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just ant » October 20.2000
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“We have gotten support from other
businesspeople who eat here,” Griffith
explains, adding that even a few men
have braved their front door. “We’re not
man haters,” she is quick to point out.
Two Southern Oregon women try to establish
And although a few regular lesbian
a beachhead in the valley by O riana G reen
customers come to watch women’s
sports on the big-screen television or to
shoot pool, Griffith eventually hopes to
et’s say you’re a perfectly happy les­ local gays and lesbians hun­
attract more. “If we make it only with a
bian living your queerly California life kered down.
straight clientele, that’d he a failure,"
She says that she’s tried
in Santa Monica, and you decide to
she believes.
visit your parents, who have moved to reaching out to the women liv­
So what about Measure 9 activities.7
the top of a southern Oregon moun­ ing in the rural areas around
According to Griffith, “There’s nothing
Roseburg but that she didn’t
tain. Lets also say you fall in love with the area
going on here,” but she says they do
and pack up and move to Roseburg, thinking find much commonalty. The
have posters and fliers on hand urging
area is known for the various
your queerly wonderful life can continue there.
their customers to vote no. And so far,
lesbian separatist communities
Oops! “It was a had decision,” laments Jenny
Griffith hasn’t seen any reaction to the
that dot the countryside.
Griffith, who eight years ago did just that.
literature.
Both openly gay, Griffith
Nevertheless, she stayed, located employ­
For now, she and Warrington are
ment, bought a house and found a partner up in and her partner haven’t
willing to keep working 12-hour days,
Eugene, who she somehow convinced to join her encountered any major dis­
seven days a week. “We both enjoy
in the dyke-free zone. “I’m in a city with a bunch crimination except from the
working for ourselves,” Griffith
local media. The Roseburg
of lunatics!” Griffith complains, sadly serious.
explains. “I’d really like to stay here,
She and her girlfriend of two years, Sheryl News Review refused to write
because I’d like to see the town change.”
Warrington, settled into life in their Roseburg up their new business unless
But then she admits she’d consider
they could focus on the juicy
neighborhixxj, which Griffith describes as not
relocating to Eugene. “I’d love to live in
tixi friendly. “Privacy seems more important to part of the story: that they were
a more open area,” she says, the weari­
lesbians.
people,” she explains.
ness starting to creep into her voice.
Despite that, six months ago they decided to
“We didn’t feel comfortable
So if you’re in the area or just passing
take a huge leap of faith and open a women’s with that,” Griffith says,
sports pub called the Green Room. “We both adding that the local radio sta­
through, stop by the Green Room and
hate this town," Griffith states, “and we wanted
tion already had spread the
give some lonely dykes a little encour­
to open a place where we could hang out, where word that they only wanted a
agement. (One other sign of change in
the community could come out and feel com­ female clientele. And that
town is that Just Out now is being dis­
fortable.” (In theatrical terms, the green room is started a rumor that you had to
tributed at News and Smokes.)
Sheryl
Warrington
(left)
and
Jenny
Griffith
are
changing
minds,
a lounge where performers wait to go on stage.)
be a lesbian to go into their
Griffith and Warrington are doing
one at a time
Nice plan, but it’s a daunting mission to lure bistro— which, of course,
their part to change perceptions and
southern Oregon lesbians out of the hills and dampened any desire a closeted person might
What happened is they moved on to stereotypes— one bigot at a time.
their barricaded closets. Griffith further have had to venture in.
Plan B— courting the local business owners.
describes the area as “redneck, backwoods and
“I was really afraid to open this business,” Griffith says they serve really good “gourmet deli
T he G reen R oom is located at 805 S.E.
racist,” and she figures the murders of lesbians Griffith admits, “but we just wanted to see what food,” including homemade rolls, soups and
Stephens St. in downtown Roseburg,
Abdill and Ellis several years back keep a lot of would happen."
pasta dishes.
541-673-8373.
A gainst A ll O dds
in
Continued from Page 2 7
room for growth and exploration."
As for statewide politics, the North Coast
Pride Network has spearheaded a postcard-writ­
ing campaign to fight Measure 9. Ever the opti­
mist, Flues credits the Oregon Citizens
Alliance’s executive director for this communi­
ty cohesion.
“I think Lon Mahon has actually done us
some g(xxi,” he says. “He has brought the issue
to the surface and forced us to look at it.”
Astoria has a liberal voting record and a
strong gay presence for a town of its size; some
call it “the San Francisco of the North Coast.”
Still, Flues appreciates the absence of the bar
scene, which often tends to segregate people.
Sund*(,October 2-Hb at <* PM
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I Ml women are welcome to join ue a *
we honor our anceetore.
This Year We Honor
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| Who Pied During the burning
Timee of the Laet Millennium.
The Mueician'e Union Hall
725 N e 20th in Portland
(juet South of Sandf)
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“I think when you move to a small town it
kind of gives you more a sense of community
because you’re not having to identify with a large
group,” he says, although he does see a down side
to rural life. “If there’s a con to this whole thing,
it’s definitely hard to find a relationship.”
Flues wasn’t always this involved in the com­
munity. Just a little more than a decade ago, he was
seeking fellowship in Portland but instead came
across a group that taught him to hate himself.
He is a survivor of Exodus International, a
ministry that believes homosexuals can be
“cured.” Flues, a closeted Christian at the time,
joined during the late ’80s to see if he could
overcome his feelings, thoughts and desires.
“I did everything—abstaining from mastur­
bation, turning your thoughts away, everything
you could think of—short of an exorcism,” Flues
says. “It was a constant struggle. The harder I
fought, the more I realized, ‘This is who I am.’ ”
He says he harbors no hate toward Exodus.
In fact, the experience is what provided him
with the power to finally accept his homosexu­
ality in 1992.
Flues’ return to Astoria also comes during a
particularly difficult time in his life. He recently
learned he is HIV-positive.
“It was a kick in the butt to keep moving on,”
he says. “Pettiness has disappeared from my life.”
Flues, who says he plans on being around for
many years to come, already is making plans for
the distant future. His next projects: opening an
urban houseware store and a brewpub.
He also wants to give back to the communi­
ty. A passionate animal lover, he hopes to raise
funds to purchase property, breed endangered
species and reintroduce some of them to the
wild.
“I want to be an inspiration to other people,”
Flues says. “I didn’t have any gay role mcxJels
growing up— public or private.
“I’m certainly not a ‘gay activist’ but a ‘gay
realist.’ I prefer to live my life by setting a posi­
tive example. I’m proud that I’m a gay man, but
first of all I’m just a man with the same dreams
and aspirations as others. ” j n
T. P aul ’ s U rban C afe is located at
1119 Commercial in downtown Astoria,
503-338-5133. ZcX)MERS is down the street at
1213 Commercial, 503-791-4100.