february 1 . 2 ÛÛ 2 - Ju st aatfj 5
out
decision. Realize the endorsement was given
in order to maintain a foothold and ensure the
passage of future legislation to protect our civil
liberties.
L incoln H eartsong
Portland
W ord’s w orth
To the E ditor :
1
am sorry Marc Acito finds Walt Whitman
boring [“Whitless,” Jan. 18].
1 have always rather liked his poetry, even
though it can he wordy at times. 1 have not read
Gary Schmidgall’s work, so I am not sure how
much of Whitman’s life he covers, hut 1 think
most academics would agree that the poetry is
homoerotic and that he was not just looking for
a place to sleep along the docks.
W hitman had a career as a journalist for
the Brooklyn Eagle-Dispatch in his early days.
He rode one of the new horse-drawn trolleys
to work, which is where he met Peter Dug
gan, a young (I think around 15) hell ringer
*
and ticket taker. (H e obviously rang W hit
m an’s hell.)
They had a rather long relationship until it
was stopped by Whitman’s sister, who lived in
New Jersey. That is why he spent the last years
of his life trying to revise and expunge some of
his works.
He had a heart attack, although it was not
that serious or he would not have lived for that
much longer. His sister promised to care for him
under the condition that he part ways with the
young man, and it would seem she was the hand
behind his literary revisions.
She put the fear of dying alone into him, and
the man capitulated. It is a sad tale.
1 might point out that one o f the late
20th century’s main gay poets, A lan G in s
berg, looked upon W hitman as the mentor
of the whole Beat movement and considered
him self W hitm an’s spiritual successor. The
bookstore Lawrence Ferlinghetti opened in
San Francisco (M arc should visit it for bet
ter works on W hitm an) takes its name from
a series o f W hitm an’s best poetry, City Lights.
T hat is what Marc should read rather than
M ichael M ase
Portland
Stein’s w ay
To the E ditor :
I
was happy to see that Beverly Stein is mak
ing jobs for Oregonians a top priority. I’m
glad she understands that getting our econo
my back on track will solve many of the state’s
problems.
While everyone else talks about the econo
my, Beverly will attack the problem from every
angle. She will work for real solutions.
She will work with businesses of every size
and stature to provide more opportunities for
Oregonians across the state. And Beverly cer
tainly has the experience and record of success
to back her up!
Please join me in supporting the candidate
who will work with and support every O re
gonian to rebuild a strong, resilient state
economy. Beverly Stein is the best choice for
governor.
P T a - T f n T T I Queer as Folk: entertaining fantasy or damaging
L
stereotype? Would you watch it with your parents? A nn C entis
Beaverton
es, I would watch
Queer as Folk
with my parents. In
fact, I have watched
it with my mother.
I have been out to
her for so long, it real
ly doesn’t matter, espe
cially since she seems
to have more gay
friends than 1 have.
Isn’t there something
strange about that?
My mother the “fag
hag,” if you will.
As for stereotyp
ing, of course it’s
stereotyping. Every
thing we watch on
television is in one
way or another.
I think it’s excel
lent that we have a show to watch that has any
homosexuality in it at all. It might not be the
stereotyping that everyone wants, but it’s a
step in the right direction. It’s finally starting
to happen— this new wave o f homosexuality
being accepted in Hollywood— and if it takes
a bit of “stereotyping” to get us there.,..
We now are beginning to be seen on televi
sion as positive people who live just like every
other human on this earth, except we sleep
with the same sex. We always will be stereo
typed no matter what genre o f life we choose.
I am just glad they have chosen us. We are
interesting and productive parts o f society,
and finally people are noticing. Kudos to
Showtime!
Y
Deep in the heart
off Texas
To the E ditor :
I
like the two women who have a baby. I went
through something like that. I had a child with
a lesbian couple, and it was a wonderful experi
ence!! I think it’s a great show for entertainment
and also for true-to-life content!!!
S cot J ain
Salem
• • •
I
know all o f gay society is not like the show.
It’s fun and frivolous and a gay soap opera.
Instead of Days of O ur Lives, we watch Queer
as Folk. I watch it with my partner’s parents.
E va H offman
J ohn H icks
Milwaukie
Salem
• • •
O
Leaves of Grass. He might find it more
enjoyable as well as very enlightening.
f the two, I think it’s entertaining fantasy.
There’s nothing damaging in it at all.
A lot of the content is just fun stuff. Most of
what is shown can be proven to be true for cer
tain people. Just because they chose to use the
club and bathhouse scene as the primary
premise doesn’t at all imply it is the only “gay
life” there is.
They are also good at showing other things
next ILL4!! 4 How do
you react to gay-baiting disc
jockeys? Should we lighten up and
learn to laugh at ourselves, ignore
them and hope they go away, or rise
up in righteous anger? Respond at
www.justout.com. (Donft forget to
include your name, city and
daytime telephone number.)
had to write and thank you for always send
ing copies of Just Out to the HAPPY Foun
dation and the Bonham Exchange. Because San
Antonio never can maintain a gay newspaper, I
probably know more about Portland than I
know about what is going on here.
The Bonham Exchange is a popular gay
disco in a historic building next to the Alamo,
and the HAPPY Foundation Archives also is
located in the Bonham Building.
I keep copies of each issue of Just Out in the
archives and go through others tearing out arti
cles for the vertical files. The rest of the copies I
put at the Bonham, and they go fast.
Anyway, while doing my catch-up reading
recently, several articles made me roar with
laughter. The first one about the Transformers
protesting the Butchies concert was so hilarious
I thought I was reading a script from Saturday
Night Live (“Trans Activists Protest Concert,”
Oct. 19].
The next article about Ernesto Garcia
caused me to split my other gut [“Are You
Room Bored?”]. Even thought he looked
adorable, that living room situation was defi
nitely in need of some serious Fag Sway (maybe
some Texas or lesbian Fag Sway), which I soon
learned of in Marc Acito’s column a few pages
later (“Interior Decline”]. I am definitely in step
with his way of thinking, and he is my new
favorite columnist guru.
Then, the “Erotic Education" article brought
out some laughs during the brunch group at
Madhatter’s Tea House Cafe.
I also enjoyed reading about Katie Potter
because I had kept the article about her and her
father from 1991 in my police file [“Badge of
Courage,” Jan. 4]. That had made a big impres
sion on me at the time, and I made a point of
giving those copies to gay activists here who
were struggling with the San Antonio Police
Department.
Anyway, I thought your readers would like
to know that Just Out has an effect on San
Antonio and that the eyes of Texas are upon
you.
G ene E lder
San Antonio
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