aprii 7, 2000»
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O
ne surefire way of knowing Jaime
Balboa is a newcomer to Oregon
is his pronunciation of the
name— Or-uh-ga/tn, rather than
the preferred and fiercely pro
tected Or-uh-g/un.
“I’ll have to work on that,” laughs the gay
man, who on April 24 begins his stint as the
new executive director of Basic Rights Oregon,
the state’s largest gay and lesbian political orga
nization.
Balboa most recently served as director of
public education for the San Francisco-based
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights
Commission.
The nonprofit responds to human rights vio
lations around the world through documenta
tion, advocacy, coalition building, public educa
tion and technical assistance. Its overarching
commitment is to “defend the rights of people
worldwide to define their own sexualities and
gender identities.”
BRO, meanwhile, was spawned from the No
on 9 and No on 13 campaigns of the early 1990s.
The group claims more than 125,000 donors,
supporters and volunteers “who are ready to take
action to defend gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans
rights.”
Although IGLH RC takes a global approach
to queer issues, while BR O maintains a
statewide focus, Balboa says many of the skills
he applied at IG LH RC are transferable to
BRO— skills like “working in coalition with
Others, working with the grass roots, and devel
oping relationships.”
alboa was bom in Michigan 31 years ago,
the fifth of six children. Coming out was a
process— and not always easy, given that Balboa
hailed from a family of conservative Catholics,
one in which the word gay didn’t “ring well to
their ears,” he says.
Like many families, they eventually adapted
and remain close-knit.
W hen Balboa’s mother was dying of cancer a
few years ago, Balboa and his life partner, Todd
Presner, moved home to take care of her. Before
she passed away in 1994, she told her son she
was sorry she had once expressed homophobic
feelings.
“I cherish her sharing that with me,” he says.
Balboa first became active in queer issues as
a student at Adrian College in Adrian, Mich.,
where he eventually earned a bachelor’s degree
in English.
As an undergrad, he was involved in A C T
U P-Ann Arbor, the raucous A ID S activist
group that, in part, protested law enforcement’s
inequitable treatment of cruisers in public parks.
According to Balboa, gay guys were getting
busted while straight guys doing the same
B
involves constructing a gay and lesbian libera
tion theology.
He was also in the midst of packing up, find
ing a place to live in the Portland area, and
learning the ins and outs of Or-uh-gfan.
“I’m very excited about this, and very much
admire the work BRO has done,” he says.
H ello ,
J aime
Just Out checks ¡n with
of Basic Rights Oregon
by Inga Sorensen
thing— except with opposite-sex partners—
were not subjected to similar punishments.
Balboa later headed to North Car
olina to attend Duke University,
where he earned a master’s in
theological studies, graduat
ing magna cum laude.
A t Duke, he served
on the president’s task
force on sexual minori
ty issues, and met and
fell in love with Pres
ner, who was an
undergraduate at the time.
“I guess you could say I was robbing the cra
dle!” Balboa kids. (Presner is five years younger.)
The men were the first same-sex couple
given access to the graduate school’s housing
units for couples.
Balboa is presently a doctoral candidate at
the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley,
Calif.
Q ueer C onference
on the
R O is the point organization when it comes
to lobbying state lawmakers on gay-related
bills, promoting gay-friendly political candidates
and fighting anti-gay ballot initiatives.
Last session, BR O successfully lobbied
against nine bills introduced in the Oregon Leg
islature attacking gay rights.
BRO is currently orchestrating a highly orga
nized activist network with goals and objectives
and a year-round presence. As reported in the
March 17 issue of Just Out, the group has been
in touch with activists statewide to see if they
are interested in participating in the network,
which will be composed of Area Action Teams
throughout Oregon. The teams will fall under
BR O ’s purview and be committed to lesbian and
gay rights in general. They will, however, set
goals relevant to their particular locales.
Tops on Balboa’s agenda is to work with the
board and campaign team to develop and imple
ment a strategy to defeat the O C A ’s so-called
“Student Protection A ct,” which could qualify
for the November ballot.
According to BRO, the measure “would
endorse the firing of gay and lesbian teachers
and potentially eliminate student counseling
and support services that address the needs of
gay youth.”
As the new head of BRO, Balboa will also
oversee the organization’s 5-year-old Fair Work
place Project, which works with corporations to
secure voluntary anti-discrimination policies.
T he organization launched a nationwide
search for a new executive director following
the November departure of Jean Harris.
“We are excited to begin working with
Jaime. We had a great search committee that
assisted us in identifying and screening appli
cants that resulted in an exceptional slate of
candidates,” says Laura Dellinger, BR O ’s board
co-chair. “Each one offered us something differ
ent. In the end, the board agreed unanimously
that Jaime offered us both the leadership and
vision BRO needs to continue our important
work.”
Says Balboa: “W hat motivates me is the pas
sion for the work, and I’m eager to apply that
passion in Oregon.”
B
the incoming executive director
His scholarly publications include Church
Dogmatics, Natural Theology and the Slippery
Slope o f Geschlecht: A Constructivist'Gay Libera-
tionist Reading o f Barth, and Gustavo Gutierrez in
Poststructuralist Critique: Toward a Postmodern
Liberation.
When we spoke with Balboa in late March,
he was working on his dissertation, which
W ay
T
he Northwest Regional Queer Conference is drawing near. N W RQ C 2000 will be held at
Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash.
This year’s N W RQ C is beingplanned and hosted by the Whitman College Coalition Against
Homophobia, which was formed seven years ago to promote acceptance o f all sexualities.
T he theme of the fourth annual event, slated for April 21 through 23, is “Crossroads: Cele
brating Our Unity W hile Recognizing Our Diversity.” Scheduled keynote speakers are Anthony
Rapp, who starred in the musical Rent, and Magdalen Hsu-Li, a professional lecturer and musi
cian.
T he gathering is designed for students, faculty and staff of colleges and universities, as well as
high school students and community members across the Pacific Northwest. It is described as an
opportunity for folks in the region s queer and questioning communities to network, socialize and
educate.
For registration and lodging information, visit the conference Internet page at
go.to/nwrqc2000.
■ To get involved with BASIC RIGHTS OREGON,
call (503) 222-6151. BRO's endorsements for the
May 16 primary will be posted on its Internet site,
www.basicrights.org, starting April 7.
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