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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 17, 2003)
January 17.2003 ♦ iustnrn COMMENTARY in M a r i v D avis The IN publication for the O U T population F ounded 1983 • J ay B rown V o l. 2 0 N o . 6 and You say you want a revolution? R enee L a C hance January 1 7 , 2 0 0 3 FEATURE Saving the world requires more than economic reform IS IT A BOY BR A GIRL?: Intersex activists think “IT we should decide for ourselves and work to stop the mutilation of children Í P 22 NEWS NORTHWEST • Sexual Minority Youth Recreation Center veteran plans “A Second Chance” fund-raiser; gay City Councilor Karl Rohde makes the grade in Lake Oswego; Episcopal Church’s Oregon Diocese ordains first openly gay man 7-17 NATIONAL • HRC opposes anti-gay judge’s pp nomination to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals; trans people protected in Springfield, III., and Key West, Fla. 18-19 WORLD • Madrid mayoral candidate comes out PP | of the closet; Gandalf actor actually responds j to e-mails from fans pp 20-21 ARTS AND C U L T U R E MOSIC • Tegan and Sara want to stop talking : about being dykes and start talking about music; | plus new reviews! 32-33 THEATER • Edward Albee all over town p 35 PP B00K8 • A talk with Portlander Sara Gogol about | her new book on women in sports p 37 F IL M - It’s time for The H ours ; plus The Slaughter Rule opens at Hollywood Theatre pp 38-39 DIVERSIONS • New theater company takes on death; Catie Curtis coming to the Aladdin; queer film showings; new column every week! p 40 WHAT'S PQPPIN'? • Everything is good p41 COLUMNS n the days leading up to the January special election, Oregon vot ers will decide the fate of Ballot Measure 28. This is, at best, a temporary Band-Aid meant to pull the state through the next three years while politicians and leaders struggle to achieve long- range solutions to the economic problems facing us all. Imperfect as it is, Measure 28 must be passed. The impact of the loss of these funds will be felt the hardest by those who are most vulnerable and dependent upon services and systems provided by state and county programs. The arguments used in favor of this measure are inherently emotional blackmail, but it’s a “best of bad choices" scenario, and I encourage a “yes” vote for temporary increases in income tax rates. The financial dilemma of our state is posed as “a shortage of money”— over and over and over. I’d like to suggest that we view this from a different perspective. It’s not that there’s too little money. A big ger truth is that there are simply too many people. Recent anti-war protests and activities have seen the re-emergence of a favored and cherished symbol from the turbulent 1960s. Yes, the peace symbol is back. To me it now looks like a large marching Volks wagen emblem, but that’s what 40 years of mass marketing have brought to the overwhelmed consumer eye. Let’s not stop with one symbol, however. If we’re bringing back philosophies and rhetoric from the past, then let’s revive the concept of zero population growth. Herein lies the solution to our economic woes. We simply need a total social revolution. While there are admittedly a few, um, minor details to work out, here’s my idealistic plan for saving the world. The first part is simple. Folks have got to stop making babies. IMMEDIATELY. Does anyone really think we need any more people? No, we’ve got enough already, so stop it right now. While the rampant overbreeding is stopping, we now begin work on a total paradigm shift. Simply put, we must redefine the concept and definition of family. This won’t be as hard as it might sound. We’ve already done it within the past 40 years, and we can do it again within the next 20. We can do it within the next generation. Prior to the mid-1960s a family was simply and absolutely Mom, Dad and the proverbial 2.3 kids. But then along came feminism, the sexual revolution, The Beatles and bad hairstyles, and now 40 years later the family is viewed by many to be a single mom with too many kids. Here’s where gays and lesbians come in. We shift our focus from fight ing for the right to marriage and its religious and ceremonial connotations. Instead, lobbyists and legislators and community members work to define structures of newly recognized family units. Mom and Dad, Dad and Dad, Mom and Mom or simply Mom and simply Dad. Ideally, new words will be coined reflecting family units without ties to reproductive status. Ch(X)se your partner, ch(X)se yourself, he whtxiver you’re going to be. Register your status and you’re recognized as a legal entity— with all appropriate tax and civil benefits. Families with no children receive tax incentives, cash bonuses, definite financial rewards for not having kids. Families with one child receive the equivalent of the current child tax credit. Families with two children are simply at a level playing field— no credits, no bonus. You make a deliberate choice to have children; there fore, you must be financially responsible. Lastly, families with more than two children are assessed tax penal ties. Really big tax penalties. In this new society, gay and lesbian non reproducing families are recognized for their valuable contributions to the reduction in overpopulation and are rewarded thusly. So now it’s 20 years later, the birth rate has dropped dramatically, and the impact is far-reaching and positive. There’s an immediate decrease in the numbers of people in the entry-level work force. McDonald’s and Burger King can’t staff their restaurants and are forced out of business. As a result, people return to healthier eating and lifestyles. Years of soaring health costs are lowered as obesity and related diseases are reduced. There are no more fat children. In addition, the bazillions of dollars and natural resources that go into the care and maintenance of cows and chickens for fast food outlets are now available for diversion to healthy organic farming. Employers are forced to compete for qualified workers, and wages and benefits go up. Minimum-wage laws no longer are needed. Schools, now un crowded, return to educating students rather than warehousing them. Resources are available to focus on individuals, decreasing the numbers of undereducated, underskilled and undermotivated people. While the above borders on fantasy, there is clearly more to the source of our problems than need for economic reform. Our country needs seri ous and immediate social and political change. We need a revolution. Gays and lesbians must step up and take a leadership role in chang ing the consciousness. We must create a change in perceptions and in reality. We have vast, unlimited potential as a lobbying and voting bloc, yet we languish in apathy and complacency. Our national organizations are moribund and/or rendered powerless by the chains of political correctness. W ho steps forward to promote change and to lead? So let’s get started. 