Just out., June 21, 2002, Page 7, Image 7

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L’m ;ì i; ivi 4 i m e w s
O ue Hyde—director of Creating Change, the
O conference that will be held from Nov. 6 to
10 at the DoubleTree Jantzen Beach in Port­
land— has been named this year’s recipient of
the $25,000 Stonewall Award. The National
Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s longest-serving
staffer, she has been active in the sexual minori­
ties community for more than 25 years.
“Sue has been the quintessential activist,
committed to full equality for all G LB T people,”
executive director Lorri L. Jean said. “She’s on
the short list of the folks we think of when we
To submit a workshop proposal visit the Internet
site www.creatingchange.org.
C ounty C ommemorates
P ride
M
ultnomah County Commissioner Maria
Rojo de Steffey introduced a resolution
June 13 proclaiming Portland Pride 2002.
“Our county is enriched by the unique expe­
riences and diverse backgrounds of all members
of our community,” she said. “It is a pleasure to
be joined today by some of the important or­
ganizations and community members that make
a difference in all of our lives.”
Multnomah County does not allow or con­
done practices of discrimination on the basis of
sexual orientation or gender identity. Its estab­
lishment of a domestic partnership registry— a
means by which unmarried, committed couples
Continued on Page 8
F O S T E R
G
ail Shibley, who made history in the 1980s
as the states first openly gay elected offi­
cial, has returned to Portland and is wasting no
time in reclaiming the spotlight. She already has
joined Democrat Ted Kulongoski’s gubernatori­
al campaign and could he seen carting the can­
didate through downtown on a vintage motor
scooter during the Pride 2002 parade June 16.
“There are lots of wonderful, incredible,
exciting, fun places and cities in the world— and
C onference D irector
H onored
think about national G LB T leaders.”
A native of Beardstown, 111., Hyde began her
professional involvement as the news editor of
Boston’s Gay Community News, at the time the
only national queer weekly in the country. She
left in 1985 to lead the Gay and Lesbian
Defense Committee, where she was influential
in overturning Massachusetts’ ban against gay
foster parents.
In 1986 Hyde joined NGLTF, where she ran
a major national project to repeal sodomy laws.
The next year she rallied more than 5,000 queer
people to surround the U .S. Supreme Court and
demand their right of privacy— to this day the
largest organized civil disobedience action of the
modem sexual minority movement.
P A U L
G uess W ho ’ s B ack ?
progressives, environmentalists, sexual mi­
norities, women and pro-choice voters— that
are particularly important to the candidate
and to her.
“I have...known Ted for the last 20 years,”
she said. “During the time when 1 served in the
Legislature.. .some of my legislative assignments
fit with his focus on kids as well as specifically on
juvenile justice.”
Appointed in 1991 to fill a legislative vacan­
cy, Shibley overwhelmingly won election in
1992 and 1994, becoming the first openly gay or
lesbian legislator in Oregon— “something that I
was, am and forever will be very proud of.”
Although Salem no longer has any out politi­
cians, she realizes she made significant progress
in demonstrating competence and political
prowess for queers.
“Am I ‘satisfied’ with where we politically as
a community are now? No,” she said. “But that’s
because our potential always lies directly in front
of us, and we need to take advantage of and cre­
ate those opportunities for ourselves.”
P H O TO :
Foreign and domestic affairs lured Gail Shibley
there’s one home,” she
told Just Out. “And it’s
great to be home.”
Shibley left Oregon to
serve in the Clinton
administration, first as
head of public affairs for
the Federal Highway
Administration and later
as Labor Secretary Alexis
Herman’s senior adviser
for communications. She
also completed a fellow­
ship through Harvard
Design School focusing
on livable communi­
ties— which covers issues
such as sustainability,
quality of life, environ­
mental protection, trans­
portation choices and
public space— and helped
out with Vice President
A1 G ore’s presidential
campaign.
from the Rose City
“When it became clear
that there would not be an
opportunity to participate in a Gore-led White
House, I decided instead to follow my heart,”
she said. “I’d met someone during a trip to Ger­
many, and so after a few trans-Atlantic trips, lots
of e-mails and phone calls and several months
later, 1 went over to Germany and have been
living in Germany for the last year and a half."
Shibley now is serving as political director
for the Kulongoski campaign, helping other
senior staff ensure a winning majority in
November. She also has taken on the role of
reaching out to several core constituencies—