juna 1, 2001 *
| U S t ['111 1
COMMENTARY
BY M
arty
D
a v is
■ V The IN publication for the OUT population
F ounded 1983 • J ay B rown and R enée L a C hance
Vol. 18 N o. 15
Ju n e 1, 2 0 0 1
FEATURE
TRIPPING 0ITC Ideas and inspiration for summer
travel
P
25
NEWS
NORTHWEST • AIDS turns 20
pp 5-17
NATIONAL • What’s in a name?
pp 19-21
WORLD • In South Africa, size matters
pp 22-23
ENTERTAINMENT
TREATER • She’s not box office Poison
p 38
CULTURE • Mad hatters tea party
p 39
DIVERSIONS • Show your pride this month
p41
DOORS • Headbanger’s ball; Spanbauer returns
pp 43-45
THEATER • Bad boys are coming to town
P 46
CULTURE • Pride preview; smell a rose, hug a bear
pp 47-49
PEOPLE • Making waves and making herstory
r 51
GROUPS • Don’t mess with these Avengers
p 53
MUSIC • Lovely Lynn hits the road
p 54
COLUMNS
M S. BEHAVIOR • A friend with a big truck
p 35
SPECIAL
"Lord, help me be the person my dog thinks I am"
Publisher wrestles with issue of dog-racing ads
o far in my life I have known one great love. It lasted 16
years and ended with the heartwrenching death of my love,
my buddy, my pal, my beloved dog John-Paul.
I think the inequity in the life spans of dogs and people is
one of life’s great cruelties. I suppose one can look to the posi
tive and realize this imbalance provides opportunities for more dogs to
spend 15 to 20 years in loving homes. On the other hand, how many times
can a person take the death of such a cherished friend and loved one?
It can be difficult to balance the pain of loss with the many plea
sures of companionship, but in my case the joys of dog ownership won
out, and 1 am now five years into my second dog relationship.
Although the current pooch is nowhere near the end of her days, it’s
fairly understood that I’ll outlast her and probably begin again with yet
another dog. How could you ever not have a dog?
John-Paul was exceptional, as I’m sure all your dogs are. My current
dog, Peanut is, well, she’s cute. Cute and protective.
This means she barks— a lot. She views
all people as ax murderers and ideally
would have a five-block people-free securi
ty zone established around us.
Pretty much every waking moment of
her day is concentrated on achieving this
goal. There surely is a reason why this kind
of dog is so cute— it is the only thing that
saves them from total annihilation.
Given a couple of days with this dog,
Mother Theresa would have throttled her
with a rosary— but like I said she loves me
dearly and is a great companion and pal.
Were it not for the barking, our life together
would be nearly perfect.
O h sure, there was that recent incident
with the squirrel, but hey, it’s not like they’re
an endangered species or anything. One less
squirrel in my back yard— gee, now there’s only
alxxit 356 left.
The squirrel didn’t die, anyway; it was merely deeply
annoyed, and for its rabid revenge it vented its frustration in my flower
beds. Such little creatures, such deep holes. Digging and cursing.
Cursing and digging.
So, what the hell is the point o f all this, you ask? The point I’m try
ing to make is that I am a dog person. I rescue them when they’re lost,
comfort them when they’re scared and sleep with them with they’re
smelly. This is the compassionate and probably best part of who I am.
Unfortunately, this conflicts greatly with that other part of me: the
/ am a
publisher, the business owner, the person who has to decide whether to
run ads for greyhound racing in her paper.
If you read the last issue— and I certainly trust you did— you know
the challenge was issued that I should not run ads for the local grey
hound racing establishment. T h e request was made based on the work
ing and living conditions and treatment of the dogs.
Greyhound racing is an industry with a deplorable track record in
animal rights. I am not fully educated as to all of this, but I read
enough to believe problems indeed do exist.
And although the situation might be improving in some places, it
remains far from ideal. Dogs suffer because of this sport and this indus
try. To me, that is unacceptable.
Based on emotional response and personal beliefs alone and sorely
ignoring good business sense, I have made the decision not to run the
ads for greyhound racing.
This decision is, by and large, no better than the best of two bad
choices. Running the ads doesn’t feel right, but nei
ther does the idea of not running them.
I still don’t think 1 should make choices for you.
However, I’m sticking with the decision that makes
me feel the least bad.