1, for one, happily agree not to have a child and eagerly await my incentive. Or we can make menu choices— for exam ple, trade the resources used by having children for the resources drained by driving a sports utility vehicle. Remember, our social mores were turned upside down once within the past 40 years. It can he done again. There are creative ways to solve problems and create better lives for all. W hat’s your suggestion? W hat will be your contribution? jH PLEASE NOTE: January has five Fridays, so the next issue o f Just Out w on’t hit the streets until Feb. 7— on interval o f three weeks rather than two. MS. BEHAVIOR • Bad vibes from vibrators and men P 31 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARC • Lions and ! tigers and rams, oh my! P 42 ju s t o u t is published on th e firs t and th ird F ri day o f each m onth. < a .pyright © 200) by Just ( hit. N o p;irt activism with Anndee Hochm an. • S ister Paula, television drag evangelist, discusses gays and the gospels w ith Kamila Al-Najjar. nt Just ( hit m.iy he reproduced w ith o u t w ritten permission from | the publisher. The su bm ission o f w ritte n and g rap h ic m a te ri als is w elcom ed. W ritten ui.iteri.il should he typed and dnu- I hle-spaced. Just Out reserves the right to edit for grammar, punc tuation, style, liability concerns and length. We will reject or edit articles or advertisements that are offensive, demeaning or may result in legal action. Letters to th e ed ito r should he limited to 500 words. A n nouncements regarding life transitions (births, deaths, unions, etc.) should he limited to 200 words; photos are welcome Dead line for su bm issions to the editorial department and for the C alendar is the Thursday 15 days before the next publication date. Views expressed in letters to the editor, colum as and features are not necessarily those o f the publisher. T he disp lay ad v ertisin g d ead lin e is the Monday 12 days hetore the next publication date. C lassified ads must be received at the Just Out office by 4 p.m. on the Thursday eight days before the next publication date, alone with payment. Ads may be placed by telephone or via the Internet with Visa or MasterCard payment. Ad policy: Just C )ut reserves the right to refect or edit any advertisement. Q im pensalion for errors in, or cancellation of, advertising will be made with credit toward future advertising. Advertising rates are available upon request. D istribution policy: Just C >ur is available free of charge, one copy per person. Just C )ut is delivered «wily to authorized distnbu- tots. No person may, without prior written permission from Just Out, take more than one copy. Any person who takes more than one copy may be held liable for theft, including but not limited to civil damages and/or criminal prosecution. Su bscriptions are $22.50 for 12 issues. First Class (in an envelope) is $40 for 12 issues. C o n tact Just Our at P.O. Box 14400, Portland, O R 9 7 2 9 5 -0 4 0 0 ; 5 0 5 -2 )6 -1 2 5 2 , advertising 5 0 5 - 2 )6 - 1 2 5 ), fax 5 0 5 -2)6-1257; e-mail just.xit@just<sit com. Visit our Internet site at www.justout.com. • U nited W ay of the C olum bia-W illam ette made an about-face a fte r unfavorable publicity in the gay and lesbian press disclosed institutionalized hom ophobia in the organization. • B everly S tein, a longtim e friend o f the gay and lesbian com m unity, has filed fo r state representative o f D istrict 14. H er nom inating petition contained m ore than four tim es the num ber o f signatures required from registered D em ocrats. • Susan Leo, a m em ber o f the Portland com m unity since 1 97 2, is one o f 15 PU BLISJBI AND MANAGING BJTTM • Marty Davis NEWS EDITOR • Jim Radosta ARTS A M C M IM K E D IT « • Lisa Bradshaw EDITORIAL ASSISTANT • Marie Fleischmann CONTRIBUTORS • Marc Acito, Meryl Cohn, Meg Daly, Patricia L. MacAodha, Christopher McQuain, Gary Morris, TJ Norris, Courtney Perkins, Floyd Sklaver, Cori Taratoot, Kat Wilson, Rex Wockner ADVERTISING D IR EC T « • Larry Lewis ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE • Markte Acevedo ADVBm SM C ASSISTANT • Erin Sexton m em bers o f th e first B en Linder C onstruction Brigade. The group is going to C o rin to . N icaragua, in honor o f Ben Linder, a Portland resident m urdered in a C o n tra am bush A pril 2 8 , 1987. • This w in te r’s b est all-out dance party will kick o ff Feb. 13. The event will b en efit th e Right to Privacy PA C and the B rinker Fund. It also will be in celebration o f S andy D ire c to r’s 50th birthday. The party will featu re g u est s ta r Thelm a Houston and th e m usical group Salm on D ave, w ith a special appearance by S n o w W h ite and h er seven dw arfs. • Dos Lesbos is back! Th e aw ard-w inning m usical com edy returns to Portland on Jan. 8 at the C olum bia T h ea te r C om pany. Lea D eLaria and K elley Edw ards, tw o zany lesbian com edians, star in this refreshing lo o k a t com ing out. • Portland P o w er end Trust, an inform al support group fo r lesbian w om en-bom -w om en in terested in safe, consensual S /M , m eets monthly. GDAIM C M REC TM • Kevin Moore P M M C T M N ASSISTANT • Zanne dejanvier • F i d MANAGED • Marie Fleischmann B B T IM n iS N • Kristine Ashton, Jennifer Brinson, Ian Drake, Ron Geer, Mary Hauer, Crash Schwartz
