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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 2001)
QdQÒOf 5 , 2001 » f t — 1|25 irrerence Editor's note: The March 2 issue of Just Out featured a profile of Rebecca Kenney, the first open - ly gay staff member at Mount Hood Community College. Here, she shares the story of how her life has changed ever since. anees COMING OUT CHANGES EVERYTHING BY REBECCA K E NNE Y o much has happened since Jon athan Kipp’s article chronicling the ups and downs of my life— my les bian life—appeared in print. The Just Out piece generated a tremen dous response that has continued its ripple effect like a nonstop wave of hope and encouragement one would experience at a Portland Fire game. The Monday after the article hit news stands I found myself inundated with phone calls and e-mails. People literally lined up outside my office, and nary a naysayer was among them. Fabulous! I was thrilled! Two days earlier, 1 thought I’d throw up in anticipation of the potential effect this in-depth interview might have on the wel fare of our gay and lesbian students, on the overall image of the college and on my career. My worries immediately were abated as 1 pored over the article. The ripple had begun. Top administra tors, staff and faculty (mostly straight) from Portland, Clackamas, Chemeketa, Lane, Linn-Benton, Umpqua and even Tillamook Bay community OREC-v colleges contacted me to express their support and ask questions about how to address gay and les bian issues at their institutions. Potential students e-mailed me to say they had changed their mind about what school they would attend next fall; Mount Hood Community College would he their new choice. Members of the Pride Students’ Alliance dis persed hugs, and even better, I witnessed something new in them: Their eyes and their smiles showed confidence, less shame, more determination to carry on. hr Communi ti* Within a couple of weeks, counselors from three East Mult nomah County high schools called me. 1 means for addressing the fear, hate, violence spoke to each one at length about possible and ongoing discrimination that exhaust their U mmmn I BIDS CRIME Rebecca Kenney rides through downtown Portland with Dykes on Bikes during Pride 2001 in June (above) and attends the Oregon Hate Crimes Conference in February (left) gay and lesbian students day after day. During the Spring Dinner Dance in May, the student government named Adviser of the Year—especially amazing considering last school year was the first time the Pride Students’ Alliance truly was recognized as a viable organization. In June, 1 was pre sented the Outstanding Staff Award of the Year by the college’s president and vice president. To have been so potentially controversial W h Mi y »M eA h during the past year and a half, to have open ly fought for our equal rights and then to win these prestigious honors from both the stu dent body and the staff, faculty and adminis tration just meant the world to me. Not only because I worked hard and because it’s won derful to receive such recog nition, but because 1 was judged not by what 1 am but by what 1 accomplished for the good of us all. It gives me such joy and hope that the college would honor an openly gay staff member. It makes me believe Mount Hood can be the kind of inclusive educational insti tution 1 know it wants to be. Countless positive changes have occurred as a direct result of Just Out running that arti cle. I could talk about the Manager’s Handbook that no longer defines “family” as a husband, wife and children. 1 could tell you about meeting with the human resources director and working together to include sexual orientation as a protected group in the col legewide discrimination poli cy. 1 could tell you about how our new president was the first in line at the Pride Students’ Alliance bake sale and how he bought the pret tiest triangle cookie covered in a rainbow of frosting. All of these changes are phenomenal, and some are beyond what 1 ever had hoped for myself and for Mount Hood Community Col lege. The greatest gift, however, is that by sharing my story for all to scrutinize, I forever have changed the devastating influence shame has had on my life. For a long time, internalized shame because of who I am and who 1 love resulted in deprivation of dignity, self-respect and pride. Shame is now my emotion of revolution. Let’s all revolt. in R e b e c c a K e n n e y is the director of continuing education at Mount Hood Community College. E-mail her at kenneyr^mhcc.cc.or.us. ( a ft B a f t w you'll need. Make Bender Properties your real estate home. Put your feet up and relax! Details are our business. Y on won’t lift a finger as we attend to every aspect of buying or selling your hom e-even the lit tle chores that others sweep under the rug. And successful? When it comes to fresh marketing or resourceful hunting, our enterpris ing agents really dean house. Complete service and client educa tion are always our priority. HOME P U R C H A S E & S A L E S IN V E S T M E N T P R O P E R TY S A L E S , P U R C H A S E & M A N A G EM EN T L IC E N S E D TAX C O N S U LTA TIO N tt'f A lt in fur f f l deferiftifu! H 0 W ." I N © 503.233.4363 4133 SE Division Street, “Richmond Place" Portland, Oregon 97202
