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a
i l :
You May Have
Missed Our Ad
E d it o r :
Basic Rights Oregon played host Sept. 22 to
the 17th annual Hart Dinner—and in doing so
reneged on an existing agreement between the
transsexual and gay/lesbian communities.
Readers might recall the extensive coverage
Just Out gave during the mid-1990s to the con
flict between Right to Privacy and an ad hoc
committee of transsexual activists who consid
ered the Lucille S. Hart Dinner disrespectful of
the memory and last wishes of Dr. Alan Hart.
(After undergoing psychiatric evaluation and
surgery, Hart lived and was known as a man for
the remaining four decades of his life, and his
last will and testament requested “no memori
al he erected or created or contributions made
in my name to any charitable, educational,
medicinal or religious institution.”) In an
exemplary demonstration of how the gay, les
bian, bisexual and transgender community as a
whole can respond to legitimate criticism and
engage in constructive dialogue, Right to Pri
vacy proved open to hearing transsexual con
cerns and subsequently retired the name of its
fund-raising dinner.
Basic Rights Oregon’s reappropriation of
Hart’s name and memory for its own fund-raiser
this year is a callous step backward that tramples
the last wishes of Hart as well as his unequivocal
identification as a man— and, by extension, rep
resents a lack of respect to all transsexuals seek
ing to define themselves and determine for
themselves when and how they are to he
known.
Basic Rights Oregon’s insensitivity calls into
question its claim to advocate for people who
are subjected to discrimination based on gender
identity. If Basic Rights Oregon truly is con
cerned with transsexuals, it should admit it
made a mistake in reviving the Hart Dinner and
apologize to the transsexual community.
Most importantly, Basic Rights Oregon
needs to let Dr. Alan Hart rest in peace.
M argaret D eirdre O ’H artigan
Portland
Get involved
To t h e
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E d it o r :
The urgency of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgender community to register and vote in
this election is well-known among many of us
who have been political activists.
The need to rebuke the Oregon Citizens
Alliance one more time (and crush their agen
da, if possible) is critical to our full participation
as citizens in this state. The point many of my
brothers and sisters are missing is the equally
critical difference between the Republican and
Democratic candidates for president.
George “Dubya” Bush is clearly anti-choice
and anti-equal protections for the gay and les
bian community and has no idea what the ini
tials GLBT even mean. We are not part of his
constituency.
From personal experience, I can tell you Vice
President A1 Gore is strongly and clearly in
favor of a woman’s right to choose options for
her own body and of ending discrimination in
employment, housing and public accommoda
tions for the gay and lesbian community. The
loudest applause in the Staples Center during
his acceptance speech was heard when he said
he would sign a new national hate crimes bill
that includes sexual orientation.
It was so wonderfully clear to me, an openly
gay elected delegate to the Democratic Nation
al Convention, that my party supports our com
munity, our values and our issues and is willing
to address them. I am quite convinced “don’t
ask, don’t tell” will become an asterisk in the
history books if Gore wins this race.
W hen younger people come up to me and
say there is no difference between the candi
dates, 1 beg them to remember that President
Ronald Reagan took seven years to use the word
AIDS in a public setting and that Bush won’t
even address the hate crimes legislation about to
pass the U.S. Congress. Most Republicans cater
to the right wing, even if they don’t believe in
those positions personally.
I urge you: Ignore the temptation to just
“cast a vote of conscience” or support the party
out of the presidential office. This election is not
about just you or me; it is about the future of our
entire country— all of us!
Please, get involved with the party that cares
about our issues and will be there for us! Please
tell your friends and relatives the importance of
this election and of supporting the Democrats
and voting no on 9!
R ichard C. L evy
Portland
Green light
To t h e
E d it o r :
We in the Green Party are perfectly willing
to acknowledge the good record most Democra
tic politicians have in supporting the basic rights
of gays and lesbians. Most of us were members of
the Democratic Party in those past years, and we
insisted on such positions for candidates.
But let’s face facts: It wasn’t the great vision
of the Democratic political machine that result
ed in the widespread acceptance gays and les
bians now enjoy. It was the gtxxl sense of the
majority of Americans— of all political persua
sions— that brought the result. And we who
now have moved on to the Green Party are
proud to have been actively encouraging the
majority of Americans to reach that result, both
in formal politics and the larger cultural scene as
a whole.
We have moved past the Democratic Party
and built the Green Party because the adminis
tration of the past eight years has abandoned or
even victimized large numbers of the underprivi
leged. In the United States, youths who puff some
weed have been major victims of these “New
Democrats,” and almost all people around the
world suffer from the undemocratic, pro-big busi
ness policies of President Clinton and Vice Presi
dent A1 Gore. For key constituencies of the
Democrats such as women, blacks, labor and, yes,
even many gays, progress under the Democrats
has been fitful and defensive at best.
Gays have won victories because other
oppressed minorities, and a good section of the
privileged majority, have come to their aid. Will
gays and lesbians now begin to use their influ
ence inside the Democratic Party or otherwise
to support other oppressed minorities not
favored by the current Democratic Party
machine?
R o n B randstetter
Portland
Rules are rules
To t h e
E d it o r :
Katy Davidson’s article “Creature Comforts"
[Sept. 15] speaks of Roger Troen’s unhappiness
that the congregation of the Metropolitan
Community Church of Portland does not sup
port his animal rights program.
Personally, 1 attend church to hear God’s
word. I became a member of the church five
years ago because of its welcoming, open and
inclusive
C hristian
philosophy— for
humankind.
To me, this Christian church’s statement
that “all are welcome” to attend its services is