3
September 7 ,20Q1 ?
COMMENTARY
by
M
arty
D
a v is
The IN publication for the OUT population
F ounded 1983 • J ay B rown
V ol. 18 N o . 21
and
R enee L a C hance
Septem ber 7, 2 0 0 1
FEA T URE
KEEPING IKE FAITH: Finding a path to wholeness
that embraces spirit and flesh
NEWS
NORTHWEST • Roundtable recommendations;
this is not your father’s bookstore; aspiring
athlete blazes new trails; beloved pastor resigns
pp 7 - 2 1
NATIONAL . White House keeps AIDS czar
in the closet
pp 2 2 - 2 3
WORLD • Provincetown couple get hitched
.
in Amsterdam
pp 2 4 - 2 5
ENT ERTAINMENT
BOOKS • Women’s words
pp 3 6 - 3 7
GROUPS • Let’s go bowling; raise your hand
¡ if you're Coqsure
pp 3 8 - 3 9
THEATER • The birds and the Bees; take a gamble
on Reno
pp 4 1 - 4 3
CULTURE • Experience the divine feminine
at Shakti Cove
pp 4 4 - 4 5
DIVERSIONS • And the winners are...
p
47
GROUPS • Swing your life partner round
and round
p 49
COLUMNS
MS. BEHAVIOR • Gender bender upsets girlfriend
p 35
SPECIAL
EATING OUT • Let someone else cook tonight
PP 4 2 - 4 3
JUST FRIENDS • Free voice personal ads
p 50
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Original rainbow creator sending new messages to listeners
A
ny doubt that we live in the too-much-information
games look positively
age was dissipated with the recent and way-more-
amateurish by compari
than-we-need-to-know media blitz surrounding the
son. I hope one day
book, wedding and pregnancy of “complicated and
soon DeGeneres will
fragile” actress Anne Heche.
he able to find some
To those who have mourned the loss of privacy that has befallen this
of her unique humor
celebrity figure 1 can say only, “Oh, give me a break.” The day this
in this tawdry, painful
woman gets privacy is the day she fires her publicist— and then hires a
story and use it to her
more aggressive one.
own advantage. Any
Heche s refusal to state her sexual orientation must he a tad disheart
thing less than a best-sell
ening to those who were so eager to make her the poster child for bisex
ing live concert
uality. The past two issues o f Just Out have included letters and “Just
video will he inade
Asking” replies heatedly staking claim to the womans sexual identity
quate recompense for
for the bisexual cause.
having to endure this
Well, gee, guess what, kids? It turns out she’s neither lesbian nor
barrage of misguided
bisexual nor straight.
and self-centered foolish
Nah, the woman is/was simply insane. For her entire relationship
ness being foisted on the public.
with Ellen DeGeneres. While having the best sex of her life. While
Heche, of course, isn’t the only per
talking to God.
son who talks to God. Lon and Bonnie
The good news about this public revelation of heavenly communica
Mahon have been adding their own warped interpretation to His mis
tion is it shows much more open-mindedness on Gods part. Usually
sives for many years now.
when God talks to people He tells them to go steal copies of Just Out
O n Sept. 6 the fun couple were scheduled to appear in Multnom
and toss them all away.
ah County Circuit Court for yet another hear
Now God apparently is suggesting it’s OK for
ing in the 10-year-old lawsuit filed by photo-
Usually when Cod talks
women to have sex with other women. This is
journalist C atherine Stauffer. A t 11 a.m. court
to people He tells them to
indicative of a much more enlightened deity,
was convened without the Mahons present. It
don’tcha think? You go, God!
seems they no longer recognize the authority of
go steal copies Just Out
To my regret I’ve never met DeGeneres. Yet.
the Oregon court system and simply decided
and
toss
them
all
away
However, it’s my opinion that she always has
they’re not going to participate.
seemed to he a genuinely nice sort of person. O f
This brings several questions to my mind, not
course, she is an actress, so the possibility exists that she actually could
the least of which is, “Can you get away with that.7” Secondly, if they
he less than charming, hut even that scenario doesn’t eliminate the
don’t recognize the authority of the judicial system, why do they so
empathy 1 feel for her at this time.
rabidly embrace the initiative process? The answer is simple: The former
Can you even begin to imagine the pain of having a former partner
doesn’t work for them, and the latter does.
denounce your entire relationship, on national television, in such a
So, how do we make the initiative process less appealing and less
godawful fashion? Ouch!
fruitful for the Mahons and the Oregon Citizens Alliance and their ilk?
This makes the challenge of avoiding ex-lovers at Portland Fire
Has the system evolved to the point where it too easily falls prey to
abuse and manipulation?
Oregon Taxpayers United certainly has a field day
with the process, resulting in absurd and poorly con
ceived ballot measures constantly being paraded before
voters. People seldom take the time to educate them
selves as to the consequence of their votes, which then
leads to court challenges of ballot measures brought
about by people mindlessly signing petitions with little
regard to the impact of their carelessness!
The public needs to be more educated about the initia
tive process. They need to know the accountability of
signing petitions.
Paid signature gatherers are a had idea and violate the
spirit of the Constitution. Instead of fighting ballot mea
sure after ballot measure, how about we take that same
amount of money and use it to educate voters about the
consequences of their actions when they sign petitions?
Why not run ongoing campaigns showing the posi
tive contributions gay men and lesbians make to our
towns, cities and our state? Instead o f beseeching voters
constantly to vote for us and against them, let’s teach
people to understand the ramifications before they sign
petitions.
Let’s show voters that we’re their friends, theirs
neighbors and their family and that signing petitions is
not something you do just to he polite. In the long run,
a lot of people get hurt, and a lot o f time, money and
energy are wasted.
And when all is said and done, perhaps Lon will realize
God never was speaking to him at all. Nope, he was just
insane and from another planet the whole dam time. JH
REFLECTIONS
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ITtON BY KEVIN MOORE
p 26
God rocks!