Ef33?l3 out
aprii 18.2QQ3
Continued from Page 5
Knock it off
I’ve been to the black-tie dinner, and it is a
group o f wealthy m en w ho aren’t necessarily
political hut who see H R C as a status sym bol. If
this crowd becom es less “exclu sive,” how will it
attract these guys? I think H R C w ants to have
its cake and eat it, too.
To the E ditor :
M ike D ruydd
Portland
Building blocks
To the E ditor :
ay Harter has some real work cut out for him if he
plans to convince Oregonians that the Human
Rights Campaign is changing its reputation.
A fter looking at its annual report, I can easi
ly identify two large, quantifiable issues that its
local com m ittee has w otking against it. T h e first
is the brand-new $25 m illion H R C building in
W ashington, D .C . If that d oesn ’t say “ rich gay
white m an,” then I d o n ’t know w hat does.
Secondly, o f the $25 m illion that H R C raised
in revenues during the year ended M arch 31,
2002, it gave back a w hopping $122,000 to state
organizations like Basic R ights O regon. T h a t’s
right— it gave back less than one-half o f 1 per
cent o f all o f the money it raised!
W hen I think about n ation al organizers who
roll up their sleeves, work hard and precipitate
change, I think o f the N a tio n al G ay and L es
bian Task Force. N G L T F understands that to
create change requires an investm ent in people,
not an investm ent in a $25 m illion building.
J
H unter J oos
Portland
1
answered a knock at my door the other night,
and standing there was som eone from the
Human Rights Campaign. Oddly enough, the per
son was wearing a green O SP IR G jacket. I did some
calling arixind and found out H R C has indeed
hired the Oregon State Public Interest Research
Group to do some door-to-door fund raising.
T h is seem s odd to me for a couple o f reasons.
T h e first and most troubling is that O S P IR G will
take a substantial adm inistrative fee on any
am ount I give at the door. Som etim es this fee can
clim b as high as 30 percent. T h at m eans if I were
to renew my Federal C lu b membership at my
d(*>r with an O S P IR G canvasser, alm ost $300 o f
what I give never even will make it to H R C .
T h e other troubling fact is that O S P IR G is
raising m oney for an organization— H R C — that
endorsed a candidate— G ordo n Sm ith — whose
political work goes directly against everything
O S P IR G is trying to achieve. M aybe O S P IR G
should cut out H R C com pletely and just give
everything it raises to G ordo n Sm ith . T h is way,
it would be clear to the people o f O regon where
its m oney is going.
E lizabeth F rommer
Portland
You are not alone
To the E ditor :
hanks for the great articles on sam e-sex
battering and highlighting the plight o f
straight m en battered by fem ale partners ["SA F E
and So u n d ,” M arch 21). W hile a statistical
m inority, m ale, gay and lesbian victim s o f
T
&OODWAY
S
.
, 7 ''
portive, call back and talk to som eone else, or try
another program or another town. You deserve a
better life than to he battered or controlled.
M argo S chaefer
Eugene
tra n sition
Bob Hoblit,
1 9 4 3 -2003
B
o b H oblit died o f natural causes M arch 13.
H e was 60.
H e was b o m Feb. 15, 1943, in C asper, Wyo.
A fter graduating from high school he joined
the N avy, where he was trained as a dental
technician. H e was honorably discharged and
went o n to work at a S e a ttle gay bar.
H e then m oved to Portland and started to
work at D erricks, w hich he later bought,
ch an gin g the nam e to the Fam ily Zoo. He
ow ned it for 14 years.
H oblit was an active supporter o f the gay
com m unity and equal rights for all people. He
will be rem em bered by his friends as a kind,
carin g and generous person.
ca tio n
he March 21 article “S A F E and Sound" indi
cated that Bradley-A ngle H ouse serves
“female-identified domestic violence survivors.”
T h e nonprofit wants to make it clear that it serves
all self-identified women and that trans, trans
sexual and transgender women are welcome.
T
GRAND OPENING
F o n rw K E
THE B IR K E N S T O C K STORE
1
q2
dom estic violence face additional barriers to
services, so it is all the more im portant that the
m essage gets out: You d on ’t cause it, no one
deserves it, and you are not alone.
Womenspace offers services in Lane County to
anyone experiencing domestic violence or question
ing the health and safety of a relationship. If you are
worried about the relationship of a loved one or
acquaintance, we also can help you figure out how to
raise the issue and what are supportive things to say.
O ur services can be accessed 24/7 at
541-485-6513. Tell the hot line volunteer if you
would like to speak to a volunteer lesbian, gay or
straight m ale advocate, and it is safe for you to
leave a number for your advocate to call you
back.
Unfortunately, we don’t have the volunteer
resources to provide these services on demand. If
you would like to train to become a volunteer to
help us make our services more available to under
served populations, we welcome your participa
tion in one o f our quarterly volunteer trainings.
T he Lesbian Alliance has a drop-in group or
individual time from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursdays. It
is open to all lesbian, gay, transgender, genderqueer
and bisexual people who are in an unhealthy
same-sex relationship and have concerns about
their emotional and/or physical safety.
Siuslaw O utreach Services in Florence also
offers services for lesbian, gay, bi and trans peo
ple questioning the health o f their relationships.
It can be reached 24/7 at 541-997-4444.
M ore than 2 m illion women and 50,000 men
are battered in this country each year. If it h ap
pens to you, you d on ’t have to stay silent or cope
alone. Trained volunteers in num erous programs
are waiting to help you look at options and
break through the isolation.
If you reach som eone who isn’t helpful or sup
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