june 7.2002 ? jM t
from the small eastern Oregon town of Milton-
Freewater. Surprisingly enough, his exposure to gay
people came early in the form of the community’s
tolerance and acceptance of four rather openly gay
teachers at his high school. At 16 he came out to
his mom, who reacted well.
His next step out of the closet came at band
camp. (No, it’s not a joke.) His openly gay friend
was testing out his gaydar after the final concert.
When Sanchez asked how his friend read
him, the young man guessed correctly. “The
weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders,”
he says.
Sanchez moved to the Portland area in
August to attend Mt. Hood. The first task on his
list was finding his classes; the second was find
ing the Queers and Allies Student Organization.
He joined and was thrust into a debate with the
Oregon Citizens Alliance, helped coordinate
Queer Awareness Week and just was elected
vice president.
“We’re getting attention and recognition,
getting people used to the fact that gay people
are around," he says. “We want to share our cul
ture and our rich history.”
— ES
downtown and proudly open up your own beau
ty shop, the Blue Coyote Rose.
What’s in a name, you say? The blue is for
Smith’s favorite color, coyote represents her
Native American side, and rose is the tradition
al symbol for beauty.
Open for only two months now, the salon is
struggling to earn its place in the community.
Smith is counting on word of mouth to bring
business and friends into her eclectically fur
nished establishment.
Her goal is to make it a safe place for queers
to obtain beauty services and a space to display
work created by local artists. Most important of
all, it’s her dream that the Blue Coyote Rose
become a networking center for all sexual
minorities living in and around Yamhill County.
Smith proudly reports several kids already have
found their way to the shop and the comfort and
security it provides.
“ Because I’m so out and confident of
myself and who 1 am, I find that others gravi
tate towards me looking for that touch of con
nection,” she says. “ I want to he here as a per
son people can connect with and feel safe
with.”
For many people in McMinnville, Smith is
probably the first gay person they’ve met. This
gives her the opportunity, and challenge, to
battle myths and stereotypes while allowing
them to respect her for who she is. It’s a big
job, and Dawn Smith is the right person to
take it on.
— Marry Davis
A nita S tacey
A
Dawn Smith
D awn S mith
Y
ou’re a strong, proud, determined lesbian
mother of two hiracial children who has
been living happily in Portland for 18 years.
One day love up and calls and beckons you
to follow. Suddenly you find yourself living in a
small, conservative Oregon farm town.
What changes does this new life bring to
you ? Some and none.
Now you find yourself to he a strong, proud,
determined lesbian mother of two hiracial chil
dren who lives in McMinnville, a community
noted for traditional “family values” and notably
lacking in support and social services for sexual
minority youth and adults.
So what do you do? Well, if you’re Dawn
Smith you dig into your savings account, march
nita Stacey has an
amusing claim to
fame: She was the basis for
the protagonist in the film
But I’m a Cheerleader. She
picked up her first pair of
pompoms at Rex Putnam
High School in Mil-
waukie, where she grew up.
Stacey then went to
University of Oregon,
where she got involved in
student
government.
While in Eugene she
came out at 21 and met
her girlfriend of 10 years,
who was her “little sister"
in their sorority.
After graduating Stacey
moved to Salem, where
she was hired an adviser to
fraternities and sororities at
Willamette
University. Anita Stacey
m
related to her animals. Although she is
energetic and friendly, she explains she is
jj a homebody who is dedicated to her girl-
* friend and pets.
For Anita Stacey, Pride is all about
3 fun. It’s also a time when our broad com
munity can seek leadership, she says.
—NC
D an Y o nker
or a guy who’s only 32, Dan Yonker
already has faced a crucial life deci
sion: Should he use his skills to promote
for the forces of good or the forces of
greed? In 1997 the Michigan native
had been working as a certified public
accountant for six years when he came
to a crossroads.
“I was at a point...when I had to
decide if that was going to be my
career,” he says. “I was experiencing
some major shifts in my way of thinking
how the world should be.”
This was during the mid-1990s
economic boom, so Yonker was seeing
business owners earning huge bonuses
based on the information he had pro
vided for them. Meanwhile, he says,
their employees were struggling for increased
benefits and better working conditions.
He decided to quit and head to the West
Coast. He soon found himself at Yosemite
National Park teaching skiing in the winter and
working at a store in the summer.
“It was completely enriching,” he says. “It
just made me put a value on what was really
important in life.”
Yonker moved to Portland in November
2000 and took a cashier job at Trader Joe’s. But
everything changed last June when he was hired
as the office manager at Basic Rights Oregon, a
nonprofit that promotes equality and fights dis
crimination at the state level.
“Although I had vowed never, ever to do
accounting again, it’s for an organization that’s
very close to my heart and does phenomenal
work...so I could not resist,” he says. “We have a
very small staff, and it’s amazing how much we
accomplish.”
However inspiring his job might be, Yonker
admits it’s not perfect. For example, he has been
surprised by gay men’s general lack of interest in
their political rights.
“One of the most frustrating— and the most
intriguing— aspects of the job is the whole polit
ical process,” he adds. “I’m not a very patient
person, and working in politics sometimes takes
a lot of patience.”
—Jim Radosta J H
F
Dan Yonker
There she met Brian Peterson, who wrote the
script of Cheerleader and used her as the template.
Stacey left Willamette to pursue a master’s
degree at Oregon State University. She now
works in marketing at a veterinary hospital.
She is close to
her parents and
three sisters, who
all live in Portland.
She and her part
ner, Rory, have a
home in North
east, where they
live with their two
dogs and three
cats. Salty, Gavin,
Punim and Archie
are all the children
the two women
want at this point.
Stacey
stays
active with Basic
Rights Oregon and
has worked against
both 1994’s Mea
sure 13 and 2000’s
Measure 9. For fun
she enjoys soccer,
shopping,
cross
country skiing and
almost
anything
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