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f you can’t answer Mr. Rogers’ oft-sung
question, "Who are the people in your
neighborhood T David Lane is working to
correct that.
Lane is the head of the city of Port
land’s Office of Neighborhood Involvement.
He’s also an out gay man with an impressive
background in community organizing.
His current mission is to bring neighbors
together—before they’ve locked horns over
parking, noise or marauding dogs.
“It really is a small world,” Lane says, “so we
have to work one neighbor at a time.”
Lane himself has lived in a lot of different
neighborhoods. Bom in Massachusetts, he lived
in Paris, France, when young. For the most part
he grew up in Minnesota. As a college student,
Lane spent a semester in Israel; between college
and Oregon, Lane has lived in Florida, Missis
sippi and Oklahoma.
One at a time, Portlands neighbors add up.
Lanes department of 50 staffers boasts a $4 mil
lion budget and is responsible for 95 different
neighborhood organizations, each of which is
required to have a nondiscrimination policy
that includes sexual orientation.
“1 think that it’s important,” Lane says, “to
put a face on our community at the neighbor
hood level.”
The face Lane adds is not that of some bland
bureaucrat. He radiates a natural warmth and
cheer, especially when the talk turns to his three
sons.
Once upon a time, Lane was married to a
woman and teaching educational psychology at
Oklahoma State University. When his sons
were ranging in age from 3 to 9, he came out. So
did his wife. They did the sensible thing: They
moved to the same neighborhood in Portland.
“Being a good parent is hard,” Lane says.
“You have to work at it no matter who you are.”
Proudly listing his sons’ academic accom
plishments, he doesn’t sound the least bit
resentful of that work.
“One of the earliest memories I have is want
ing to he a dad,” he beams. “It drives my life. I’ve
really been blessed. They’re all wonderful kids.”
Line points out that his path as a gay dad has
been smoothed in many ways by the fact that his
sons’ mother is also queer.
“It’s just part of their lives,” he says, adding
that the boys went to their mother’s commit
ment ceremony and come to pride celebrations
as well.
Lane has been active in Portland’s gay com
munity as a member of the Portland Gay Men’s
Chorus. The chorus recently conferred upon
him an honorary lifetime membership.
Lane now focuses more on chorus adminis
tration than performing, but he vividly recalls
one incident from his singing days. In 1992,
David Lane
in the Keeston
Lowery Meditation
Garden outside
City Hall
E verybody ’ s N eighbor
As head of Portland's Office of Neighborhood Involvement,
David Lane is in the business of building bridges by Irene K. Hislop
PGMC was touring the state at the height of the
Oregon Citizens Alliance’s anti-gay Measure 9
campaign. In Klamath Falls, an OCA member
protesting at the concert set down the group’s
fliers to listen.
“Music can be a bridge to the human spirit,”
Lane says. “I know we changed a lot of atti
tudes.”
That show in Klamath Falls drew about 300
people; that enthusiasm for social change—one
person or neighborhcxxl at a time—fuels Lime’s
work with the city.
“I really can instigate programs with wonder
ful partners and change how people around the
city interact with their neighbors,” Lane
explains. “We have probably the most liberal
city government in the country. That’s some
thing we can celebrate in our city."
Over the next several months, the Office of
Neighborhcxxl Involvement will be focusing on
encouraging participation by a broader group of
neighbors, especially queers and people of color.
ONI includes the Metropolitan Human
Rights Center and the immigration and refugee
program.
This month, Lane will address a meeting of
the Portland Area Business Association. On
June 13, City Commissioner Dan Saltzman will
host a dialogue for queer communities. While
Lane expects to hear some concerns specific ter
sexual minorities at the meeting, he also antici
pates broader issues, such as traffic, will come up.
Saltzman oversees the ONI, and Lane
reports that he is very supportive of queer issues.
Lane’s partner, Jonathan Kessler, is invited to
functions, and Saltzman has no problems what
soever working with an out gay man.
Lane started his position at the ONI last year
after spending eight years doing HIV prevention
and awareness work with the state health
department. He had coordinated community-
based groups around the state. Under his guid
ance, the number of such groups nearly doubled,
increasing from eight to 15.
Lane also pushed to bring a broader, more
general health care message to queers.
“Being closeted is the biggest risk factor,” he
comments, “so having social events is a health
and prevention activity.”
Lane also managed the teen prevention pro
gram Students Today Aren’t Ready for Sex, or
STARS. For Lane, it was a way to empower
youths to make healthy choices. While he was
working with the program, he says, a lot of gay
and lesbian youths told him they had been
promiscuous to hide or deny their orientation.
So does he see himself as a role iruxlel?
“I hope so,” he says. “I take that possibility
very seriously.”
When feeling less serious, Lane enjoys relax
ing with his partner in their garden. This sum
mer, Lane’s three sons plan to help the couple
build a waterfall and pond there.
Even gardening is a way to have a positive
impact. Lane and Kessler’s garden boasts a vari
ety of native plants but no resource-draining
grass. Lane pauses during this explanation to
point out that the ONI coordinates the city’s
downspout disconnection program.
is a free-lance writer who
recently moved to Montpellier, France.
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