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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 6, 2002)
4 J u s t o u t • September 6. 2002 sons. We were vocal and yet we were peaceful. What the nation saw from the media cover age is when the protesters were being pushed To t h e E d it o r : hack after the event within the Hilton was over. he Burnside Triangle occupies a central Before all this, the protesters and the police had place in the history of gay men and lesbians no conflict. I even stood there talking with a in the Portland metro area. couple of the officers. The life of prominent lesbian doctor and But when the well-dressed crowd began leav social activist Marie Equi is one extraordinary ing the hotel, the police moved in to push hack example of this rich history. During the early the protesters off a public street. It wasn’t until decades of the 20 century, the Burnside Triangle the people who paid $ 1,000 to have dinner with was home to Equi, her partner, Harriet Speck- the president (while thousands go hungry every hart, and Equis adopted daughter, Mary. night in Portland) or $25,000 to have their pic When Equi, a pacifist, openly opposed U.S. ture taken with him (while Portland has an entry into World War I, the federal government J a c o b B ro sto ff a n d M e l in d a M a r ie J e t t e ever-growing homeless problem) that the con tried her on treason charges. The prosecutor : Burnside Triangle Advisory Group Co-Chairs flict between the police and protesters began. attempted to use her lesbianism against her at ; Taxpayers sexin will receive the hill for the trial. Equi ultimately was convicted under a new police at this event. It is estimated to he around espionage act and served time at San Quentin $100,000— money that won’t he seen in our To t h e E d ito r : Prison in California. struggling schools. K, I think it’s time to get rid of Marc Acito. Before gay liberation, lesbian feminism and \ Haven’t we all had enough of the racist, Yes, I will admit a small handful of protesters the sexual revolution of the late 1960s and early got out of control and caused us all to l(X)k had 1970s, homosexual men and women lived in a fatphobic, inappropriate and totally insensitive within the minds of those who only saw the society that offered no civil rights protections in remarks? In his latest column he jokes about sexual event through the media. No matter what the employment, housing or public accommoda circumstances might he, there always will he tions and no visible community advocacy pro abuse between priests and altar hoys (“Groping those who take it t(x> far. Mechanism," Aug. 16]. That is not funny and grams. In such a world, the bars and clubs in the But of all the thousands who were there to not something to make light of. It is a reality Burnside Triangle were some of the primary with devastating lifelong effects for many, many gather, it is my understanding that only five peo social gathering places for gay men and lesbians people. ple were arrested. The media did not see fit to in Portland. Because the neighborhood was known as a How can you joke about something like show coverage of the other protesters, such as myself, who did move hack when the police that? How can the editorial staff at Just Out place frequented by homosexual men and asked us to. Even though we were on a public “unsexed women,” it was also a place targeted allow stuff like that to he printed? street staying behind the barricades at least a by police and city officials in their efforts to I’m really disappointed that the only (that block away from the hotel. Even though it is our monitor and control the activities of gay men I’ve found) queer newspaper in Oregon tolerates and lesbians. In 1912 police officials and City oppressive and unacceptable commentary. If right, as Americans, to gather peacefully and demonstrate in what we believe in. Hall mounted a same-sex vice investigation those of you on the editorial staff think it’s OK to continue to print stuff like Marc Acito’s reg- ! Because the police hold closed-door meet that ruined the careers of several prominent closeted homosexual/hisexual men and led to ularly inappropriate and degrading insults, then ings to determine what they did, rightly or wrongly, and the protesters quickly are judged by the suicide of one man’s wife. In the late 1940s I think you seriously need to examine your the Portland Vice Squad reported on the activ socialization. people who viewed only what the media decid ities of male and female impersonators at the I’ve had enough of the tolerance of igno- J ed to show, a true assessment of what happened old Music Hall on Southwest 10th Avenue and ranee in the queer community. As