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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (June 16, 2000)
- june 16. 2 0 0 0 ' Continued from Page 2 9 “T h e people that refuse to behave and look the way society expects them to are what creat ed this movement. 1 think we end up dismiss ing these folks a lot,” she says. "(Pride] is still about that for me. 1 don’t know if it’s reflected in the way we celebrate pride as a city.” Greg Look and G ene Bunting have been making a home here since their commitment ceremony 20 months ago. T he couple played a “cat and mouse game” of sorts for several months before their romance blossomed. Little by little they found they have a lot in common. Among other things, both men love animals and living close to the land. They say they enjoy city life too and regu larly visit Portland to see friends, kick up their heels at country western dances and enjoy good food. But Look and Bunting can’t wait to get home to their little comer of the W illamette Valley whenever they go out of town. "1 enjoy being in ‘gay culture,’ but I get gayed out,” Look explains with a laugh. T he two men feel that gay guys in cities sometimes have a narrow view of what life is about and have little to talk about. For them, life is full of many things: family (Look has a daughter), cattle and horses, careers, projects on their property, travel, and pets. “Being gay men is not 95 percent of our life,” Look says. Both men were once married and have struggled through divorces and lost dreams; their similar histories bond them as well. Com ing out has been a process of small steps for both, but new dreams are beginning to emerge. “You earn your place,” Look explains about how he’s gotten more and more comfortable being himself. Anderson grew up in Portland and Boise. Six years ago, she took a self-defense class that changed her life, she says, and made her want to teach one herself. This desire eventually led to her involvem ent at Bradley-Angle House, a resource for domestic abuse survivors. Anderson recently resigned after devoting four and a half years to the organization, chalk ing her resignation up to a case of burnout. Now, with the help of two other women, she has organized a six-week self-defense course for plus-sized women. “Body image is so confusing,” she says. “In a lot of ways it’s like being queer.” — KD G reg L ook and G ene B unting pending time at this couple’s small “gen tlem an’s farm” near Albany is like going home. It is the kind of place where so many of us wish we had grown up: ducks in the yard, horses grazing in the pasture and a basset puppy waddling up to say hello. S TV r* / L L I I I V X I le # , garden essentials f you’re looking for the pride in gay pride, you need look no further than Portlander Terri Treat. W hen asked how she feels about the subject, this woman radi ates energy, excitement, enthusiasm and intelligence as she articulately explains her feelings toward the topic at hand. Simply put, Treat loves pride weekend. Specifically, she feels a major sense of pride in being part of a massive group of people— people with major differences who yet manage to come together for this celebration of diversity, accomplishment and achievement. This self-described “sentimental romantic” says pride “is all about love.” Treat looks forward to hugging and kissing all day long: old friends, new friends, people seen all the time, people seen only now and then. Treat is especially effusive about the Dyke March. She attended the first such event in the ’80s in W ash ington, D.C., and still relishes the power of the experience. She is . .. The Class of 2000 Jtsl Dii unni Ibr nut (airs ari Hays »( lifr ii u r pnri i ta iiiili "I love being queer. It's so easy for it's all about the lo v e - love for each other, no m atter who we a re." — Terri Trent Coventry Cycle ( 1 \ W orks Tbi Mediation Plot Prograu wm M H u to lulp. W e 're available to help resolve conflicts o r problem s at work, in housing, or public accom m odation. Unique garden gifts and one-of-a-kind art Confidential consultation and mediation services are free of charge. The City of Portland w ants to help resolve discrim ination problems. For more information, Kyogen and Gyokuko Carlson, resident teachers . T erri T reat DO YOU THINK YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW IS BEING TREATED UNFAIRLY BECAUSE OF BEING GAY/LESBIAN/BISEXUAL OR TRANSGENOERED? www.Dharma-Rain.Org Dharma Rain Zen Center is a Soto Zen Temple for Lay practice, bringing people together to build community and wisdom through practice, DRZC offers retreats, classes, intro ductory workshops, and sesshins The Zendo space is shared with groups in the Vipassana. Tibetan, & Zen traditions, creating a unique atmosphere and oppor tunities for learning about Budd hism and its daily application * * FAWHLY P R IT) F. I Wmm Continued on Page 33 zen c e n te r 2539 SE Madison Portland, Oregon 97214 503-239-4846 Fax: 503-239-5217 E-mail. Staff@Dharma-Rain.Org He first noticed that h e’d progressed when he met other men still struggling to come to terms with being gay. “The more you come out, you work your way up,” Look says. “And you get healthier and are around healthier people.” Bunting and Look are involved in many activities, including the Human Rights C am paign. They once hosted a fund-raiser, attended by Betty DeGeneres, on their hom e’s deck and invited all their straight neighbors. They say they often have straight people in their lives over for dinner. “O ur home is open to all regardless of orientation. We treat every one the same,” they say. “It’s the subtlety that shows our pride,” Bunting says. “We live a normal life like any one else.” The couple say they sometimes show affec tion to one another out in the yard. They for get, they say, that they are different and that someone might have a problem with two men holding hands on their porch. “Part of pride is that you forget you’re gay,” Look says. -JK 2 7 0 7 SE B elm on t St P o rtland O R 972 l 4 Fa« 503 2 34 6 60 9 E m ail h o llyhocks|;e (® e arthhn l< net P h o n e S03 87 2 8 67 2 call M ediation Pilot Program , 2 7 4 -9 8 8 6 o r TTY 1 -8 0 0 -7 3 5 -2 9 0 0 Professional Service Comfortable Bikeo Recumbent j a Specialty! Open rucsdav-Sunda\ 2 Î 0 - 7 7-2 ì 2 0 2 ^ NT*. Hawthorne 31
