Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (March 21, 2003)
march 21.2003 • EJ 33?!3 out 5 drive with Pride just hH III iM A s M ultnomah County acknowledges National LQ BT Health Awareness Week, w hat do you feel is the greatest health risk facing the sexual minorities community? HTV/AIDS? Smoking? O besity? Compulsive behaviors? Breast cancer? O thers? feel the greatest health risk right now is a lack of accurate information about STDs. There’s lots of constantly changing, contra dictory information about things such as her pes I and II, HPV, syphilis, chlamydia, etc. that are not in all cases as deadly as HIV but are much more easily spread and can compro mise one’s immune systems so it’s easier to compound health problems and be suscepti ble to things like HIV, pneumonia, mono, PID and so on. It can be difficult to get clinics to test for, or even talk about, all of these health risks. It can be prohibitively expensive to test for her pes, for example, which the CDC is saying is now at epidemic levels. How are we to stay safe in our dating lives when it is so difficult to get the information we need for safer sex to really be practiced effectively? I S erena B lossom A ppel Portland • • • his problem is not just an issue of sexual minorities but of all people. There was a time when we paid more attention to health concerns, but with improvements in medi cine has come apathy and indifference in the way we handle our lives. I hope the trend changes, but not until awareness returns. T M icheil M ac C utcheon • • • s a physician and a member of the gay community, the greatest health risk l see is the misuse of alcohol. Alcohol abuse leads to every health risk mentioned: breast can cer, insulin resistance and obesity, OCD, increased risk of sexually transmitted diseases due to poor choices made while under the influence and, although alcohol use doesn’t A just weren’t choosing to be straight, that all it took was some will power? The truth is you can he fat and fit and thin and unhealthy, but everyone is different and everyone has a dif ferent way that works for them. The fact that Davis felt the need to push her plan—actually, she gave little advice; it was more like a little bragging and some scolding— and try to “save” her readers makes me question her whole publication and where it is coming from. I will choose not to pick up another copy of Just Out. * K rissy D urden Portland Reality bites the E ditor : s an admitted reality TV junkie, I tuned in to watch Married by America with the same anticipation of guilty pleasure that I felt when watching The Bachelor and Joe Million aire. But by the end of the first episode, despite my usual irreverence when it comes to popular culture, I was beside myself with anger. A i n r l __ h o r ly Visit us online at: www.reyreece.com or schedule your appointment 503-256-3700 spirit REY REECE DEALERSHIPS lead to smok ing, they often go hand in hand. Historically, gay bars have our com m unity, our health. been a safe place for queers .■ f s£ /.C to meet and socialize in the evening. In small and/or c o n se rv a tiv e s towns, bars are National LGBT Health Awareness Week often the only March 16-22, 2003 place to explore on e’s sexuality Find out more at www.lgbthealth.netl and come out. Many gays and «>*41 lesbians misuse Cancer ■ Domestic Violence ■ Smoking alcohol while struggling with Mental Health ■ HPV ■ Hepatitis Immunization acceptance of Nutrition and Weight ■ Sexual Health their sexuality, and often later A Project of it just becomes i*0 * a habit. N a tio n a l C o a litio n f o r I.GBT H e a lth I see this as a prevalent prob with additional support from lem in our com munity that ■A-A many don’t care to discuss. It is difficult to bring the topic up without being perceived as self- As the righteous or biased. I hear stories of gays and lesbians deciding first bombs fall onto Iraq, what steps to “cut down” on their drinking to improve will you be taking to show either your their health and find they lack support from protest of, or support for, this war? friends or lovers. I won’t pretend to have any answers, and although I have many sugges How do you see the conflict affecting tions, today 1 merely want to raise awareness you directly? Respond at of this issue. Thank you. www.justout.com. (Don't forget to ISUZU-VOLKSWAGEN-USED 122nd & East Burnside www. reyreece. com Take Charge of Your Health Today! U nique H ome & G arden A rt , Gins & M ore T^i ~.vi Living By The Garden 1X29 W; AI hurl a run i , i mi i:>im 2x7-1111 j »»*• Nation* laixuvo Cay. B hk » u * i jnd Tf*n*g» Hftw 0»iJH *U;Vjon Get Y our Shag in Shape! : M tH irM AN-W fALM tH C ll k l C next IMTi Dover, N.H. To m M a r ia n n e M a r c h e s e Portland For those who have managed to miss this latest addition to the reality canon, Married by America features people who have agreed to allow the viewing audience to select the person they will marry. Unlike other popular dating shows, this series culminates with actual mar riages and wedding gifts (including $100K and a half-million-dollar home). Now don’t get me wrong—1 have nothing against arranged marriages. My problem is this: Marrying couples who’ve never even met is a spectator sport that attracts millions of viewers, when marriage is a privilege that is denied to so many couples who deserve it, just because they are two women or two men. Same-gender couples are denied the right to marry in every state in this country and in almost every country in the world. We can reg ister as domestic partners in a few municipali ties and receive a civil union certificate in Ver mont, but these relationships are not recog nized outside their place of origin. As a result, custody of our children and our right to hospital visitation and survivor’s rights are in jeopardy or outright denied. Those who will be Married by America will instantly receive Call Now! Deep Clean Carpet Systems Gay-owned A operated include your name, city and daytime telephone number.) •carpet cleaning •upholstery •oriental rugs •window blind cleaning more legal rights than the longest-term gay couples, even those who have raised children together. When we point out this injustice, we are told marriage is a sacred institution reserved for a man and a woman. I have been an elected official empowered to perform weddings, and as such, I had the opportunity to get to know many engaged couples. Most of the couples I met were committed and in love, but others were marrying because they were going to have a baby or for health insurance or even, I suspected more than once, for a green card. I have some funny stories about some of these couples—funny, that is, until you consider that no two men or two women can marry, regardless of the depth of their love or the length of their commitment. As a Married by America viewer, I am enti tled to vote for my choice of spouse for the con testants. Instead, I’ll vote this way: for the right to marry for any couple who have demonstrat ed their love and commitment to each other, regardless of their gender. For individuals who Continued on Page 7 J Mention this ad * for $5 off -590-4746 deepcleancarpet a r egon Camera Everything Photographic We have a knowledgeable, friendly staff helping voti find the right cameni, binoculars, or photographic accessories. \ ‘family’ owned and operated business since 1W . 582 SW Adams Avenue (541) 753-2653 Corvallis, OR 97333 www.oregoncamera.com V_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ J