an | Aug. 22 never will he fair. But I was there. What I saw on television and read in the on the cruising prospects for “confirmed les oppressed minority, how can we accept or per bians” at the former Buick Café on Southwest petuate oppression against others? I would like paper and heard on kx:al talk radio the follow Washington Street. to see some more awareness on the part of the ing day is not the full story. Only a brief During the 1970s the Portland Town Coun editors, and I would like to see Mr. A cito’s col moment taken out of a daylong peaceful cil, a gay business association firmly rooted in umn canceled. protest. But showing the peaceful protest is not newsworthy. the Burnside Triangle, played a leading role in contravening the efforts of city officials and S h a n n o n R ed m o n d As a candidate for Portland City Council, I police to dismantle the “homosexual presence” Eugene have learned firsthand how the media are selec in Portland. The work of these leaders, together tive in their reporting. But that is another issue with those of social activists, succeeded in bring for another time. ing about a significant change in attitudes toward the queer community. T o t h e E d ito r : Ric B er r o n g The Burnside Triangle continues to he a des Portland am quite discouraged by the media coverage, tination of choice for many gay, lesbian, hi and both ItKal and national, of the President Bush trans residents of and visitors to the metropoli protest. tan region. As a social and entertainment neigh- For my own reasons, I was there. Marching borhtxxl with a rich history, it is one important along the streets of downtown Portland with a T o t h e E d it o r : area in the larger queer geography of Portland. sea of others who were there for their own rea- en years ago I quit talking about AIDS because I was burned out and it seemed obvious that you either used a condom for oral and anal sex or you died. Now I am concerned By the early 1980s her that those who deny that A ID S is real are irre focus had shifted to studying sponsibly misleading some men into having bareback sex. music’s effects on the human body as well as its healing piritual leader, musician, It is undeniable that having bareback sex can potential. In 1993 she began composer and author Kay he as lethal and emotionally irresistible for some a sacred singing circle, Louise Gardner died of a heart men as smoking or overeating, hut it also can he Women with Wings, which attack Aug. 28 at home in Ban done safely and responsibly. The most cited rea has met weekly ever since. gor, Maine. She was believed to sons in medical journals for risking bareback sex he in her early 60s. Gardner is survived by are drinking or drugs, which cause a lapse in her partner, Colleen Fitzger judgment, or the mistaken belief that anti-HIV • She performed her first com ald; daughters, Jenifer Wil drugs will cure you. These reasons might he position at the age of 4. She son Smith of Bangor and important, hut I see a bigger problem with those studied music at University of Michigan and received a mas who deny thar HIV is harmful. Juliana Smith of New Castle, Del.; brother, K. Winston of ter’s degree from Stony Brcx>k For example, a former Falcon gay video srar Clifton, Va.; mother, Enez R. named Jeff Palmer recently moved to Eugene University. In 1972 Gardner founded of Chatsworth, Calif.; and and wrote on his Internet site (www.jeff- two grandchildren. the feminist and openly lesbian palmer.net) that he stopped taking A ID S hand Lavender Jane. She later Memorial services were drugs and that he performed a public bareback held Sept. 1 in Bangor and pursued her dream of becoming “breeding” sex act. He believes the claim of a a symphony conductor by founding and record in Evansville, Wis. Remembrances may be made popular Web site that the A ID S drug AZT, ing works of women composers with the New to Temple of the Feminine Divine, P.O. Box not HIV, causes AIDS. This is mesmerizing many men. England Women’s Symphony. 602, Bangor, ME 04401. Going down in history (FORMERLY DUKES ADULT BOOKSTORE) OPEN 10 AM'10PM To publicly recognize and commemorate the Burnside Triangle as a historically gay district affirms the struggle of gay, lesbian, hi and trans people to achieve full citizenship in Portland and honors the contributions they have made to the city throughout its history. The citizens of Portland have demonstrated the value of such public memorials in adding to the city’s social fabric: Witness the Japanese American park on the waterfront, a revitalized Chinatown and the experiences of African Americans to he recog nized at stations along the Interstate MAX line. 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