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232-3105
A M an
of
M any L abels
Meet Michael Lowe, gay Native American veteran
by Susan Detroy
hen M ichael
Lowe came out
of the closet in
1972, he had a
lot of labels. “1
was a gay Native American vet,
and I was very proud of all of
those.”
Bom in Port Angeles, Wash.,
he spent his life on the Olympic
Peninsula until he was drafted at
19. In the service he “stuck to the
book and made sergeant.”
After coming out Lowe ran
away to Portland, where life
changed considerably. “In those
days things were pretty open. We
could walk hand in hand down
town. 1 got into a relationship and
I got into the world of drag
queens.”
Walking into his first gay bar,
the Rhonde, he secured a job and
a place to stay during his first day
in town. He immediately formed
close connections with the
patrons.
“Everybody was welcome
there,” Lowe remembers. “We
had drag queens. We had the
leather boys. We had the ‘after
noon Tupperware party’...those
who would come in and sit in a
Michael Lowe (left) and Dale Carrington celebrate their
big group and have their daily
commitment ceremony July 8, 1999
meetings. I was very fortunate
always being a happy-go-lucky guy,” Lowe says.
because 1 developed an open relationship with
Garcia comments: “Michael’s spiritual per
both men and women.”
spective and connection to his community of
He explains he missed out on this comfort
friends is a model for what is good about being
level while growing up as the middle child in a
gay. He is a man who inspires love.”
large family of 12. “Half the time nobody knew
Lowe met his partner, Dale Carrington, play
if we were home or not. It was nice to come in
ing pool at Neighbors Bar &. Bistro. “I thought
[to the bar] and he acknowledged by a group of
at 50, there was nobody left for someone my age.
people and feel that 1 belonged.”
I discovered with a good attitude there is always
Lowe’s next job was at Queen’s Kitchen at
Best Western Kingsway Inn, where he devel someone there.”
Feeling comfortable spending time at Neigh
oped his talent for making people laugh. “1
bors led to a job at the gay bar starting last year.
guess that became what the story of my life
“It was like full circle...and it was like working
was— to make sure I never met a stranger.
with friends.”
Everybody I meet, there is something about
Lowe is a member of the Jamestown S ’klal-
them that sticks with me.”
lam tribe, and his grandmother was S ’klallam,
In 1984 he moved to Eugene. He soon was
Skykomish and Bella-Colla. Three years ago he
working at Perry’s on Pearl, a gay-owned bar
and Carrington, whose mother is Lakota, had a
and restaurant.
“It was just like the family 1 had in Portland,” Native American ceremony.
"You are two people going to the mountain
Lowe says. "I wanted everybody to feel comfort
able no matter where they came from.”
and coming back as one and you are wrapped in
a blanket and presented to your extended fami
He viewed his work as a way for customers to
ly,” he says. “Everyone in the circle, once the
get to know a gay man. “1 dropped that ‘gay
Native American veteran’ thing. You know, I’m circle is sealed, becomes your immediate family.”
Lowe says if you have an argument you must
Michael. And that’s who 1 am today.”
go to each person from the circle. “If you had 80
Lowe’s unique talent for serving customers
followed him to his job at the Mission, a Mexi in the circle, by the time you got to No. 40 you
might feel it is all ridiculous.”
can restaurant where he dressed up for holidays,
From an early marriage he has two chil
coming to work one year as an Easter bunny,
another as an Easter basket. In 1996 the Register - dren: Heather, 33, and Sean, 30. An
approaching highlight is the April arrival of
Guard named him "best waiter of the year."
his first grandchild.
His exuberant, fun-loving nature has created
a wide circle of acquaintances. “There is not a
This month Lowe turns 55, becoming an
place I go where I don’t nin into somebody that
elder in his tribe. He will he doing the eagle
I know and has touched me in some way."
dance, taking him into another life stage.
After turning 50, Lowe made a few life
“1 am content and I am happy,” he says. “I
changes, trying catering and losing 65 pounds.
am not after the big things in life. I have already
A friend in the process was Larry Garcia, a pub had them. Most of that is the friendships that 1
lic health nurse. “He
Me taught me a lot about
have made. ” j n
learning to love myself, that I was really OK and
that I didn’t need to hide behind the facade of S u sa n D etroy is a Eugene free-lance writer.