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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 2001)
E|399!lout Corner of Sandy Blvd. & NE 64th 3106 NE 64th Portland, OR 97213 Unique and Sexy Holiday Gifts fi 4 5 0 3 -2 8 0 -8 0 8 0 When an ordinary Realtor sim ply won't do... www.dimbatree.com 3144 SE Belmont Portland, OR 97214 office: 503-238-7617 03 You and what Army? Let them be queer! To the E ditor : To the E ditor : n your Dec. 7 piece you attack the sexual minorities community and Basic Rights Ore gon for organizing the “Clog the Kettles” cam paign [“Three Days That Never E n d ...”]. 1 appreciate the concern for “the cold, the hungry and the downtrodden.” Giving to the Salvation Army is not the answer. The Salva tion Army denies my humanity and basic human rights because I am a lesbian. Your idea that putting faux dollars in a ket tle is “combat” is ridiculous. “Combat” is when Lon Mabon puts anti-gay measures on the bal lot or when the Salvation Army negotiates behind closed doors at the W hite House to con tinue its discriminatory practices while receiv ing millions of taxpayer dollars for the “faith- based initiative.” I agree, we need to he generous this year. I am donating three food baskets to low-income families who have children in my neighborhood school. If your readers want to give generously this year, they may contribute to the Oregon F(xxi Bank or other groups. And for the record, BRO is encouraging peo ple to give locally as well. We need to pull together as a community and country, hut that does not mean we must condone those who seek to deny our humanity, and it does not make it right to give blindly to homophobic groups. n all of the responses you printed on the use of the word “queer,” I didn’t see one that reflected my opinion [“Just Asking,” Nov. 16]. As a 24-year-old out, proud, queer woman, I have learned a thing or two. O f all the types of gay people I have met in my life, 1 have learned one basic principle: Being gay does not mean you have anything else in common with some one else who is. Being called “gay,” “queer,” “dyke,” “fag” and all the other labels we choose is 100 per cent personal in nature. It’s similar to how some people call their significant others “part ners,” “girlfriends,” “boyfriends,” “wives,” “hus bands,” etc. It’s an individual choice. I’m not saying derogatory labels imposed on queers by offend ing people are acceptable; I’m referring to, if you will, inner queer labeling. I politely try to let people call themselves what they prefer, then if I feel the necessity to label them, I use that term in reference. Many are offended by the use of the pink triangle as a gay symbol because of its Nazi Germany affilia tion, hut queers still use it. If you don’t like the word, don’t use it. To many young people, “queer” is encom passing. Many of us don’t feel we fit into one category. But young people like myself don’t insist on using the term for people who don’t appre ciate it and find it offensive. G L B T Q blah, blah, blah people are from all age groups, co l ors, ethnicities, genders and socioeconomic backgrounds; don’t box people into one label. Likewise, folks of opposition, please don’t criticize us queers for using the word. We are not all alike just because we have a similarity. K athleen S ullivan Portland REALTOR Ú3 Lead us not into Salvation To the E ditor : Find an exciting, fulfilling, and profitable career in construction! In the Building Futures in Industzy and Hades (B-FIT) program at PCC, you will get: Hands on construction training for women and men. A short, six-month program. A direct link to apprenticeships. An opportunity to earn excellent starting apprentice hourly wages upon graduation: Carpenter—$10.69-$11.89; Electri cian—$9.92-$ll.78; HVAC—$9.18; Plumber—$9.97-$10.12 A Portland Listen to what graduates say about the program: Community "B-FIT is the only program in the Portland/Vancouver area College that. . . enables women to gain an edge and be seen as serious apprenticeship candidates for their chosen trade." Elizabeth Bunga, Apprentice Electrician "Having a comprehensive program available helped me realize that my dream of a future in the trades could come true." Lisa Serrano, Commercial Electrician Apprentice For more information, call 503-614-7403, or e-mail kgarriso@pcc.edu ” riticism is coming from within and from ^ outside the sexual minorities community for those voicing opposition to the Salvation Army’s D enise R enfrow rescinding of the decision by its Western Corpo Portland ration to offer medical benefits to domestic part ners. The main objection to the protest seems to he that it is unfair and mean-spirited to “attack” an organization that does so much good. The protesters are not saying the Salvation To the E ditor : Army does not do gtxxJ deeds or is an evil organi e remember...” marked the top of each zation. How many other gcxxl religious, civic, gov hour. Volunteers, using measured tones, ernment and business organizations— large and spoke the names, reminding us of so many lost small— throughout the nation and world would to AIDS. have changed their policies regarding gay, lesbian, The N AM ES Project brought 36 quilts to hi and trans people had it not been for pressure All Saints School from Dec. 1 to 3 for World from activists and civil rights groups objecting to A ID S Day. The panels— some laying in pin- discrimination against this community of folks? wheel fashion, some suspended— reminded and Because of their current tolerance— or, better told of grand folk, their interests and their yet, acceptance— of sexual minorities, we con hopes and reflected on the great love of their sider these organizations to he even better than families and friends— creators of the memorials. they were before. Organizations such as the Sal Looking from the balcony, rainbow colors vation Army, the U.S. armed forces and the Boy drew the eye; they blended into a nearly white Scouts are all gcxxl groups, hut their discrimina scene. Math skills soon spoke of how long they tory policies regarding gay, lesbian, bi and trans were here: some in their 40s and 30s, a few in people are still unfortunate and should be their 20s— and younger yet. changed. Now they are packed— just for a time— promising to bloom in another time. Ryan L yle M. T ucker W hite on a sky blue cloth, blooms radiating Lake Oswego promise and color. C World AIDS Day: A personal thought transitions Ryan Leighton, 1967-2001 Companion Pet C M S at 8am • 6pm W est L inn Sun 11am-4pm Portland \ Salem \ Vancouver W e s t L i n n 19343 Willamette Drive • (503) 635-3115 C LA C K A M A S 16317 SE 82nd Drive • C503) 657-0225 T i g a r d 13500 SW Pacific Hwy • (503) 670-9707 yan “Leanora” Leighton died of A ID S complications Nov. 28. He was 34. He was horn July 24, 1967, in Spokane, Wash. He moved to Portland 12 years ago. Leighton, who was a princess in the enter tainment industry, cherished ordinary mira cles and greeted each day with courage and compassion. He loved the ocean and garden R ing and had an endless supply of hack scratch es for all of the neighborhood cats. He is survived by his partner of 4 1/2 years, David Cluster; brothers, Leo Schuman of Port land and Eric of Billings, Mont.; and mother, Carol Kelley of Billings. Services were private. Final disposition was by cremation. Omega Funeral and Cremation Service handled the arrangements. Remembrances may he made to the Feral Cat Coalition, P.O. Box 82734, Portland, OR 97282. I I \ I i
