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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (July 21, 2000)
July 21. 2000 < ];ti; ivi 4.1 m e w s Y ouths L obby for A ccess to R oundtable O exual minority youths want greater access to the Sexual Minorities Roundtable and to feel more comfortable when meeting with police. At July’s gathering, a contingent of sexual minority youths continued to voice their con cerns about access to the meetings. O f particular concern to the youths, as well as their adult supporters, is the location of the meetings. The roundtable— a monthly gather ing of sexual minorities and members of the Portland Police Bureau with the stated purpose of exchanging information, concerns and sug gestions— meets at the downtown Justice Cen ter, where the police bureau is headquartered. All who enter the building must show iden tification to security personnel. This arrange ment makes some who want to attend the meet ings very uncomfortable. Youths might feel intimidated entering the Justice Center, some say, because they think police have mistreated them in the past. suggested a compromise. He said two meetings might be a solution but meeting at the bureau should be continued. “It keeps the bureau accountable," Garvey said. “People have to see you and interact with you.” P romise K eepers O usted from OPB R adio O ne person can indeed make a difference. Just ask Scott Lechert. Willamette Week confirmed July 12 that some Oregon Public Broadcasting listeners weren’t imagining things when they heard the Promise Keepers, a Christ-centered ministry dedicated to uniting men to better influence the world, advertising on the radio during traffic reports. But it was a Just Out reader who brought the issue to OPB officials. Within days, Lechert’s action resulted in Promise Keepers ads being removed from the airwaves. Lechert, 41, says he felt like he’d lost a friend when he heard the words “Promise Keepers” on OPB. He says they have not exactly been friend ly to the gay and lesbian community and that hearing their name mentioned as a sponsor on public radio made him feel uncomfortable. In fact, the Promise Keepers have a for mal statement about their views on homo sexuality: “We believe that the Bible clearly teaches that homosexuality violates God’s creative design for a husband and a wife and that it is a sin.” At first, OPB told Lechert no advertise ments from the Promise Keepers were on the air. Officials checked national advertis ers provided by National Public Radio and local underwriters as well. But when Lechert persisted and asked OPB to double-check its records, it did find the ads. Youths might feel intimidated entering Turns out Metro Traffic Control, which provides traffic reports for most Portland- the Justice Center, some say, area radio stations, had the deal with the because they think police have Promise Keepers. OPB says it was an over sight—an error in the airing, so to speak. mistreated them in the past. OPB says Promise Keepers underwrit ing any programming violates its guidelines The roundtables June meeting was held at Multnomah County Central Library on a Satur concerning religious broadcasting. For that day afternoon to offer more accessibility to the reason, OPB’s vice president of radio is said to be contacting community. Mel Rudd, who works with sexual minority Metro Traffic so the youths at YouthNet, a program of Love Makes a Promise Keepers will Family, thinks that special event was a good not be mentioned on start. But he wants the meetings to move per future broadcasts. The Promise manently out of the Justice Center. Keepers, who arrive Others want the meetings to be conducted at in town July 21 for a a different time. Several said July 11 that the noon start time prevents many youths from two-day manfest, say they welcome homo attending because of school or work schedules. Lori Buckwalter, the roundtable’s co-chair, sexuals to attend the said relocating the meetings might be possible if event “to he recipi it would result in increased attendance. But she ents of God’s mercy, said she would expect some reluctance from grace and forgiveness.” You can receive all that for the price of a police. ticket—just $69— and even get lunch. Also at issue was the attire of the officers who attend. Some of the officers from the Port land Police Bureau and Multnomah County ride of the ose Sheriff’s Office attend the meetings in full uni form. Others come in regular street clothes. One eadline xtended youth said she’s horrified to be in the room with he Pride of the Rose Scholarship Fund police in uniform. •has extended its application deadline to “It is a power thing when someone has a weapon when we’re talking about building a Aug. 21. The scholarship is the oldest of its kind in community," Deanna Bryant said in agreement Oregon and was founded in 1979 by Rose with younger meeting participants. Emperor V Frank Sckreckenberger and Rose But some disagreed. “Some of us are gay, and we wear this uni Empress XXI Allison Grey. It is administered by form because it’s what we do,” officer Mike Gar Equity Foundation. Although the scholarships vary from year to vey rebutted. The