march 7.2003
g m out
Eric Brown
Does the financial
Insilici Monnet
in Portlofirl
Does it rem ain culturally acceptable for gay m en
to engage in public sex, or should these behaviors
be taken out of the bushes and into the bathhouses1
F
irst I am surprised that it is “culturally
acceptable” for gay men to engage in public
sex; I didn’t know that. I knew it was probably
“tolerated culturally” but definitely not accept
ed, especially in these days of religious invasion
of our politics.
That said, 1 am a believer in a simple idea
that if a behavior does no harm to others then
it’s none of our business. I don’t care what a per
son’s label is.
M ore importantly, I am intrigued by a
question o f this sort in this forum. I will
admit to being new at this site but was taken
aback by the question, as 1 am unsure o f its
purpose.
Is judgment being passed here? Is it appropri
ate to perpetuate the unfortunate illusion that
it’s appropriate for communities to judge and
direct personal behavior?
1 can only hope not and that I have mis
read the purpose o f this forum. As a transgen-
dered person I am fighting for my freedom of
expression, and having my behavior be sub
je c t to approval of the larger community, to
me, is a dead-end road.
L et’s not forget that this country o f ours is
created on a C hristian foundation (unfortu
nately ) and thus will never accep t our
“abnormal” behavior no matter how much
you talk about it. Unfortunate but true in my
M ichael K night
Clackam as
ver since the catacombs and into the dis
tant past, m en have had to hide their love
away. I think love in all its many varied forms
ought to be out o f the closet and out o f the
cave.
In my opinion the “baths” and other “closed
caption" environments are nothing more than
toll booths and cages. Let’s keep it out in the
open.
E
The bad thing is that in many, if not most, of the
smaller cities, towns and rural areas, nonstraight
people either have to blend in or take their lives
in their own hands.
There are laws, and then there is common
sense. Many of the people in the town where
Matthew Shepard was beaten to death— in
broad daylight and with television cameras
rolling openly— swore at and verbally con
demned the nonstraight individuals who came
to pay respects.
I am not suggesting that people go back into
the closet at all. I am suggesting that people
don’t confuse reality with what should be.
In the past 25 years or so, great strides have
been made in the pursuit of having nonstraights
recognized as on equal ground as straights.
Unfortunately, for the past 10,000 years, anyone
different, or even thought to be different, was
denied the right to live.
Just as in the classic book The Art o f War,
there is a way to fight and a time to fight, and a
time not to fight and a way not to fight. W hat is
needed in some sectors of the nonstraight world
is a change from thinking “what should be” to
“what is” and to pragmatic ways of first physical
ly surviving and then bringing about changes.
Being too radical or too “badass" or too much
“in the face” of whatever “enemy” of non-
straight men and women and those who are
both men and women, in many circumstances,
in many areas of the country, including parts of
Hey, I’m queer, I’m here, and I’m used to it!
Think free!
J ohn A ngel
Phoenix, O re.
P
erhaps we should expand the drug-free and
prostitution-free zones to include a fag-free
zone throughout the natural world to prevent
naked men from fucking in the bushes. It also
would give us control over the naked women
leaving drumming circles in the woods.
We could force the fags into the bathhouses
and Metropolitan Community Church. There,
the women would be forced to wear clothes
(burkas), subjugated to religious dogma that
they would be banned from challenging in sem
inary and regulated by tax and zoning laws.
It is the power of our love that you fear so
much, Ms. Davis. After making love in the
bushes, we are inspired to make our world a bet
ter place for our new boyfriend.
Never doubt that a small group of committed
individuals can change the world. Indeed, it is
the only thing that ever has.
D avid S moot
Portland
world have you
$00 HE Multnomah
Portland, OR 9723?
503.238 6036
n littl 0 e r n j y
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M ultnomah County acknowledges
National LQ B T Health Awareness
W eek, what do you feel is the greatest
health risk facing the sexual
minorities community? H W /AJD S1
Smoking1 Obesity ? Compulsive
behaviors1 Breast cancer1 O thers1
(Please see related item on Page 9 .)
Respond at www.justout.conu (Don*t
forget to include your nam e, city and
daytime telephone num ber.)
Oregon, is a really good way to become a martyr.
A person can be “right” and seriously hurt or
dead. This is not a fight that will be won by cute
parades every year or signs or chanting. This is a
fight that only will be won a day, a circum
stance, a person at a time.
Matthew Shepard’s parents did not want him
to come back to the redneck “cowboy” town,
and he did not have to financially. They had a
really good reason for him not to come back: his
life. Be “out,” but like a dear/deer, always
remember the predators.
J ohn B oynton
Vancouver, Wash.
D eath w ith ou t dignity
T o the E ditor :
hat will happen if some of the draconian
budget cuts are not revisited and reinstat
ed? It means people are going to die! It means
the people who made the decision to cut the
budgets had better start doing a lot of soul
searching.
Our state representatives haven’t taken
responsibility to do the job they were elected to
do, which was to balance a budget doing what
ever is necessary to keep the fabric of our society
together and to care for those unable to care for
W
C ontinued on P age 7
waddell.com
WADDELL
<S>rREED
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