A secondary factor in this decision is that
I do view our advertising rela
tionships as partnerships.
Som e are better than o th
ers; nonetheless, the c o n
tinued success o f this paper
depends on advertisers and reader
support o f advertisers.
My mantra since taking ownership
has been “support your advertisers.” I
cannot, in good conscience, encourage
you to support dog racing.
From another perspective, it can be said
many advertised products have negative effects
on consumers. Just Out features advertisements for liquor,
dentists, restaurants, dating services and others— all of which could be
absurdly aligned with rack and ruin.
To my mind, the difference is that the impact of these choices affects
the person making the choices. In greyhound racing, the dogs have no
choice. No voice. No chance to say, “Thanks, but I’d really rather not.”
So in this case * I make the choice. No ads.
To those of you who will say I’m wimping out, well, whatever. My
warm wish for you: Have a great summer, and may all of your decisions
be easy. This one wasn’t. J H
dog person.
I rescue them when they're lost,
comfort them when they're scared
and sleep with them
when they're smelly.
fflMBOH?
EATING OUT • Let someone else cook tonight
p 40-41
REFLECTIONS
10 years ago m
JU S T FRIENDS • Free voice personal ads
p 55
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Contact Just O ut at P.O. Box 14400, Portland, O R
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w&sggffî
Vou 8 No. 8, J une 1991
m
publicized videotaped beating of a black motorist. Citing
24 incidents of alleged police violence against Los
Angeles homosexuals last year. NGLTF said. “The prob
lem is systemic and requires a systemic response 1
• In N ew York, the state's highest court, the
Court of Appeals, denied a lesbian nonbiological
parent the right to visit a child she had raised
for many years with her form er lover. The court
said “Allison D ." was not a parent within the
meaning of the law because “she is not the
biological m other of the child nor is she a legal
parent by virtue of an adoption."
• Phoenix Rising becam e the fourth gay and lesbian
counseling agency in the United S tates to be certified
by any state for third:party insurance reimbursement
• The Third National March on Washington for
Lesbian and G ay Civil Rights was scheduled
for April 1993. M ore than 6 5 0 .0 0 0 people
I
attended the second march in 198 7. The first
march was in 1979.
• In what was hailed as the first of its kind in the nation,
a North Portland neighborhood declared itself an “AIDS
Compassionate Zone. “ The idea was the brainchild of
Michael Vernon, a member of the board of directors for
the Portsmouth Neighborhood Association.
♦ In a formal reply to U.S. Rep. Gerry Studds
the Pentagon i defended
def<
its policy of excluding
is reflecting “ soci-
gays from military service as
— r.-rr**’' \ etal attitudes" about homosexuality.
• The National G ay and Lesbian Task Force
called for the firing of Los Angeles Police
Chief Daryl G ates in the wake of the widely
• The prem ier musical event of the month was
“Bridges o f Song," a joint concert with the Portland
G ay M en's Chorus and the Portland Lesbian Choir on
June 28 and 29. This was the first time the two cho
ruses had appeared with equal billing rather than one
being the guest of the other group. Special guests
included Deidre M cCaiia, a black lesbian feminist
songwriter well known in the wom en's community.
PUHLIMBI ANH MANAGING BNTBR • Marty Davis
Andy Simon, Glenn Williams, Rex Wockner
PRODUCTION S N K E T N • Kevin Moore
ENTBnAJNMBVT EDITOR • Oriana Green
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR • Meg Grace
COPY E O r a * Jim Radosta
AUVEHTISMC REPRESENTATIVES • Markie Acevedo,
Larry Lewis
P M U C T M N ASSISTANT AND OFFICE M ANAGER •
Melissa Sayler
SW F REPORTER • Jonathan Kipp
CMTRBUTMR • Marc Acito, Richard Bray, Jessica
Citti, Meryl Cohn, Rawley Grau, J.S. Hall, Heron,
Timothy Krause, Andy Mangels, Hadley Scott,
NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE • Rivendell
Marketing Company Inc., 212-242-6863
ART M O T H * Rupert Kinnard
HVTERN • Peter Zuckerman
MSTRIBUTION • Jerilyn Adams, Ian Drake,
Rick Geiger, Kelly Keigwin, Merid Schwartz,
Hadley Scott, Boh Terry, Ruth Traut