September
15. 20CÛ » Ju s t o u t ;
IJ DJ ;i i ;ivj 4.-1 m e w s
For the Gay Man in your life
Sept. 7 to stay on campus and away from the
protesters hut that he couldn’t just stay inside
the school and do nothing. “1 think these peo­
ple have twisted minds.”
The counterprotesters said the demonstra­
tion provided a perfect example of why the Ore­
gon Citizens Alliance’s Measure 9 is dangerous
for students. If passed Nov. 7, the initiative
would prohibit public schools from encouraging,
promoting or sanctioning homosexuality.
Sarah Barnard of Lesbian Avengers was
pleased to see the front lawn full of students sup­
porting her group’s cause. “I think we sent a strong
message that we aren’t going to tolerate hate.”
The Portland Police Bureau sent about 70
officers to keep the Grant protest from getting
out of hand. No arrests were made.
“We did bring people out of the precincts
that would normally be doing patrol in the
neighborhoods,” said Lt. Mike Hefley, public
information officer. “These types of demonstra­
tions can be volatile at times, and we wanted to
be prepared for that.”
U nited W ay S eeks P ublic
I nput A bout B oy S couts
of the year. Besides Portland, only four other
cities were selected for deep core sampling:
Columbus, O hio; Raleigh-Durham, N .C.;
Burlington, Vt.; and Birmingham, Ala.
“1 think this is the first time this has ever
been done,” Red Wing said. “The information
we glean is going to be astonishing.”
To illustrate how dire the situation is, Red
Wing noted that just one anti-gay organization,
Focus on the Family, has a budget of $141 mil­
lion— 50 percent more than the entire gay, les­
bian, bisexual and transgender movement com­
bined. “T h at’s frightening,” she said.
T h e goal o f the Blueprint Project is to take
a snapshot o f the community and form a plan
for the next five years of funding. Red W ing
polled the audience on the status o f Port­
land’s philanthropic, legal and political orga­
nizations; anti-violence projects; and commu­
nity centers.
“I think we sometimes think only the rich
have to give,” she said. “We need to look at
what this community has and why it’s not giving
to queer-specific issues.”
A great deal of the meeting was spent ana­
lyzing why the community fails to mobilize
between times of crisis. Most agreed people
only get motivated when they are fighting an
Oregon Citizens A lliance initiative.
“W hen we aren’t in a reactive state, we go to
sleep,” said Kip Beardsley of the Southwest
Washington Health District. “As a community,
| ollowing the national trend, the United
Way of the Colum bia-W illam ette is
rethinking its contributions to the Boy Scouts of
America. The Portland-area chapter gives the
Cascade Pacific Coun­
cil more than $252,000
annually, according to
The Oregonian.
The nonprofit, which
“strongly urges" the
groups it supports to not
discriminate based on
sexual orientation, is
studying the issue. In an
effort to gamer public
input, it has posted a spot
on its Internet site,
www.unitedway-pdx.org,
where comments can be
recorded.
The debate follows
Should the United Way continue to support a discriminatory
the
U .S .
Supreme
organization?
Let them know what you think
C ourt’s recent land­
mark ruling upholding the Scouts’ ban on gay
we don’t keep up the heat to move forward in off
years.”
trcxip leaders. United Way chapters across the
country, including Seattle, have terminated
Kathleen Sullivan, No on 9 Campaign man­
their support as a result.
ager, agreed, saying she has had to start from
scratch in collecting much of her voter data.
According to The Oregonian, the United
“T h a t’s been challenging— to reinvent that
Way had received 300 messages on its Internet
wheel over and over again.”
site as o f Sept. 11. The responses were divided
Call (303) 292-4455 or fax (303) 292-2155
evenly on the issue.
for more information. Send e-mail to drw@gillfoun-
To contact the United Way's Tammi Olund, call
dation.org.
(503) 228-9131 or send e-mail to tammih@
unitedway-pdx.org.
P roject E nvisions
F ully F unded M ovement
ommunity leaders came together Sept. 7
^ for a town hall meeting to discuss a
national vision for a fully funded gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender movement. A tten­
dees included Kristan Aspen of the Lesbian
Community Project, Matthew Nelson of Equi­
ty Foundation and the Rev. Roy Cole of M et­
ropolitan Community Church of Portland,
where the gathering was held.
The meeting was facilitated by Donna Red
Wing, who heads the OutGiving Project for a
foundation launched by software pioneer Tim
Gill to help organizations become fiscally sound.
“We show them how to fish, and we stock the
pond," she said.
Red Wing is traveling across the country to
gather data for a report to be released by the end
F orum W ill D iscuss G ay
M ale D omestic V iolence
n open forum on gay male domestic vio­
lence will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Oct. 13 at Project Quest, 3117 N.E. Martin
Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Portland.
Ken Stofft, a chemical dependency coun­
selor, says he was concerned about a lack of
treatment options for chemically dependent gay
men and began conducting some informal
research into the issue. He then came across
another overlooked but serious matter: domestic
violence, the third-largest health risk for gay
men, topped only by HIV/AIDS and alcohol
and other drug abuse.
"Regretfully, there are very few services being
offered in our metro area to address this issue,"
Stofft says. "I know of some agencies offering
individual counseling but no groups for victims
and/or perpetrators. The issue goes unaddressed
A
Aromath erapy
Experience the Pleasures o f 5 Million Scent Receptors
2544
NE Broadway
(NEBroadway & 26th)
503 331-1125
-
Recycling^ Refilling U1 Renewing ^ Since 1979
E^CENTIAL
&) lotions & oils
7 10 NW 23rd Avenue Ki 248-9748
3638 SE Hawthorne Street H 236-7976
• Cards
• Video Rentals
• Popular Magazines
• Books & Novelties
WWW.GAIPIED.COM