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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 2003)
g J u s t o u t • febmary 7. 2003 ‘T m -A V A IL A B L E , „ when v o are! Continued from Page 5 Careful and energetic handling of all your home financing needs MORTGAGE à A d v o c a te s ItTOO SW 1 ().'»i1 1 Ave., Si lite 2< X ) liea\rrt< >ii. OR ( l7(M )."> loll Fret* («S77) 8284*100 Fax (âO.T) 207-0824 E-Mail: t olleeiiwV<emtgadv(K alesa om www.mtgac lv< k 'alesai u 11 C o lle e n W e e d O ffice 503 » 297»9900 503 « 780«1561 Cell Auto, Home, Life, Health & Business epb&b A ccepte "Your Independent Insurance Agency" Travet Arrangements Tailored to Your bleeds insurance i Kllioli, Powell, Kaden He Baker, In«. Hartford still offers earthquake insurance on older homes Hawaiian A irlines Nonstop to Maui from Portland. Call for select dates and prices. Service begins February 1st, 2 0 0 3 - restrictions apply ~ 6S47 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale H*y Portland, OR 97225 M arc Baker D owntown Portland T iif æ L H artford ( 503 ) 503-292-0675 • 1-888-317-8886 â | «vww.Morldaceents.com 227-1771 hxv www epbb.com Branches U ncom m on Card, Gift, 8c Paper Store It’s a you parade. H e r z p g -M e ie r Lisa Costello 503-372-3129 Personal VW Consultant Drivers wanted. U>/i jrd u b lis a ^ ^ J jo tm a iL c o n ^ ^ www.rransthcrapist.com. From a philosophical standpoint, I agree with most of what Sarah/Sam Morrigan said in hit letter to the edi tor ["Driven Up the Wall,” Dec. 20]. From a practical standpoint, however, I don’t agree with all of what Morrigan said. Yes, choosing a pronoun is a compromise of identity for some people, though not for everyone. However, I gauge the success or failure of a pro gram on its outcome and the response of the people it’s supposed to serve, not on my own long-range dream of changing our cultural par adigm of gender. As with most programs at Outside In, direct feedback from the participants drives the agen da, not the philosophical views of the staff or outside consultants. T he overwhelming re sponse from the people the ID Project serves is one of ecstasy. Finally, someone is listening to them, taking them seriously and allowing them to actualize a gender identity that feels more comfortable than the one assigned to them at birth. While they might chcx»e a more gender- neutral pronoun if the option were available, at least through the ID Project they can choose a pronoun for themselves rather than having one assigned. These clients are not being steered toward the program hut are accessing it because it’s what they want. If this were a perfect society, it would he great if we had more than two options for pronouns. Two words can’t begin to describe the range of gender identity/expression that are part of the human condition. In that sense, yes, the ID Project is a compromise. But change happens on many levels, some more quickly than others. Our project, allowing people to make these changes without financial cost to themselves, is one level of change. Not having any gender designation on a driver license or ID card is a distant future level of change. Through my own transition and life experi ence, I have come to have much more patience with social change than I used to have. Com- passion for others’ processes is the key to this patience, as I realize we have millennia of gen der binary socialization to overcome. I don’t expect to change society or the world in my lifetime— I would be one bumed-out indi vidual in short order if that were my goal. I do what I can with the opportunities presented to me, and I am more pleased with the opportuni ty to participate in the ID Project than with just about any other that has come my way. R eid V anderburgh , MA Portland One small step To the E ditor : T IUI N We use LYRA® the first FDA approved laser for All SKIN TONES! • Hair Elimination • Razor Bumps • Rosacea F. Douglas Day MD, FAAFP LLOYD CENTER 3rd Floor, Suite 2246 Plenty of Free Parking • MAX Accessible pricing on Valentine's Botox $7 per unni’ 503.249.SK IN (7546) www.LaserCOSMETICGrou p ,C a m his is in response to the question about the first same-sex couple featured on the “C el ebrations" page ii'i The GTcgCrJjr. [“J'JSt Asking.” Jan. 31. So your announcement was printed under “Commitments.” Think hack a couple of years ago. You would not have had even the opportu nity of an option. You are the first to do some thing that has not been done before. All great changes start with one step. You have started something great. Be proud of what you did. But please remember, to change the thinking of an entire country or world takes years. It doesn’t happen overnight. If all gay couples place an ad in The Oregon ian, that alone would start to change the minds of the next generation. And yes, I gladly would post my announcement to let everybody know of my “marriage” and to send a message to the B O A R D C E R T IF IE D P R O V ID E R S next generation of young gay people that any thing is possible. D aniel C ox Portland Bareback w ords To the E d it o r : wanted to commend Just Out for writing, and running, the “Risky Business” article in the Jan. 3 issue. The article is an outstanding exam ple of excellent journalism: eye-catching, “mind-catching,” both interesting to read and accurate. 1 know writing such a piece can he “risky business,” and I appreciate you taking that risk. The article contains important information for our community. Also, 1 appreciate you high lighting the strong advexacy work that Cascade AID S Project does. Again, thanks for writing such a balanced, nonjudgmental piece. It is helpful and support ive of efforts to reduce HIV and ST D rates in our community. I M argaret L entell , RN, FNP Multnomah County Health Department Sexually Transmitted Disease Program Manager Desperately seeking... To the E d it o r : newly developed homeopathic remedy that apparently has improved the health status of people with HIV and AID S in Africa will he provided free of charge to 30 Portland participants in a study of this remedy. People at any stage of infection who do not drink coffee or use street drugs are eligible to participate, whether or not they take standard medications. Anyone interested in more infor mation or wishing to participate should call me at 503-253-6334. A D ouglas B rown , FNP, CCH Portland Weight a minute! To t h e E d it o r : s a health care provider, I followed with interest, and some dismay, the fervor your publisher created a few months ago with her remarks about her desire to become thinner and, therefore, healthier. It amazed me that any thinking adult could deny the obvious health risks accompanying obesity. In the interest of educating the G L B T pub lic, I submit a synopsis o f a research article in the Jan. 8 issue of the Journal o f the American Medical Association: “Excess weight has not received the same attention from clinicians and policymakers as have other threats to health such as tobacco use, hypertension or hypercholesterolemia,” wrote Drs. JoA nn E. Manson and Shari S. Bassuk o f Brigham and W om ens Hospital in Boston. “It is not sur prising that obesity rates continue to ililTlb.” The findings show that “obesity has a profound effect on life span,” said study author Dr. David B. Allison and his colleagues at University of Alaba ma in Birmingham. According to the report, obe sity is particularly dangerous for younger adults. Severely obese white men between 20 and 30 years old live about 1 3 fewer years than others in the general population. Severely obese white women can expect to live eight fewer years than their nonohese counterparts. Obesity also has a profound effect on the life span of younger African Americans. Obese black men between 20 and 30 lose about 20 years, and obese black women lose about five years of life. A
