4 Jut Mat « august 3.
out
2001
The party’s over
To t h e
E
:
d it o r
he Portland New Party, which was in large
part responsible for Derry Jacksons elec
tion to the school board, condemns his recent
anti-Jewish and anti-gay statements. Because of
these and other actions, we believe he is unable
to effectively carry out his duties as a school
board member and will begin a search for his
successor.
The Portland New Party spoke to thousands
of voters and distributed tens of thousands of
pieces of literature urging Jackson’s election. He
helped craft and signed onto a detailed platform
of the “Progressive Parents.” Now, there is ample
evidence that he has abandoned this platform.
Jackson’s statement—“1 see Jews running
everything,” running the country and the school
board— is classic anti-Semitism. His subsequent
apology does not recognize this. Nor does he rec
ognize the anti-gay bias in his recent statements
that homosexuals “choose their behavior.”
Jackson is no longer a member of the Port
land New Party. He resigned from our organiza
tion after we publicly criticized him for breaking
his agreement to uphold the ban on military
recruiting in our schools.
However, we recognize our responsibility to
the volunteers, voters and community who
expect and deserve better than they got. The
New Party is beginning the search for a replace
ment, someone who will be credible and respon
sible to the children, parents and communities
who are left out and locked out of quality edu
cation in Portland.
T
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Let’s be consistent
To t h e
E
d it o r
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E-mail: Staff@Dharma-Rain.Org
erry Jackson’s recent comments were
unfortunate and lacking in maturity.
Putting them in the best light, one would hope
he was trying to illustrate that in the United
States today, Jews have done better job at gain
ing acceptance and support than other minori
ties. One only has to look at the list of local dig
nitaries, including Portland Mayor Vera Katz,
who are outraged and calling for Jackson’s resig
nation to see that as fact.
Where were all of these human rights
activists last year after Mark Kroeker was
exposed for having advocated beating children
with boat oars and keeping women at home, for
calling homosexuals perverted and responsible
for the AIDS epidemic and for implying vigi
lante justice might be better than the court sys
tems? His comments are more flagrant, and he is
a higher-ranking, non-elected official. Because
Kroeker never has apologized for making the
comments, nor has he recanted those beliefs,
perhaps we now should ask Katz to be consistent
and demand an apology and resignation from
him.
R ick C rittenden
Portland
www Dharma-Rain Org
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An open letter
to Derry Jackson
To t h e
A
E
d it o r
:
s a Multnomah County resident, 1 voted
for you in the last school board election. 1
liked your record and your face.
I am very disappointed in some of the things
you had to say, however, about homosexuals. I
do agree with you that the military is the only
way out of poverty for some and that that oppor
tunity should not be denied to those who want
it
Also true is the abhorrent way homosexuals
are treated by the military. Remember “passing”
for white? Surely you know that that is what liv
ing a secret life, fearful of discovery for any rea
son, is like.
My concern is that you sounded dangerously
like Lon Mahon in the remarks you made
regarding choice. (I heard you speaking on the
radio.)
If homosexuality were a choice, why do so
many “choose” to live in a world that deni
grates? Why go on to “choose” homosexuality
after trying so hard to be heterosexual?
Some people who thought they were homo
sexual found out, in fact, they were not. Does
this mean everyone can change? O f course not.
Most of us have spent agonizing years trying
to be something we cannot be— years that
would have more profitable for us and for soci
ety if we could have been ourselves. Derry, I
hope you can open your mind and your heart to
the people who live the life rather than to the
misguided rhetoric of hatred.
R obin L ee
Portland
J ack D anger
Portland
Bylaw and order
To t h e
E
d it o r
:
A
recent letter to Just Out suggested the
Rural Organizing Project was less than
democratic in its selection of board members
and officers (“A Mockery of Democracy,”
July 20].
In fact, the bylaws of ROP governing selec
tion of the board members carefully were crafted
to achieve several objectives, including geo
graphic diversity and assurance that the board is
composed of individuals connected directly to
rural organizations. The emphasis of ROP on
organizing also is reflected in its membership
base of rural groups, because social change
occurs when people work together.
