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
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m - ■
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