Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 6, 2000)
2 2 J u s t s u t * October 6.2000 w» r First Congregational United Church of Christ ■i news GREECE lesbian tour group from Britain was wel comed at Sapphos hometown on the Greek island of Lesbos in mid-September after organizers agreed to tone down some of their activities. Among other changes, a “Wet Pussy Pool Party” was renamed. Mayor Polydoros Ahatzis had objected to brochures that “cast our town in a vulgar light” and threatened to ask a court to ban the tour. "Everyone should enjoy the sexual life they want, and all are welcome in Eressos,” he told Britain’s The Guardian. “But what is not acceptable is to insult the image of our entire community and for tour operators to plan trips here with profit as their only motive. It is unfair that Lesbos and lesbianism should always go together.” Tour organizer Rachel Wood gate comment ed: “Not all lesbians want that staying-in-a- muddy-tent-in-Comwall experience. What we are offering wouldn’t have raised an eyebrow in the gay men’s resorts in Mykonos. “It’s outrageous talking about [moral] corrup tion. Greece invented the word homosexual. You go into any museum and it’s filled with pic tures of women with huge breasts and men bug gering each other.” A 1126 SW PARK AVENUE 228-7219 AIDS MEMORIAL QUILT DISPLAY October 1-28, 2000 Most Days and Evenings C all ahead for daily hours. 128 mostly local panels plus Memorial Banners from The Portland Gay Men’s Chorus abbon a e Show W O R SH IP SE R V IC E October 13 Sundays eye exams available at 10:25 a.m. AUSTRALIA An Open and Affirming Church 908 NW 23rd where everyone is welcome. 221-1459 www.slbporfland.com Summer Sizzlers! F abulous V iews NW P ortland $239,000, Linnton area. 10226 SW 109th. 5 mtn, river and city views. Craftsman quality home, 5-7 parking spaces, hardwoods, 4 bedroom s, 2 baths, family room. 2,000 sq. ft. o f decking, yard and garage. G a r d n e r ’ s P a r a d ise With EXTRA COOL HOUSE too! $138,500. Victorian with gingerbread and ALL ... 3 bedrooms, built-ins, charm, parlor, country kitchen and much more! 7102 NE 9th Avenue off Madrona! 1 Call Celia Now! ----------------------------- .................. .............. ............... -.................-.............................................................................................................. CANADA See my other fin e listings in the Classified Ads. ?. = . v . —CELIA J. LYON— Sales Associate (503) 287-8989 x5774 (503) 786-4959 Pager: 920-8403 Mobile: 260-6231 Fax: 284-1618 ha TI A ustralia let open gays into the military in 1992, and they haven’t caused any problems. That’s the finding of a new study by Aaron Belkin of the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military at the University of California at Santa Barbara and Jason McNich- ol, a doctoral student in sociology at the Uni versity of California at Berkeley. Prior to the lift ing of the ban, Australian Defence Forces lead ers argued that allowing homosexuals to serve openly would jeopardize recruitment, troop cohesion and combat effectiveness; spread AIDS; and encourage predatory behavior. Now, senior officials, commanders and mili tary scholars admit that lifting the ban has con tributed to greater equity and effective working relationships within the ranks, the report said. Gay soldiers and commanders served successful ly in recent active deployments in East Timor, the study found. “The Pentagon claims that lifting the Amer ican gay ban would undermine the military,” Belkin said. “Data from the 23 nations that allow known gays to serve— including Australia, Israel and Britain—suggest that the lifting of a gay ban does not jeopardize military perform ance.” The report, “The Effects of Including Gay and Lesbian Soldiers in the Australian Defense Forces: Appraising the Evidence,” is on the Internet at www.gaymilitary.ucsb.edu. P olice raided a lesbian event Sept. 15 at Toronto’s Club Baths. Five male officers walked around the premis es for an hour, took the names and addresses of a few of the 300 patrons, then left. Police offi cials said afterward that bathhouse patrons were drinking alcohol in areas of the club that were not covered by the organizers’ special-event liquor license and that disorderly conduct charges might be filed. Organizer Janet Rowe is angry. “There are hundreds of special-occasion permits issued every day in this city, so we have to question why they would choose this particular one to investigate,” she told the Toronto Star. “Our women report feeling intimidat ed, violated and humiliated by this experience.” GUATEMALA Between six and 10 transvestites are murdered each year in Guatemala, the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission reports. The two most recent victims were Beverly Lineth and AIDS activist Astrid La Fontaine. According to the commission: “Astrid was a sex worker in Zone 1 of Guatemala City. She was attacked with gunshots while working on a street comer in the early hours of May 20, 2000. Her attacker and mur derer stepped from a car nearby and shot her. “Beverly Lineth was murdered in the early hours of July 5, 2000. Beverly was known to her companions as a calm, shy and highly ethical person. Her colleagues say that she had been a sex worker for only one year and a half.” Lineth was beaten beyond recognition, apparently with a pipe. Activists blame “para military forces” for the attacks and say the police are of no help. According to the commission: “The Nation al Civil Police (PNC) hound and harass trans vestites, taking away the money they earn, arresting and abusing them, and, in some cases, raping them. The PNC offers this vulnerable group only terror, not protection. Obtaining jus tice for the victims will be difficult. Those who file complaints do so in the face of a long histo ry of impunity, in which paramilitary brutality and other criminal acts went unhindered by offi cial inquiry or investigation. And the friends of the victims fear retaliation.” For more information, e-mail alejandra® iglhrc.org and iglhrc@iglhrc.org. NETHERLANDS J he Netherlands’ lower house of parliament J voted to legalize gay marriage Sept. 12. Not registered partnership, like several countries have done, but marriage itself. However, married gay couples still will not be able to adopt children from foreign countries while married heterosexual couples can, so it’s still not absolutely the same laws for gays and straights. The vote was 109 to 33. The measure still must pass the Senate, but that is considered a formality. It is expected the law will take effect Jan. 1. Couples, gay or heterosexual, from other coun tries cannot get married in the Netherlands. “We will be able to call it what it is, and that’s marriage,” said Henk Krol, editor in chief of the magazine De Gay Krant. “[It is] the first in the world.” Evan Wolfson, director of the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund’s Marriage Project in New York, added: “What the Dutch parlia ment has done is...create a marriage for same- sex couples...on the same footing as other peo ple. That’s a wonderful recognition that love is what counts.” Gay couples who previously got hitched under the Dutch registered-partnership law sim ply can convert their partnership to full marriage. MEXICO he head of Mexico’s National Action Party (PAN) has de nounced a PAN official in the state capital of Aguascalientes who OK’d the posting of a sign banning gays and T