dec.ember 1. 2000 • J u s t o u t 17
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Continued from Page 1
A
spen then began arranging conversation
projects at LCP under the same model as
those that were successful at Pride Northwest.
These facilitated conversations bring together
different groups of people— such as those with
different gender identities or those from differ
ent generations— for conversation in order to
learn about each other.
The office began holding lesbian social
nights, monthly potlucks for lesbians of color
and art/game nights. Interest in the organization
was rekindled.
This year, LCP’s paid membership increased
from 125 to 175. It also held a membership meet
ing last May, electing a new working hoard of seven
members and reinstating a hoard for the Qtmmu-
nity Education Project, LCP’s nonprofit entity.
The CEP hoard consists of four longtime
community activists who all have participated
with LCP to some extent for years. It oversees the
organizations finances and its long-range goals.
“I think its called guidance, hut its really kib
itzing," CEP hoard member L.C. Hansen laughed.
“I don’t think there’s any of us with less than 30
years in the lesbian community of Portland.”
Hansen also noted that the board’s commit
ment to strategic planning has “given life to
some of these ideas that are bubbling up to rein
vigorate the organization.” She gives a lot of the
credit to Aspen.
“Her hat is on right now,” Hansen quipped.
“ But often it’s fully off her head with all the dif
ferent ideas that she comes up with.”
Aspen replied, “It’s very exciting to think of
the potential of all the things we could do.” Out
of the surveys and the annual meeting have
come more new projects.
Libby Harrison was hired as a part-time
youth liaison and implemented a summer nee
dle-exchange program through the office as well
as emergency packs for homeless youth. She also
plans winter emergency packs that will include
warm clothing. The 23-year-old is in charge of
LCP’s Youth Leadership Camp, which increased
this year from an annual to a quarterly event,
thanks to a grant from Multnomah County that
was earmarked for sexual minority youth.
Working board member Mara Cohn organ
ized the Boomers, a social group open to any
body “who was bom in 1959 or earlier and is sin
gle.” They recently enjoyed dinner together
before attending the Holly Near concert.
A total of 39 women are involved, and Cohn
hopes to encourage
some of them to become
official,
dues-paying
members.
“They’re
tough, hut I think 1 can
convince them,” she
said, smiling.
Aspen noted LCP’s
evolving relationship
with the Deaf commu
nity as another impor
tant gain this year.
Pagan Thomsen, a
member of the North
west Rainbow Alliance
of the Deaf, was part of
the panel at an LCP-
sponsored
disability
forum last Febiuary, and
survey results showed
members were interest
ed in learning about
Deaf culture.
“I was totally sur
prised how many wom
en signed up saying Libby Harrison
they would like to take
an ASL class," Aspen exclaimed. One of LCP’s
current board members is an American Sign
Language interpreter and is looking for a teacher
for those classes.
In October, Thomsen performed standup
comedy at LCP’s No on 9 spaghetti dinner fund
raiser, which successfully integrated LCP’s social
and political aspects as well as its outreach into
the Deaf community. “We made a big connec
tion there,” Aspen said.
Part of LCP’s work this year has been to define
the organization and its goals more clearly in
C a m pin g O ut
Youths tackle tough issues during a weekend retreat
by Natalie Shapiro
T
he Lesbian Community Project’s
fourth Sexual Minorities Youth
Leadership Camp recently gave
queer and transgendered youth a
much-needed opportunity to build
community, learn new skills and meet others.
It attracted 25 people between the ages of
14 and 26 for a weekend in early November at
the Mount Hood Kiwanis Camp. The goal,
organizer Libby Harrison explained, was to
have a weekend planned by youth for youth in
order to work on issues such as classism, racism
and gender.
A grant from Multnomah County Youth
Services ensured the camp was free of charge.
This was important, Harrison said, so low-
income and homeless youth could attend.
Harrison began the conference with a talk
on sex. She discussed the traditional concepts
o f safe sex but added a new twist on the sub
ject: mental safe sex.
“It’s a state of mind you need to be in
when you are having sex," she explained. If
you are wondering what color to paint the
ceiling when having sex, you shouldn t be
having sex.”
This adds another dimension to safe sex. “It
allows you to figure out if you really want sex
with that person and how you can get out of the
situation if you need to.”
Harrison added that people all too often
base their identity on sexual acts rather than
feelings. “Nobody counted me as queer until I
had sex with a woman,” she noted. Mental
safe sex allows a stronger connection with
one’s feelings.
Kari Kruse, Rainbow Youth program direc
tor, gave a workshop on racism. In spite of
organizers’ efforts to bring in youth of color, only
one participant was a person of color. Therefore,
the focus of the workshop was on confronting
and changing one’s own racism.
When asked what can be done to increase
numbers of youth of color participants, Kruse
suggested more outreach in different communi
ties. “Especially in North Portland— there are so
many gay, lesbian and transgendered youth
there,” she said. Kruse is planning to organize a
youth of color retreat in the near future.
Roper, Bradley-Angle House sexual minori
ties services coordinator, and Molly Franks of
Washington County Pride led workshops on
classism. Franks began by giving definitions of
class along with the stereotypes of people from
different backgrounds.
Participants broke up into two groups
according to the class they grew up in. One
group included those identified as poverty
and working class, and the other was middle
and upper class.
Kari Kruse
Participants talked about “Mattering” and
“Marginality.” “We shared a time when we felt
we mattered and a time when we felt marginal
ized based on class and also when we made
someone feel that way,” Franks explained.
The hardest thing for the participants,
Franks observed, was figuring out their own class
background. “In our culture, we don’t talk about
class, so many hadn’t thought about their class
background.”
Harrison presented a workshop on gender
i
order to better represent its primary constituency.
Back at the 1998 membership meeting, the then-
board and program director presented a change in
the bylaws that removed the word “woman.”
It was a step they thought was progressive in
creating a welcoming atmosphere to a large and
diverse group of people who lay claim to a les
bian identity in its many and evolving forms. It
was a controversial move that came too quickly
for many members of the organization.
The bylaw change passed by popular vote,
but many in the crowd felt alienated and
betrayed. At this year’s membership meeting,
the word “woman” was reinstated.
Continued on Page 19
issues. She opened up the discussion with ques
tions such as what is one’s right to have a par
ticular gender and what rights does one lose by
crossing over to a different gender.
She noted that there are many, many differ
ent genders and many different ways to express
them. She added that transgender issues and
gender rights are really new concepts.
Harrison said gender labels are often artifi
cial, forced on people by straight society.
“Nobody has a right to say who is a woman
and who is not,” she noted. “People are judging
by someone’s skin, not their character.”
For example, at women-only dances, Harri
son noted that people at the door decide who
can be there and who can’t. “It’s not fair. It
excludes people.”
She is frustrated at the hostilities she per
ceives toward transgendered people within the
queer community. “It’s bullshit that we are fight
ing our supposed brothers and sisters— we sim
ply lose battles elsewhere."
Camp participants were pleased and rejuve
nated by the weekend. Meghan Garrity, 21, was
moved by many of the discussions.
“People were frank and honest,” she said.
“We had a safe space to talk about who we
were.”
Emma Rood, 15, is one of two out lesbians at
her high school. For her, learning about mental
safe sex and gender issues was important.
Camp was also a place to connect with the
larger community. “I met cool people and found
txit about things going on, such as the Lesbian
Community Project. ” j n
NATALIE S h a p ir o is a free-lance tenter who
recently relocated to Portland.