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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (April 21, 2000)
_____________________________________________________ _______________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ aprii 21. 2000 * J m é M t, y 3 LHu : ì i l i v i d i m e w s T urning 25 milestone birthday is generally and transgender individuals experiencing or cause for a little introspection escaping domestic violence. and celebration. Bradley-Angle One day, Courvant, herself a trans House’s 25th anniversary is no woman and abuse survivor, picked up an Bradley-Angle House reaches different, except that the “never anti-domestic violence flier that list thought we’d get this old" comments don’t come ed a variety of identifications, the quarter-century mark by Irene K. Hislop with a cheerful chuckle. including transsexual. The Portland-based Bradley-Angle House “I was floored in both a flat grew out o f the Prescott House, which started in Women seeking services go through a phone Anderson says. tered and worried way,” she 1971 as a shelter primarily for women leaving screening that also covers oppression issues. If a Currently she is recalls. prison. Sharon Bradley and Pam Angle were woman expresses homophobia during the con busy updating out While she was delighted to two of the first residents there. In 1975, Bradley- versation, Anderson explains, volunteers would reach materials for see Bradley-Angle reaching out Angle House became one of the first shelters for rather try to educate her than deny her services. queer women. O ut to the trans community, she was battered women in the United States. The But oppressive behavior is not tolerated in the reach is also happen also concerned it lacked the infor world’s first had opened in England just two shelter. ing for a new queer mation and resources to serve trans years earlier. women. Bradley-Angle offers motel vouchers for youth group at Bradley- According to Executive Director Erika Sil women escaping violence who might feel Shortly after that, she and Angle open to all genders. ver, many of the house’s founders believed it Travers did a training with uncomfortable or unsafe in the shelter. The In 1992, Bradley-Angle Bradley-Angle House would be obsolete and unneeded by now. drawback of using vouchers is that women in House began to work with the Executive Director Erika Silver Bradley-Angle staff and volun A recent report released by a coalition of motels do not have as much contact with case SM community to confront teers. Courvant is now work Multnomah County agencies shows that, to the ing as an on-call case manager with the shelter. workers and other support networks as they stereotypes that confused SM practices with contrary, one in seven local women ages 18 to “Education still needs to happen,” Courvant would in the shelter. abuse. Anderson notes that SM groups have 64 was physically abused by a partner during the been solid financial supporters of the shelter. says, “so people notice the little things. It’s not When the lesbian group started it was just past year. going to happen all at once. This is ongoing work.” Demand for more shelter space has placed a new facility at the top of The basics of that work range Bradley-Angle’s birthday wish list. from creating inclusive policies to updating mundane forms to making Today, it is not only serving more sure women understand shelter ser women but a more diverse group of women. vices in enough detail to decide what their best options are. Queer women have always been In late September, Bradley-Angle involved in Bradley-Angle House, organizers are planning an event to according to staffers, and the programs celebrate how far they have come in have evolved over time to better serve women from queer communities. that ongoing work, and to honor those who have made it possible. “Many of the founders were work But the statistics are still grim. ing-class dyke feminists,” says Jody According to Silver, Bradley-Angle Anderson, Bradley-Angle’s sexual has to turn away nine out of every 10 minority services coordinator. women seeking shelter. And the But when some folks in the orga recent Multnomah County report nization started the Battered Lesbian states that in that county alone Support Group in the mid-1980s, 28,000 women were physically they did so amid serious grumbling abused by their partners during the from other staffers, board members last year. and volunteers— despite the fact that But there is good news as well. anti-homophobia training had been Bradley-Angle recently received in place for some time, says Ander funding from Multnomah County son. that can be used for sexual minority At the time, homophobia was a services. It has also received a grant widespread problem in the anti from the Equity Foundation. And the domestic violence movement, Silver search for a new facility is in full explains, and included pressures from swing. funders and denial that women could Bradley -Angle House queer staffers (clockwise from top left) Gabby Santos, Erika Silver, Jeannie LaFrance, Lauren “ [Turning 25] is a pretty big be abusers. While that denial is still an Martin, Jody Anderson, Diana Courvant, Crystal Query, Jodi Darby, Amy Catania, Molly Franks and Megan Savage accomplishment,” says Silver. “The obstacle, the support group has sur cycle of violence really has been bro vived and evolved. ken in a lot of people’s lives, and Bradley-Angle In 1998, Bradley-Angle House began work that— women had to identify specifically as les Now Bradley-Angle’s services, including the has been a catalyst for that.” to provide services to trans women. That was bians to participate. Eventually, a bisexual cau shelter facility, are open to all self-identified about a year after Diana Courvant and Derrick women. Staff and volunteers receive anti cus formed and lobbied for inclusion. Now the Travers started the Survivor Project to raise ■ IRENE H is l o p is a Portland-based free-lance group is open to all women battered by women. oppression training that includes unlearning uniter. “We’re headed in the right direction,” awareness of the needs and issues of transsexual homophobia. W e A *» e'n tU Uft ^t Alton you'll a M a k e B en der Properties your real estate hom e. Put your feet up and relax! D etails are our business. You w o n ’t lift a finger as w e attend to every aspect of buying or selling your h o m e -e v e n the lit tle chores that others sw eep under the rug. And successful? W h en it com es to fresh m arketing or resourceful hunting, our enterpris ing agents really clean house. C om plete service and client ed u c a tion are alw ays our priority. 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