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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (March 21, 2003)
* march 21.2003 p n o u t ‘IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD’ TRAIN YOUR BRAIN. CHANGE YOUR LIFE. have to date lost 22 lbs and am off Zoloft. All thanks to you. You are a goddess . " "/ To -Don Clarkson Mayor (Mosier. OR) and Personal Coach If you are struggling with depression, anxiety, panic attacks, attention issues, stress, sleep problems, mental clarity, or are seeking a peak performance edge cdntact Nora G e d ga u d a s Neurotherapist Nutritional Specialist Northwest Neurofeedback Johnson Street Professional Building 1920 N W Johnson Street , Suite 100 Portland, O R 97209 Office: 503-274-7733 Fax: 503-274-7770 call lor a Iraa consultation http //www northwasl-nauroleedback com GET REAL! The only way to shake a drug or alcohol problem is to be honest. And that takes trust. The TRIANGLE PROJECT provides a safe, respectful, and confidential treatment program for members of the GLBT community. Services are provided by GLBT counselors. OUT YOUR PROBLEM! If you have problems in your life related to your alcohol or drug use, call before the problems get bigger. We can help. *We are also a state-licensed DUII treatment provider _______ I UK IK IA M .I t PKO.IM I ASAP Treatment Services 503 . 224.0075 2130 S W Fifth Ave # 100 Portland. O R 97201 www.asaptx.org PVJCKHdN TERRACE • • • • • • • • Studio & one bedroom apartment homes Expanded living rooms with office alcoves Generous closets in each apartment Sheltered between a tree-lined street and a city park Spectacular city and mountain views Indoor fitness center Sun terraces and community room for entertaining Enclosed parking garage jy g . ( , . _ Sandy A Nh I bill ~~^^^C a(S & clog S welcome True colors www.lHwIunimlrrrurr.mHM I’innurlc Krully Mimap-inriil ('.<>ni|>iiny ,> 03 . 2 * 30.9000 602 SE 38th Ave. Portland, OR 97214 503.231.39ii Wed - Sat P R IX MITCHELL, E ditor : hile I certainly appreciate your article “Voices of Color” in the Feb. 21 edition of Just Out, it is troubling to me just the same that your progressive gay paper still seems to ignore people of color who are LGBT in Port land. I feel that the questions lacked depth and imagination in terms of the important concerns and interests of the African American and African diaspora LGBT community. The article was actually somewhat insult ing. You not only underutilized the minds of these brilliant and competent black gay people, hut the article also was extremely short and limited in scope. Yes, the African American and African diaspora LGBT community are small in Port land, hut there are several issues that occur within its confines. You could have asked ques tions on economic empowerment and why for LGBTs of color, particularly those of African descent, that is not a reality. Maybe you could have asked why still in this city there is a lack of culturally competent African American/African diaspora HIV/AIDS prevention campaigns. Perhaps you could have mentioned that for black men in this stx:iety, who are more apt to he thrown in prison than to he given a job or educational opportunities, adding an LGBT status certainly compounds issues such as the aforementioned challenges. What about asking about the role of reli gious centers in the lives of LGBTs of African descent? For many of us our churches, cathe drals, mosques and life-sustaining faith in God, Allah, the Loas, the Orishas, the Virgin Mary and/or Jesus Christ are just as important to us as, if not more than, whether we identify as queer or how we “feel” about racism. WE DESPISE RACISM IN ALL OF ITS MIND-NUMBING FORMS!!!!! Come on, people, do you think we like the fact we are the descendants of people who experienced one of the worst gencx:ides in history (slavery) fol lowed by massive disenfranchisement to this day, and basically suffering under the white supremacy? We don’t like it; you all should know that much at least by now. I mean, my God, you ask the same question every year! How do you feel about racism? Interracial relationships is yet another issue you could have touched on. It is, in fact, just as divisive an issue in the African Ameri can and African diaspora LGBT community as it is in the white LGBT community. The attitudes surrounding it at least should have been examined. Going a step further, how about the fact that for black gay men in this city it seems that often to fit into the larger gay community we are pushed to give up our blackness and assim ilate? You didn’t ask questions about that, either. And hello, what’s up with only one lesbian being asked to speak? I mean, were you trying to he sexist, or were the opinions of black LGBT females just too difficult to find? Wait, l know: You were in such a rush to put our your annual Black Article, you never considered having more than one woman speak; you just didn’t have the time. At least you could have had two other African American or African diaspora lesbians and maybe even some bisexuals and transgen- dered people interviewed to gain a full perspec tive. They do exist. I guess I’m just tired of the marginalization that people of color in general are shown by your paper. How could you even think to call your article “Voices of O dor” when you only the interviewed African Americans? Latinos, Native Americans, Asians, Arabs and East Indian LGBT people also happen to reside in Portland and have equally intriguing and inter esting voices that need to he heard by Port land’s very WHITE LGBT community. In short, thanks for considering me and mine in your article, hut y’all gets no luv from me for its presentation. It was too short, the questions asked were redundant, you under utilized the minds of