like throwing a party for 50,000 of our
closest friends. That party includes music, danc
ing, inspiring speakers, grass-roots activism,
political debates, celebration, education, and
the plain and simple glory of seeing Gov. Tom
McCall Waterfront Park fill up with thousands
of queer folks.
Pride means something different to every
one. The board of Pride Northwest tries to bal
ance the needs of the different aspects of our
community by providing a broad range of events
and speakers. The more input we get from the
community, the better able we are to do this.
I ask that we all try to remember that
although some of the events might bother you
or even offend you, there are other people pre
sent who came to pride just to see those events.
Our community is very diverse, and it is precise
ly that diversity that makes us strong and
vibrant.
See you in June!
J es N elson
Pride Northwest Board of Directors
Portland
"I would like to get
together with my
G L B T friends and
play bingo."
C haz R iffle
Tualatin
Web genius
“Why do we need
exclusively gay
activities? Why can’t
we just get together
with whomever we
want? Screw labels,
I just want to hang out and do stuff.”
G ary B oyer
Portland
Senior loan officer,
Majestic Mortgage
K aren S orensen
Portland
Digital Real Estate
Services
“Dances— my part
ner and I love to
dance."
“I’d like to be able
to go out dancing in a
nonsmoking bar.”
You have questions— Just Asking will get the answers! To submit a query,
contact Just Out via fax at (503) 236-1257; via e-mail at justout@justout.com ;
or via the U SPS at P.O . Box 14400, Portland, OR 97293-0400.
• Need help with process
ing a discharge?
• Need a legal or medical
referral?
• Feel like you’re being
treated unfairly?
• Harassed or abused?
• Know someone who is
absent w/o leave?
CALL:
War R esisters League
( 5 0 3 ) 338-0005
Schedule your appointment
today with:
Christina Sigwart
Shame on you!
To the E ditor :
The “Party Girl” article in the Feb. 4 issue is
not only rude and insulting but also one-sided.
In my opinion it is a publicity article for Michael
Kennedy, a k a Misha Rockafeller, as an enter
tainer. If she also intends to be in a leadership
position in our community, she should do her
homework. Pride is far more than a party— it
commemorates a history long fought for and
earned after much humiliation, violence and
discrimination. Janna M acAuslan, Kristan
Aspen, Cindy Dahl and all the other members
of past pride boards put their hearts, souls, time,
energy and love into pride and did a fabulous
job.
These are things you failed to mention; hon
oring them in some small way for their untiring
years of hard and successful work. I know you
can do better.
M arj G reenhut
Gaston, Ore.
S arah S m ith
Eastmoreland
Student
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K EN SP U R L O C K , GRI
n o ta
During a Feb.
17 board meet
ing, Jes Nelson
was elected chair 01
of Pride North O
west Inc., replac
ing Christopher
Webster,
who
resigned from the
board Feb. 12.
Nelson previ
Nelson (left) and Ettinger
ously served as
vice chair. That position has been filled by
Carmella Ettinger, who was elected to the post
at the same meeting.
Portland
attorneys
Susan Eggum
and Hala Gores
are pleased
to announce
the birth
of their son,
Jacob Michael,
on Dec. 22, 1999
360-901-4944
503-240-8753, ext. 116
Houseken@aol.com
John L. Scott Real Estate Vancouver West
W h a t M akes A G ay S oul U nique? 8-week
educational group for gay men on a spiritual
journey. Wednesday evenings in April and May.
S ool Salon: Learn the basics of creating
your own spiritual community by joining this
8-week class. Open to all. Thursday
evenings in April and May.
G LB T Conm nnrityJfofldfcig P rogram s
One Friday night in March - June.
Pre-registration required for all programs.
Individual Spiritual Direction sessions by
appointment. For information call:
ifiT
■j
I
Dale Rhodes, M.S., MJV.
Spiritual Director
Spiritual Guidance Through
Life's Passages
m
Interfaith Spiritual Center
■-*" w
3910 Southeast I Ith Ave Portland. OR 97202
(503) 289-4103 DjrhoSeaol com
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