Just out., December 20, 2002, Page 7, Image 7

decomber 20.2002 • j o t M t . 7
U ! 1 1 ; 11 ; i vj 4-1 ìnewsbriefs
T ell t h e
F eds to
B u t t
O u t
ortland lesbian Cathryn Cushing is lobby­
ing the U.S. government to continue help­
ing queers quit smoking.
W hen federal objectives were set a few
years ago, the sexual minorities community
was recognized as one of those at risk of tobac­
co-related disparities. T his significant ad­
vancement resulted in money for research, pri­
ority in programming, grant opportunities and
nationwide legitimacy for a group with a prob­
able smoking prevalence of almost twice the
rate of the general population.
As the Centers for Disease Control and Pre­
vention prepares for a midcourse review, sexual
minorities might he dropped from the objec­
tives. The argument is that not enough statistics
are available to measure against.
“The reason that there is not enough base­
line data is because there has not been enough
funding alliKated to L G B T research by the
C D C and other groups to collect the data,”
Cushing said. “This is an impossible C atch-22.”
Cushing is asking supporters to submit com­
ments urging officials to aggressively gather data
about queer smoking prevalence, habits and
attitudes. The deadline is Dec. 31.
Comments can be sent to healthypeople@cdc.gov
or Monica Swann, Office on Smoking and Health,
200 Independence Ave., Room 317 'B ,
Washington, DC 20201.
Beige was hired as Vanguard’s first case man­
ager in April 1995 and was promoted in Sep­
tember 2000. “I think the thing I’m going to
miss most is just...sharing the little daily tri­
umphs of the youth— the getting a job, the 10
days sober, the new girlfriend/boyfriend, all
those little things.”
Beige said Vanguard has come a long way
since she first came on board. At the time queer
kids had no rec center, just support groups.
“That was pretty major— to have a county-
supported position like that," she said. “There
was nothing like that where I came from in
New York.”
Still, Beige regularly encountered youth who
were kicked out of their homes for being queer.
And even in progressive Portland, students con­
tinue to face discrimination on a daily basis.
“Just the other day our case manager...was
doing a presentation at Lincoln High School of
all places, and he was harassed by a group of
youth,” Beige said. “So on the one hand, I feel
like we’ve come a long way; on the other hand,
more than ever this place is needed.”
Vanguard will restructure Beige’s position and
hire a part-time development person to raise
money for the programs. A $12,000 grant from
the Portland Bureau of Housing and Community
Development and $25,000 in emergency funding
from Multnomah County are helping keep
SM YRC’s doors open in the interim.
“There was a while there where it really
looked like SM YRC was in danger of maybe
closing; it does not
look like that now,”
Beige said. “There
were a few days there
where I was a little
scared— we all were.”
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R eg r o u ps
Sexual Minori­
t ties Roundtable,
which is focused on
improving the lives of
queer street youth, held
its monthly meeting
Dec. 10 at Outside In.
A total of 18 people
were present, including
Kathy Beige says queer youth services are needed now more than ever
representatives of the
Portland
Police
Bureau,
Portland
Leather Alliance
SM YRC L e a d e r R e s ig n s
and Pride Northwest.
In addition, several o f the attendees were
athy Beige has resigned as program man­
formerly homeless young adults now working
ager o f Vanguard Youth Services, which
as advocates with organizations trying to meet
includes the Sexual Minority Youth Recre­
the basic needs of kids on the streets such as
ation Center. Her last day on the job was
Outside In and Yellow Brick Road. These
Dec. 19.
advocates proved instnimental in shaping the
‘Tve been doing stxiial service work for about
15 years now, and it’s just time for me to move
direction that the roundtable will go in during
the new year.
on and do something different," she said. “It’s
T h e meeting’s main agenda item was to
time to stop dreaming and start doing!”
figure out how to start communicating with
After taking a three-month sabbatical, Relge
queer street kids so the roundtable can learn
plans on putting her 1989 journalism degree
from the source what sort of assistance would
from Syracuse University to good use. She
he helpful. The original plan was to hold a
already is writing occasional free-lance articles
meeting where they could express their con­
for Just Out.
cerns,
hut as several of those who work direct­
Beige said her decision to leave Vanguard
ly with homeless youth pointed out, this is not
was unrelated to the major cutbacks at Cascadia
a viable approach.
Behavioral HcalthCare, which oversees the pro­
Representatives from Yellow Brick Road
grams. The mental health agency laid off more
urged the roundtable to try to think as a street
than 100 people in October because of a bind­
kid might. After some discussion, the group
ing shortfall from Multnomah Gxinty.
hit upon the notion of a simple survey to be
“My energy level isn’t where it used to be
sent out with volunteers from groups that
for this kind of work,” Beige said. “I think the
program really deserves more than I can give
right now.”
Continued on Page 9
T
i he
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