uniform issue won’t go anywhere, one year, Matthew Nelson, Equity Foundation exec utive director, says mo6t years the fund offers roundtable regular told Just Out. As for the location of the meeting, Garvey several scholarships for about $1,000 each. P D T R E To be eligible, students must be bound for college, vocational or art school and be a member of a sexual minority communi ty or have parents who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans. Recipients also must reside in the Portland-Vancouver four-county area and be accepted into an accredited educational program. To date, the Pride of the Rose Scholarship Fund has awarded more than $85,000 to quali fied students. Applications may be obtained through Equi ty Foundation, P.O. Box 5696, Portland, OR 97228, or at www.equityfoundation.org. Call (503) 231-5759 for more information. The scholarships will be awarded at Turn about, an annual fund-raiser for the scholarship fund, on Sept. 10 at Darcelle XV. P lanning C ouncil V otes on HIV/AIDS B udget I — Partnership Project, Cascade AIDS Project and many other agencies receive funds from the act, Heal says. A F eather in CA P’S C ap C '* ontemporary art lovers showed up June 24 ✓ at the Pacific Northwest College of Art and set a fund-raising record. The 10th annual Cascade AIDS Project Art Auction, presented by Bank of America, raised $180,000— a record for the event. Thomas Bruner, CA P executive director, says $107,000 was raised last year and that the previous high was $128,000, raised in 1998. Artists, galleries and collectors donated pieces of contemporary art for the annual event. More than 200 pieces were sold in silent and oral auctions. The record could make the auction CA P’s biggest fund-raiser of the year. Bruner says C A P’s AIDSWalk historically earns the most money. This year’s AIDSWalk, slated for Sep tember, has a goal of raising $175,000. CA P hopes to raise $800,000 during the next fiscal year, Bruner says. The projected funds already are allocated in the upcoming budget, he adds, so the agency must reach the goal. Apparently, Oregon’s leading HIV and AIDS agency is off to a good start. he Portland Area HIV Services Planning Council is gearing up for another year of helping distribute money to HIV and AIDS service providers. The council is responsible for making rec ■ Reported by JONATHAN KlPP ommendations about the distribution of federal funds from the Ryan White CARE Act. The group is responsible for prioritizing the needs of ride oes ancouver people with HIV and AIDS in a six-county region surrounding Portland. roud The council met July 12 to reassess its prior s more than 1,500 people flocked to the ities and to vote on new fiscal budgets. Co-chair Vancouver Landing last weekend, south David Heal said the council’s long list of priori ties didn’t change a lot from last year: outpatient west Washington’s gay and lesbian community proved once again that Saturday in the Park is care, health insurance, drug reimbursement, more than an old hit song by Chicago. housing-related services, housing assistance and “It was the best one ever," says Mike dental care. Audette, this year’s Community Pride Award The council has no role in selecting the agencies that receive the grant winner. “There were the most vendors, the most money, although it provides some gen information booths, the most people. We had a eral guidance to Multnomah County, great day.” Saturday in the Park was originally a high which seeks out appropriate applicants to ly political event, first held in 1994 to celebrate provide services to those with HIV and the failure of two anti-gay initiatives. Through AIDS. The Ryan White CARE Act, named after the boy who captured the hearts of > people across the country during his battle against AIDS in the 1980s, provides •si" for low-income Americans affected by HIV and AIDS. % Last year, more than $3 mil lion was disbursed in the Port land area under the act. The council has made a $3.4 million § grant request for next year. § But Congress first must pass | legislation to reauthorize the | Ryan White CARE Act and o ensure funding will continue to | be available for five more years. Community Pride Award winner Mike Audette Heal says the House of Repre sentatives is expected to authorize the bill in late the years, it has expanded into more of an enter summer; the Senate has approved the funding tainment-intensive, intimate pride event— the already. The council expects a decision about only one of its kind in southwest Washington. local funding by October. This year, Saturday in the Park played host to performances by Lynn Frances Anderson, AIDS Action, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group for people affected by HIV and Galloway & Luckett, the Rose City Gay Free AIDS, says a recent study found Ryan White dom Band, drag queens Goddess Rockafeller and Rusty Nails, and a group of belly dancers, programs “benefited those communities hit hardest by the epidemic and provided much- among others. needed outpatient health care that prevented ■ Reported by KATY D avidson more costly inpatient care later on.” Our House of Portland, HIV Day Center, P P D V m - ■ v'-y-- \ 17
