• march 17.2000
Tin & Yang
3101 SE 11th
Gimme a carrot,
not a stick
SE close in Brooklyn Area
Rowhouse style condo alterna
tives. 2 bedroom refurbished
Victorian Era. High ceilings, pock
et doors, nook, pantry, formal
dining, full basem ent with garage.
To the E ditor :
Reduced to $122,500
R ic h a r d V o s s . G R I
Associate Broker
2 8 6 -5 8 2 6 Office
804-9 4 2 4 Cell/VM
Be
PENINSULA REALTY INC.
.awwÉüiuii T rav el Sert/Icas,
CarlsonWagonlit Sgf
Portland, Oregon
We respectfully submit to you: Beating up on
the readers is counterproductive (“A Vexing
Lack of Volunteers,’ March 3].
In our experience, it is rare for people to vol
unteer for anything when the recruiting method
is verbally abusive, e.g., “Are people just plain
lazy....7” (Read: W hat’s wrong with you all, why
aren’t you volunteering?)
Nothing is wrong with us all. May we suggest
the carrot? Please put away the stick.
People generally volunteer because they
leant to do something and feel they have some
thing affirmative to contribute, not because they
have been browbeaten into “working for the
cause.”
We suggest looking inward for the source of
the problem. Beating up the readers is unlikely
to bring more volunteers. A more affirmative
point of view might help to turn this situation
around.
S tephen C allihan
C liff S wan
Portland
Visit Us Online!
www.traveltime.org
I tried!
To the E ditor :
Now on our Site: Information about Gay Games VI
(503) 223-1100
1111 SW Alder
(800) 357-3194
“Serving Our Community...by Meeting Your Needs."
Locally owned • Gay operated
When you join PABA, you
Increase your Business.
Create new friendships
Have fun!
• • •
• ••
PORTLAND AREA ,V,L
1 have never written in response to an arti
cle, however, I feel compelled to reply to the
commentary in the March 3 issue regarding the
lack of volunteer support.
1 know people are needed, that’s why I called
the Pride Northwest folks to volunteer. Every
one 1 spoke with was very nice, glad 1 called, and
so on.
The problem I have is, how can we help if we
aren’t given anything to do? I was told that
“soon” a volunteer group would be forming and
that 1 would receive some info in the mail. I also
am supposed to expect info on sponsorship and
vendors. Now, I knew it would be a while
because of the reorganizing within the group,
but when I saw the article 1 had to respond. I
called to volunteer almost a month ago and
have received nothing. Once again, 1 have to
ask: How do we volunteer if we aren’t given any
thing to volunteer for?
D ebra P orta
Portland
...me too
To the E ditor :
vt
g f^ B U S IN E S S A S S O C IA T IO N ^
2nd Monday Luncheon
Don’t miss our special guest presenter
Chet Orloff
Director, Oregon Historical Society
Monday, April 10, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Emoassy Suites Hotel
319 SW Pine, Portland
$14.50 per person
(503) 241-2222 or info@paba.com
www.paba.com
For three years I’ve signed Pride Northwest
volunteer lists and for three years I’ve been
ignored by Pride!
To date nobody has taken me up on my
offer but I’ve seen plenty of appeals for volun
teers.
1 recently called Pride and said basically the
same thing. They have just about passed my tol
erance point of waiting while they consider my
offer to volunteer.
Your commentary, “A Vexing Lack of Volun
teers, is quite to the point, and I know there is a
rightful need of help. I’m just plenty pissed that
Pride hasn’t responded to my repeated offers.
R ich K ibbons
Portland
When rights collide
To the E ditor :
It s great that we live in a country where laws
no longer restrict self-expression. But no rights
are absolute. Someone’s right to offend the vot
ing majority through bad drag, nudity, dnmken-
ness and sexual displays in the highly public set
ting of the pride parade collides with someone
else s right to enjoy the many privileges current
ly extended only to straight citizens. Thats
because there are potential consequences of
public behavior th a t translate to the ballot
box— and far beyond the ballot, to include the
acts of violence directed at sexual minorities.
A m erican life circa 2000 isn’t a dress
rehearsal for anyone’s latest starring vehicle.
T he grim reality finds us as a very small number
of good people scattered thinly throughout a
deeply intolerant population, and it is under
these circumstances th a t we are desperately try
ing to obtain th e most elementary of human
rights.
T he inarguable fact is that homophobia
exists, and certain behaviors take their toll.
Every shake of hare unmentionable and every
dollop of excess mascara in a public venue has
the chance of weakening our supporters and
inflaming our adversaries. In a practical sense,
this can set the rest of us back in our quest to get
child custody, h ealth insurance, medical visita
tion, inheritance and the 1,000-plus other priv
ileges that straights are fighting us tooth and
claw over. Some may value public nudity, public
sexual displays, and public fright-makeup far
more than these things, hut they have no right
to queer it for others w ith different values. And
moreover, some think that the behavior I’m
describing is a contradiction to the concept of
real pride, anyway.
Anyone who shares my concern over this so-
called “pride” and its underappreciated contri
butions to prejudice can boycott the pride
parade. It’s time to send a message to pride man
agers and the self-serving revelers that a reason
able standard for behavior that reflects genuine
pride in ourselves and our accomplishments
must he adopted.
M itch G o u l d
Forest Grove
He’s a ‘se x m achine
to both g e n d e rs’
To the E ditor :
My heart skipped a beat when 1 saw Rupert
Everett, whom I have long admired, on your
cover (“T h e Rupert Report,” March 3]. My next
thought was, “1 bet Just O ut won’t even mention
the fact that he is bisexual,” and, unfortunately,
I was correct.
Believe me, 1 can understand why gay men
would want to hog him all to themselves. But
the fact is he has come out as bisexual, so you
just have to learn to share!
If Mr. C uttone had really done his research
he would have read the charming quote from
Everett: “I am just a sex machine to both gen
ders. It’s all very exhausting, I have to get a lot
of sleep.”
Perhaps the character Everett plays in the
movie is monosexual, hut he is not. The numer
ous references to him as “gay" could have been
replaced w ith “straig h t” and been just as
(in)accurate!
I am hoping for, and working toward, a future
when politics no longer demand that respeettu ,
consensual sexual proclivities require labeling-
U n til th en , 1 ask th a t Just O ut respect,
include— hell, even give lavish preferentia
treatm ent— to those of us who are bisexuals. e
are not going to ask nicely for much longer.
T amara S wan
Portland
Christopher D. Cuttone responds:
I consider myself bisexual as well, and I fed y°ur
pain.
While I don't recall reading the quote you ,,k71