those interviewed, and you failed to get all of the voices of color. Also, I was more than slightly insulted that you chose the last week of Black History Month to release this story and then made it so short that it seemed like you were just tokeniz- ing us. I personally am tired of being a token filler for someone else’s “education.” K yon S a u c ie r Portland Thin ice To the E ditor : was in the middle of a planning meeting for a size-positive event taking place May 3 in Portland when I read Marty Davis’ shocking editorial on obesity (“Choose Your Battles,” March 7]. After I read it aloud, a rtxim full of amazing, vibrant, creative, intelligent women, myself included, sat, jaws dropped, in complete and utter disbelief. Now, four days later, I am still aghast. My shock, disappointment and anger have not faded in the slightest. Sheltering her big otry and sizism under the protective frame of “personal opinion,” dishing out unsound, unproven and undereducated nutritional philosophies in a manner that is both errantly “matter of fact" and unbelievably condescend ing, Marty has once again shown that her eyes are closed to the fact that the world is not a place of simple duality. There are myriad plausible actions/reac- tions, causes/effects and personal preferences for any scenario at hand. She speaks to her readers with the narrow assumptions that all fat people desire weight loss, are unhealthy or are just not doing it right. Fitness and fatness are not always mutual ly exclusive, and Marty would do well to remember that. One can focus on issues of personal health without worrying about appearance or size. Making disgustingly low jibes like “Run now if you must—or if you can” is inexcusable. We as a culture are bombarded daily with images of an arbitrary physical ideal, are shamed into high-priced weight loss clinics and eating disorders, are taught to despise any devi ation from that ideal, no matter how minor, in our physiques. We are taught that the unavoidable and perfectly natural diversity of human bodies (size, shape and color) is negative, something to cover up or “work off." Marty’s decision to use (or misuse) her position as editor—and owner—of this publication to further this terri ble mind-set is not only misguided, hut socially irresponsible. I agree with the goals of health and fitness, and if weight loss is a byproduct of those healthful activities, so he it. But if it is not, so he it too. I, for one, will not despise myself or my kxly. I would rather win the “battles” of self- love, self-acceptance and compassion than the so-called battle of the bulge. Health, mobility, energy and vitality are not the rewards of only thin folk. And neither are joy, happiness, self-esteem and love. 1 am now going to work twice as hard as I’d planned to bring the message of size positivity to the people of Portland and beyond. See you in May! S tacy B ia s Portland Carry th at w eight To the E ditor : s you open your commentary with talks of war and the possibility of people becom ing numb to the issue, you end with miscon ceptions of obesity. The commentary makes no real connections to these issues, just your ram bling thoughts, often confused as facts. But there is an actual link between these two issues. As our weight-obsessed society looks at our bellies, will we remember to look up and react to the war in front of us? Are we so fixat ed on self-obsession, we forget about the world around us? You talk of the disease of power, and in our stxziety money is power. The diet industry is $40 million strong. You talk about the disease of control. There are few studies showing fat to he a direct link to health concerns hut numerous studies showing lifestyle (diet and exercise), not fat, as a con tributing factor. Lifestyle and obesity become intertwined with people’s misconceptions. The fear of fat and need for control leads to stereotypes, dis crimination and ignorant commentaries such as your own. Yo-yo dieting, the practice of weight loss and gain from diet failures and suc cesses, also has been shown to lead to health concerns— not the stability of one’s weight, no matter their size. Although you may recognize the war about to happen, you seem to forget the facts sur rounding these issues you talk about. You’ve become another puppet for these diseases with your attitude that if you can do it, anyone can. You personally attack me, telling me to go eat a steak. Besides the fact that it was a juve nile response to my fcxxJ choices, you ignored my important message. My point is I have no issues with my own kxiy. My point is 1 am frustrated with stx:iery’s lack of understanding and acceptance of fat people. My point is that I am healthy and fat and that this is possible. My point is 1 have nothing to gain from weight loss because I already have great energy, mobility, vitality and health. I have the right fuel for my kxly and mind. Maybe with the stupid kxly wars behind us, we can concentrate on the evolving war. And by the way, I never referred to myself as overweight. That only begs the question, over what weight? I referred to myself as fat. \ C h elsea L in c o l n Portland Choose life To the E ditor : picked up your publication for the first time the other day and was astounded to hear the comments of Marty Davis and her “helpful” and reprimanding advice to all the “overweight" gay men and lesbians in the community. I was stunned and astonished to find such an editorial in a publication that is pnxluced for the purpose of creating strength and accep tance in the community. Isn’t this what we arc fighting against? How far are Davis’ remarks of "She shouldn’t say she can’t lose weight— it’s more that she chcxwes not to” from the remarks of people who said not long ago that gay people 1
