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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 2003)
g ilt s t o u t * feti rua/y 21.2003 IJI ■ 1 ;U ! IMI 4-4 inewsbriefs siA va A iaw s as o i o h < i flpive with Pride Visit us online at: www.reyreece.com or schedule your appointment 503 256-3700 Sexy Gifts - Exciting Ideas and Unique Apparatus - REY REECE DEALERSHIPS ISUZU-VOLKSWAGEN-USED C o rn e r o f Sandy Blvd. & N E 6 4 th 3 1 0 6 N E 6 4 th P o rtla n d , O R 9 7 2 1 3 122nd & East Burnside www.reyreece.com 503 280 8080 D avid W. O wens Se había español P.C. & ASSOCIATES serving the community since 1975 A t t o r n e y s a t L aw David W. Owens Brady M. Ricks *i >f counsel Chad E. Schaff Richard A. 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When an ordinary Realtor simply won't do... < A Jam e s Giardino Your Holiday Jeweler with Pride Comer of B â 3144 SE Belmont Portland, OR 97214 office: 503-238-7617 L M commitment Stop by our downtown store, open 7 days a week. we negate what they’ve done? Do those posters have to come down? It just opens up a whole can of worms.” Sm ith remains hopeful despite the con arry Smith, a drama teacher at Conestoga tentious environm ent, noting that schools are Middle School in Beaverton, is hutting heads with administrators concerning a class- ! much more accepting than they were when he was a student. Still, he added, 90 percent of rtxim sign advertising the W ashington County teachers have had no training on gay and les Pride Project, a support group for queer kids. bian issues, so this type of information is crucial District officials believe such subject matter for queer kids. belongs only in the offices of counselors, who “Truly it’s a civil rights issue. 1 have a right to they claim are better prepared to answer ques put up in my classroom whatever 1 want that I tions about sexual orientation. think is of educational value to my students,” “1 don’t see gay and lesbian issues as a con troversial issue,” said Sm ith, who serves as Smith said. “How do you expect kids to feel safe in a school when gay and lesbian teachers and chairman of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Edu administrators don’t feel safe?” cation Network’s Oregon chapter. “Are black students controversial? Are Hispanic students controversial?” M a t t h e w N e l so n Smith put up the district-approved sign L eaves F o u n d a t io n three years ago after attending a sensitivity atthew N elson, a longtim e leader in training aimed at helping queer youth stay in P ortland’s sexual m inorities community, sch(X)l and, ultimately, reducing teen suicide. will step down Feb. 25 as executive director of Because he teaches about half of the students Equity Foundation, a nonprofit th at awards at Conestoga, he estimates 1,000 kids see the grants to charities serving queers and allies in poster annually. Oregon. But when one parent complained to district He recently accepted a position working for officials that the sign “promoted homosexuali American Express’ Philanthropy and Com m u ty," they asked Smith to take it down and later banned all classrcxim displays that aren’t direct nity Relations division in Minneapolis. His part ner, Kip Beardsley, already works in Minnesota ly related to the material taught there. He refused and threatened to file a grievance. as the state’s H1V/A1DS director. “It’s an information poster," he said. “It is not “I’ve been in Portland for 15 years and been promotional whatsoever. It does not recruit." connected to Equity for 12 of those years,” N el son told Just Out, “first as a donor, then with W hen the district formed a committee to their workplace giving, and then on the hoard" create a replacement sign that would satisfy before becoming executive director in 2000. He everybody, Smith attended one of the meetings. proudly shared the biggest accomplishments of He was shix:ked to learn that administrators had his tenure: been targeting queer instructors. • Investm ents in Dignity Awards: List “We found out that throughout the dis trict... the only people that were asked to take year’s inaugural event featured lesbian comic down the poster were those teachers who were Lily Tomlin and drew a large audience of het- openly gay or lesbian," he said. “This is obvious j erosexual corporate execs. “I love the fact that ly discrimination." we had...all these CEOs hearing about how Equity impacts the queer community and hav The Beaverton Teachers U nion has asked ing them hear those words ‘lesbian, gay, bisexu administrators to rescind the poster policy because it was made without the input of al, transgendcr,’ ’’ Nelson said. instmetors and infringes on academic freedom. • G rants: Under Nelson’s watch Equity To illustrate his point, Sm ith cited a music ! began supporting Pride festivals in Portland, teacher who put up a sign about respect. Salem, Eugene, Q w s Bay and Ashland as well as an annual event in Bend; created the Lane “Well now that has nothing to do with County Fund, in which the foundation matches music, so should she have to take that down?" every dollar raised; and launched the Safe he said. “I have posters of a variety of icons— Schools Initiative, which conducted nationwide theater people, music artists— and some of them research to fight discrimination against queer have probably not had the best valued moral students. lives in the whole world. Does that mean that B e a v e r t o n T eacher D efends S ig n Oregon’s Family Business of the Year (503) 223-5051 539 SW Broadway www.Larog.com