ROP is actually more democratic than many
nonprofit organizations, because any member
group can nominate and subsequently vote for
board candidates. The officers of the board are
selected by consensus, which is a different
process from what is prescribed in Robert’s Rules
of Order.
ROP’s organizational structure and emphasis
on consensus decision making dovetails with
our goals to promote democracy in rural Oregon
through the activities of grassroots human dig
nity groups. ROP greatly appreciates the love
and support it has received across rural Oregon
during the past 10 years and looks forward to
continuing its good work for years to come.
L arry T aylor
Rural Organizing Project Chair
Astoria
Frontier and center
To t h e
E
d it o r
:
am resisting the impulsive knee-jerk reaction
that frequently occurs when I read something
Margaret Deirdre O ’Hartigan writes: If she’s
against it, I’m for it. Although that sentiment
has proven to be historically accurate, the
respect I have for the Rural Organizing Project
demands a much more thorough response.
ROP was founded in the aftermath of 1992’s
Ballot Measure 9 when it became clear that
those of us who lived along the Interstate 5 cor
ridor had a different view on things from the rest
of the state. Marcy Westerling and a host of
other clear thinkers developed a strategy to
address a broad range of issues, including queer
rights, in rural and frontier Oregon.
The strategy called for forming human digni
ty groups in every county to meet, talk, learn
I
and mobilize against injustice in all its forms.
When most of us were willing to give over rural
Oregon to the right wing— it was too daunting,
it was too conservative, they’re all bigots—
Westerling drove hundreds of miles talking with
people, respecting them for where they were and
helping them move forward.
O ’Hartigan’s complaint that “indivi
duals...aren’t permitted to join and vote” in
ROP is a) wrong (my beloved girlfriend and I
are both members) and b) politically naive and
ignorant. Movements are built through people
joining together in groups, working together,
eating together, learning together and creating a
just and equitable world— finding that common
ground and building from there. We should be
supporting ROP and learning from that model
of organizing instead of tearing it down.
I also must take issue with Just Out's headline
over O ’Hartigan’s letter. The previous issue
focused on the work of ROP in a very positive
way, and now you call it “A Mockery of Democ-'
racy.” I’m sure if you had given it some thought
you could have written a more honest headline.
Burning bridges
To t h e
E
d it o r
:
was very surprised by how Vancouver’s Sat
urday in the Park made me feel last month.
I went to this event after attending Pride in
Portland, Seattle and the “heaven on earth”
location of San Francisco’s Castro District,
where my boyfriend and 1 celebrated our 10th
anniversary.
Mark was out of town for Saturday in the
Park, so I went with our little dog, Lloyd,
expecting the same sense of pride that the pre
vious weeks had brought me. I was shocked at
how fast I flew back into the closet for fear of
being beaten up, being mocked and just plain
being “the only gay person in all of Vancouver.”
I grew up there and all of my life had these
feelings engraved into me from the small-mind
edness that lives inside these city limits. Now I
live in Portland and don’t feel the same way. It’s
always surprising to me how much the mentali
ty changes by just going over one bridge.
My feelings did not come from the festival
itself. I applaud each and every person who gave
of his or her energy, time and money to put on
such an event. They did a beautiful job and
deserve a big round of applause.
My feelings came from the lack of queer folk
attending to give that much-needed round of
applause. Saturday in the Park was held right
next door to the Farmer’s Market, so at first you
were deceived by the size of the event. Until you
walked through the sour faces and found the
rainbows.
Then it was impossible to pick out the peo
ple who were attending by choice or who just
had wandered onto the “wrong” side of the
tracks, then ran to get out of the park. I heard
people passing through saying things like: “I am
disgusted by this display. They should have signs
up so we don’t bring our kids into this,” and
“What is going on over here? Oh, the fags are
out today.”
Doesn’t sound good for Vancouver, does it? I
don’t think this reflects the city as a whole, but
it was pretty harsh to hear.
1 was afraid to smile at anybody because I
couldn’t tell who was there to protest and who
was there to partake. What made me sad is that
more lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people
didn’t come out to support each other.
I don’t think it matters if you live in Portland
or Vancouver: we are so close that we are the
same community. We should support each
other’s events.
I