October 6 , 2000
COMMENTARY
by
»
M a r t y D avis
The IN publication for the OUT population
F ounded 1983 • J ay B rown and R enée L a C hance
A rt D irector • R upert K innard
V oi. 17 N o . 23 O c t o b e r 6, 2 0 0 0
FEATURE
PHO ENIX R IS IN E , 1 8 7 9 2 0 0 0 : A last goodbye
and a final look back
P 24
NEWS
NO RTHW EST •
Deaf student from Portland
murdered on D.C. campus; HIV reporting
proposal comes under fire; Saltzman connects
with community
pp 6-17
NA TIO NA L •
Roanoke recovers from shooting;
recovering homosexual falls off the wagon
pp 19-21
W ORLD • Lesbians get loose on Lesbos
pp 22-23
ENTERTAINM ENT
& CULTURE
CULTURE .
Ride 'em cowboy
p 34
THEATER • Making it all up
p 35
M U S IC • Jazzy lady
p 37
ROOKS •
Village Elders looks at aging
pp 38-39
F IL M * LG B T festival unreels
p 41
BOOKS • Edmund White talks
P 43
D IV E R S IO N S • Pick a No on 9 activity or a new
Mr. Eagle PDX
pp 44-45
Ain't no mountain high enough
Eastern Oregon summit meeting provides clarity amid carnage
I remain firm in the conviction that Just Out must bring clearly to
t 9,700 feet, the Steens Mountains tower majestically over
the
community all sides of a story. It then becomes the task of indi­
the valleys, deserts and lakes of eastern Oregon. Earlier this
week, 1 stood on that summit and viewed with perfect clar­ vidual readers to arrive at their own conclusions once presented with
clear, concise and factual background information.
ity the world below, around and above me.
Just as on that mountaintop where all sides can be seen, there will
With a relatively gentle wind blowing on a beautiful­
always be two or more versions to every dispute or conflict in our com­
ly warm autumn afternoon, the world appears in clear perspective and
munity. Presenting both sides does not imply partiality to one side or the
order. In one direction lie the lakes and marshes, in another the
canyons and Aspen-covered rolling hills, while directly below the other.
Keeping people happy is not the goal; presenting information is. It
summit— merely a careless step away— lies the Alvord desert
is a fool’s goal to try to please everyone. It is a most worthy
floor.
goal to strive for accuracy and clarity.
There is no question as to what is what and what
Although I saw no
A trip to a mountaintop in eastern Oregon presents
is where. The view is perfect, the vision is
more than great hiking experiences. It brings expo­
visible support for
unmarred.
sure to towns, people and ways of life that aren’t
From here one can see all sides, all angles,
Measure
9
,
1
also
saw
no
quite the same as many of us are used to.
all perspectives. All is clear and certain. The
Although I saw no visible support for
only shadow to mar the perfection of this
signs o f opposition, no lawn
Measure 9, I also saw no signs of opposition,
landscape is the knowledge that 1 can’t bring
signs, no buttons, no billboards.
no lawn signs, no buttons, no billboards.
this clarity of vision and view back home
Proving to be more significant than elec­
with me.
Proving to be m ore significant
tions, however, was the fact that my journey
This clarity of perspective that can be
to
the other side coincided with the opening
than
elections,
however,
was
the
found on mountaintops proves to be ever so
weekend of hunting season. Oh, say it ain’t so!
elusive when returning to the realities of day-to-
fact that m y journey to the other
Thusly, any thoughts I might have had
day life at the foot of the mountain. From the
about evangelical ballot measure campaigning
side coincided with the opening
narrow ridge at the summit, I easily could see the
view from both sides.
weekend
From where I live daily, the perspective becomes
clouded and clarity becomes shrouded in the haze and
maze of daily communications, tasks and endeavors. Efforts
to focus clearly and concisely on matters
at hand are not always mountaintop
experiences.
So here I sit, nary a mountain in sight,
x <•>
CP
pondering the tasks before me, wondering w... V .
how to best obtain and share clarity of
thought with others. I think of the recent
disputes between former and present
members of the Pride Northwest board,
and I ponder the difficulty of trying to see
clearly and present objectively both sides
of the story in a nonadversarial and
impartial manner.
o f hunting season . " olt ! t i ^
1 "
everY° for
"e
armed when
and desperately
looking
something to shoot. I promise I’ll send extra money to
the campaign to make up for my cowardice, but approach­
ing groups of people happily skinning deer and
filling body bags and asking their opinion on
homosexuality just didn’t appear to be the
bright thing to do.
Fall brings great outdoor adventures as well
as a tremendous indoor adventure: our 2000
general election mail-in ballots. In the Oct. 20
issue of Just Out, you’ll find our candidate and
ballot measure endorsement lists.
Register to vote, then study to become an
educated voter. Your vote is important; use it
wisely. i n
//
4
M U S IC . He’s mental for Yentl
p 46
COLUMNS
M S . BEHAVIOR • Low-fidelity issues
p 33
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• Facing funding cuts, the state discontinued distri­
bution of free condom s to com m unity agencies.
Kathy Oliver, Outside-In director, said the state, had
been funneling m oney to the counties to purchase
and distribute the free condom s.
• triangle productions! opened the final play in its
A ID S trilogy: M artin S h e rm a n ’s Bent. This show
dealt with a little-known historical fact of W orld W a r
II and the N a zis ’ treatm en t o f m en in th e G erm an
concentration cam ps.
• The U .S . H o u se o f R e p re s e n ta tiv e s v o te d to
cut funding for “The D in n er P arty,'' an installation
by fem inist artist Judy C h icag o . T h e m o ve o u t­
raged activists from the N atio n al G a y and
Lesbian Task Force, w hich w a s w aging a battle
against censorship.
• Charism atic heartthrob o f the a cappella group
the Flirtations, lead dancer with the Rachel Lam pert
D an ce C o m p an y and organizational whiz kid o f the
G a y M e n ’s Health Crisis, Terryl Joseph “T .J .“
M y e rs died peacefully o f A ID S com plications
Aug. 28.
• David H. Souter, the man nom inated by President
G eorge Bush to replace A ssociate Justice W illiam
J. Brennan on the U .S . S uprem e C ourt, faced criti­
cism for thinking gays should be prohibited from
adopting children or serving as fo ster parents.
• R ath er than allow a Parents and Friends of
Lesbians and G ays chapter to adopt a freew ay sec­
tion, the S t. Louis highway departm ent considered
trashing the w hole program . The agency, which did­
n 't w ant to allow the w ords "gay" and "lesbian” to
be placed on a highway sign, likened the group to
the Ku Klux Klan during a m eeting. O n e com m is­
sioner said if P FLA G w e re allow ed to have its name
on a sign, the highway departm ent would have to
provide a sign for the Nazis.
• C ascade A ID S Project's “From All W alks o f Life"
collected pledges totaling $ 1 3 0 ,0 0 0 . M ichael
Kegley was the winner in the individual category for
the second year in a row, with $ 7 ,7 0 0 in pledges.
The team com petition winner was D r Thom as
Barreto, w hose group gathered m ore than $ 1 0 ,0 0 0 .
• Marty Davis
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