dacflmhfir 20*2002 »
P eace O ut
Queers lend their voices to
the growing opposition to war
Story and photos by Jim Radosta
ithout a doubt, the biggest
news story of 2002 was the
ongoing U.S. threat of war
on Iraq.
The aftermath of the
Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks has had a direct
impact on the sexual minorities community—
qualified Arabic linguists booted from the mili
tary because they are gay, binational couples tom
apart by the government’s crackdown on immi
gration, survivors enduring unfair disparities in
relief assistance. The impending war has pro
voked a strong reaction throughout the region,
but queers especially seem to be taking notice.
“The current administrations foreign policy of
‘kill first, think second’ is not acceptable to me,
and judging from...anti-war protests here in Port
land and other large cities around the world, I’m
not the only one who feels this way,” says Dan
Yonker of Basic Rights Oregon. “I believe strongly
in the power of grassroots organizing and democ
racy and the changes that we can make together.”
Douglas Hopper of Clackamas County Sexu
al Minority Youth Connection said he was
impressed with the significant queer presence
during a peace rally Nov. 17 at Pioneer Court
house Square. However, “it’s problematic to
expect the queer ‘community’ to do anything.
There are so many different kinds of people who
are GLBTQ : radical leftists, Log Cabin Republi
cans, anarchists, military employees, God-fearing
Christians, just to name a few. I would encourage
everyone who is truly against the war on Iraq—
queer or not— to speak up, start conversations,
intelligently vote, pay attention to alternative
media, march and rally people together.” J H
Thousands attended a peace rally Nov. 17 at Pioneer Courthouse Square
The war has given many queers
yet another reason to oppose the
Bush administration
Diana Courvant (left) of Survivor
Project and Wendy Howard
Beth B u m s (left) and In Other Words founder Catherine Sameh
The Rev. Cecil Prescod of Brother to Brother
Ann Hinds (left) of Outside In
and Kristan Aspen of the
Lesbian Community Project
M yriah J . D ay (left) and C hrista Orth of Pride at Work Oregon
Lizzy Tänzer of Alternative Sound
Bonnie Tinker of Love M akes a Family