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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 2002)
] 0 ju s t M it » decamhar 6.2002 rrTiTrïïTRTlneius eace « 2 )« „c G ive P eace a C hance Lesbian pacifist w as accused of sedition more than 80 years ago A Lesbian New Year's Eve Party 2003 December 31, 2002 * 8pnr1am * Shenanigan's * 4575 N. Channel Ave * Portland OR 97217 A portion of proceeds will support local peace organizing Ail lesbians, friends and allies are welcome Smoke Free * Ail Ages light Buffet • No Host Bar Silent Auction * Raffle Dancing to Masie by DJ Lauren A S L Interpreted Tickets Available At: It's M y Pleasure Music Millennium In Other Words Bookstore Gentle Strength Books in Vancouver *25/advance tJO/door Reserved Tables of 10/$2S0 For more info: email lcp@xprt.net or call 503-227-0605 Antoinette Laferriere F L O R E ID W A L K E R .WADDELL «SrREED G r if f o n F in a n c ia l G r o u p , LLC Financial and Estate Planning Services F in a n c ia l S erv ices * Investing. With a plant M illy n n co RgUiX equity group Alternative m & rm i W A N T T O P A R T Y ? LET U S D R IV E ! M entìon J ust O ut foe a 10% D iscount Safe Schools for All! Do you want to make a difference in schools? We’re looking for volunteers. Call & find out how you can promote change. Gay, Lesbian www. glsenOregon. org and Straight Ê0GLSEN Education Networfc 5 0 3 525-1 1 77 - by P at Young uring the Burnside Triangle public history tours in September, the story of one outspoken woman contained provocative parallels to the U .S. government’s current crackdown on anti-war agitators. Who was Marie Equi? A doctor, feminist, pacifist, agitator, lesbian? “She was always in the newspapers surround ed by controversy,” community historian Tom Cook says. “She was totally into other women. She didn’t have any interest in men at all.” And that was just for starters. Equi was bom April 7, 1872, in Massachu setts. She attended Wellesley College, where she met her good friend Bess Holcomb. When Holcomb accepted a teaching posi tion in The Dalles, Equi moved out West with her. The town seemed to accept the two women and thought nothing of their Boston marriage. However, in July 1893, they created quite a stir when Equi threatened to horsewhip the Rev. O.D. Taylor, president of the school’s board, concerning a dispute in Holcomb’s salary. She almost had her way, but he escaped her wrath, and she was arrested for her efforts. A few years later, the pair moved to San Francisco, where Holcomb found another teaching job. Their relationship did not last. It’s unclear why they broke up, but Holcomb mar ried and remained in California. Equi entered college and later moved to Oregon, where in 1903 she became one of the first women to grad uate from University of Oregon Medical School. In Portland, Equi set up a health clinic in the Lafayette Building located at the comer of Southwest Sixth Avenue and Washington Street. The majority of her patients were women, and most were poor. In addition to reg ular care, she was one of the few doctors in Port land who performed abortions. Equi hired Harriet Speckart to be her med ical assistant in 1906. They ended up as lovers and remained together for almost 20 years, dur ing which time they adopted a daughter. They lived in several places on the west side of Port land, including Hotel Oregon at Southwest Broadway and Stark Street. “While she was with Harriet, she was having affairs, too,” Cook notes. Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger “made a comment that every time a political woman came to Portland, Marie Equi was there to capture her attention.” Cook points to when she was on trial for her opposition to World War I. The FBI’s source was a woman who lived in the hotel room next to Equi’s. “She was telling the FBI the things that she was hearing through the walls, and these were the nights when Harriet was not in Portland,” Cook says with a laugh. “But you have to take that with a grain of salt.” In addition to her work as a doctor, Equi was an advocate for the working class and immi grants. She supported the Industrial Workers of the World and women’s suffrage and assisted Sanger when she came to Portland. Equi was often on the streets protesting one cause or another. But it was her opposition to World War I that ultimately landed her in prison. According to Nancy Krieger’s 1983 article “Queen of the Bolsheviks," Equi joined the American Union Against Militarism, an organi zation that believed the real reason the United States wanted to enter the war was for econom- ic profit. She gave emotionally charged speech- es at several gatherings. | SOCIETY 23494 a benefit for Portland Lesbian Choir & Lesbian Community Project for Portland protest Marie Equi was one of the few doctors in Portland who performed abortions Meanwhile, rallies were held across the nation in support of the war. On June 14, 1916, about 20,000 people flocked downtown for Port land’s Preparedness Day Parade. Krieger notes, “Equi outdid herself by carry ing her anti-imperialist politics” when she walked into the crowd and held up a banner reading: “Prepare to Die, Workingmen. J.P. Morgan & Co. Want Preparedness for Profit. ‘Thou Shall N ot Kill.’ ” Needless to say, she almost started a riot as people tore the banner apart and police arrested her. But a few days later, she was at it again. Only this time, she climbed a telephone pole and waved another banner— “Down with the Imperialist War.” Police needed the assistance of the fire department to get her down from the telephone pole. A s soon as the United States entered the war, the government passed the Espionage Act, which clamped down on anti-war activities. When the Sedition Law was added in 1918, it became illegal to criticize the government, con stitution, military or flag. “It was this new law which finally snared Equi,” Krieger writes. Equi was arrested in June 1918 for a speech she gave in Portland. The Justice Department hired an informant to keep tabs on her until her trial, which didn’t start until Nov. 12,1918, a day after the war ended. The government lined up an | assortment of people to speak against Equi. And she responded with just as many supporters. Krieger describes a confront? tion between Equi and the prosecutor as the highlight of the trial. Newspapers reported there seldom had been such a courtroom battle of wits between a man and a woman. Equi was found guilty and sentenced to three years in jail. She appealed the case hut eventu ally was ordered to San Quentin Prison on Oct. 19, 1920. Her sentence later was commut ed to a year and a half. After prison, Equi lived a quieter life because of the calmer political climate and her failing health. She died July 13,1952, in Portland. J H j j PAT YOUNG is a Portland free-lance writer and gay and lesbian historian.
