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pt • I ¡1 i\ [ v i g l i n e
• The hardest questions: identifying the
most difficult questions posed by those who
believe war is the answer.
• Strategies for developing our message:
how to find common ground with people who
oppose us, using our own experiences, connect
ing an emotional appeal with hard facts, identi
fying the most effective facts.
• How to reach people: finding speaking
opportunities, using talk radio, writing for print
media, television news opportunities.
• Building a team: speakers for different audi
ences, radio callers, writers for periodicals, resource
material researchers and writers, schedulers.
This workshop originally was developed to
help grassroots activists respond to anti-gay ballot
measures in Oregon and elsewhere. It has been
presented in 12 states during the past 10 years.
The event was made possible by McKenzie
River Gathering Foundation Peace Action
Fund. Donations will be accepted.
OCA L oses A gain
A
fter almost two years of legal actions, a
Multnomah County court March 28 found
Lon Mahon, the Oregon Citizens Alliance and
several other entities he controls personally
liable for the fraudulent transfer of more than
$30,000 in funds.
In 1992, lesbian photojoumalist Catherine
Stauffer won a judgment against the O C A after
she was assaulted during a Ballot Measure 9
event at Portland Foursquare Church. Since
then, Mahon has gone to extensive lengths to
avoid paying this debt by shifting assets to enti
ties he thought were Jbeyond her reach. At one
point, the O C A was found guilty of contempt of
court after it returned donations in an effort to
keep funds from Stauffer.
In 2001, she sued Mabon individually, as
well as the O C A and related entities he con
trols, for fraudulently transferring money.
Despite claims that Oregon courts lacked juris
diction over the O C A , Judge Ronald Cinniger
ruled in her favor.
“These folks have created this sort of con
stellation of organizations that they move
money around and around in, in order to avoid
paying their legal obligations,” attorney Mark
Johnson told Just Out. “The purpose of this law
suit was to get the
court to say, ‘These
are all really Lon
and Bonnie Mabon
putting on different
hats and claiming to
be different people.’ ”
Attorneys are in
the process of finding
and taking the Ma
hons’ assets, which in
clude the O CA head
quarters in Brcxiks. But
the couple seem to be
up to their old tricks again: They recently trans
ferred ownership of the property to “a fellow out in
Bend who is apparently an insider.. .but we don’t
know in what capacity,” according to Johnson.
"The Mahons seem to be holding out hope
that God is going to save them,” Stauffer says.
“I just think they should get a lawyer.”
I
i
S aving SMYRC
T
he Sexual Minority Youth Recreation C en
ter has several difficult months ahead of it
because of state budget cuts. But newly hired
development director Ashleigh Flynn is submit
ting grant requests and considering several
options to help preserve the facility, which pro
vides queer kids with a safe space to hang out
and be themselves.
9
To register contact Cecil Prescod at
cecilprescod@hotmail.com or Bonnie Tinker at
503-228-3892 or bonnie@LMFamily.org.
Ashleigh Flynn has three months to raise thousands of dollars for the Sexual Minority Youth
Recreation Center
“We are l(X)king for others to share the benefits
and also some of the costs associated with the
space," she told Just Out. “The range of what could
happen there is pretty wide open right now. We just
need to begin holding the conversation on a wider
scale and get a sense of who’s interested in what.”
SM YRC drop-in hours are 4 to 8 p.m. Mon
days and Wednesdays and 4 p.m. to midnight
Fridays and Saturdays. The rest of the time the
space goes unused, so Flynn would like to make
it available to other groups.
The facility includes a kitchen, computer
room, resource library, meeting area and stage.
According to Flynn, it could be used for art,
music and multimedia performances; alcohol,
drug and mental health support group meetings;
HIV counseling and testing; and community
organizing.
“Every queer adult knows what it’s like, obvi
ously, to be a queer youth and how hard it can
be,” she says. “That’s what this space is for— it’s
a safe space for queer youth and also for queer
adults, if they so ch(x>se.”
SM Y R C administrative parent Cascadia
Behavioral HealthCare, which laid off more
than 100 people last October, already is renting
out offices in the building to Project Quest, an
alternative health center for people with HIV,
A ID S and cancer. It’s a “win-win situation” for
both agencies, Flynn says.
She also wants to increase visibility and
awareness within the sexual minorities commu
P lay I t SAFES
nity about SMYRC. She especially is excited
about its new mentor program with the Portland
Area Business Association.
“Cascadia and all of the staff are very com
mitted to preserving the services,” Flynn says.
“There are worst-case scenarios and best-case
scenarios, and we’re really looking at all of them.
It’s doubtful that the services are going to go
away, because I think there’s just too much
internal community support at this point.”
Interested organizations should cal! 503-238-0769,
ext. 131 , or e-mail ashleighf@cascadiabhc.org.
Donations can be sent to 2100 S.E . Belmont St.,
Portland, OR 97214.
U sing W ords to B uild
a P eace M ovement
L
S
urvivors Advocating for an Effective Sys
tem— a queer-run nonprofit organization
committed to building a compassionate, effec
tive, restorative criminal justice system— will
meet from 7 to 8:30 p.m. April 10 at Horn of
Africa Restaurant, 3939 N.E. Martin Luther
King Jr. Blvd.
SA F E S is inviting crime survivors who
would like to connect with others in similar sit
uations and who are fed up with ineffective
“tough on crime” rhetoric to come and enjoy
good food and casual conversation. Attendees
will discuss how they can help champion a crim
inal justice system that reflects their values.
For more information contact David M. Baker at
503-274-2139 or lotusvotary@hotmail.com.
S igns
ove Makes a Family will hold a workshop to
practice nonviolent communication and
public speaking skills on the subject of war,
peace, Iraq and the Middle East from 9 a.m. to
2 p.m. April 12 at Ainsworth United Church of
Christ, 2941 N.E. Ainsworth St.
Organizers also will set up the structure for a
public outreach campaign. The workshop, which
will be led by Cecil Presaxl and Bonnie Tinker
with input from other peace activists, will cover:
• Speech as nonviolent action: learning to
use speech effectively to create political change.
of
L ife
P
ortland Com m unity College has decided
not to ax its American Sign Language
Interpreter Training Program, which had
been on the chopping block because o f a
funding shortfall.
Trevor Blake, a bisexual hearing first-year stu
dent, credits the deaf community, both on and
off campus, for successfully convincing the board
of directors not to drop the 20-year-old program.
The only two-year interpreter training program
between Seattle and Southern California, it has
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