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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (May 16, 2003)
COMMENTARY by M a r i y D av is The IN publication for the OUT population F ounded 1983 • J ay B rown Vol. 2 0 N o . 14 and R enee L a C hance M ay 16, 2 0 0 3 FEATURE PACK UP AND SET OUT!: Where to go and what to do when you just need to gay-away from it all p 26 NEWS NORTHWEST • Campaign promotes Portland to queer tourists; attorney reflects on 1996 lawsuit against The Oregonian: YWCA counseling center attempts to fill gap pp 7 - 2 1 NATIONAL • Kentucky fried equality pp 2 2 - 2 3 WORLD • Tokyo elects open transsexual pp 2 4 - 2 5 ARTS AND CU LT U R E MUSIC • Get to know Steven Nash...intimately p 39 THEATER • Portland companies announce queer- friendly seasons p41 WHAT'S POPPIN'T • Praising Victor Vargas P 42 FILM • Lawless Heart and Down with Love p 45 CULTURE • Come as you are to the Masturbate-a- Thon; partner swapping was never so much fun as with the Lesbian Dance Club of Eugene pp 4 6 - 4 7 DIVERSIONS • SM YRC fund-raiser at Crush; LCP brings Kim Acuna to town p 49 ROOKS • Peter McCusker goes From Dweeb to Adonis: confessions of a fag hag pp 5 0 - 5 1 COLUMNS MS. BEHAVIOR • Ugly babies and single men need love, too P 37 EPIQUEEREAN • Go fish P 44 •IT WITH IT! • The finer points of third wave feminism P 40 THE 60SPEL ACCBRIINC TO MARC • Queers at Why was Kendra killed? We need honest answers to some hard questions ho killed Kendra James is not the question people need to he asking. We know who killed Kendra James. Kendra James was killed, at best, by fear, at best by errors of judgment, at best by the yet- to-be unskilled reactionary responses of a very young police officer. And at the worst.7 Well, that now is the question to he asked instead. “Why was Kendra killed?” And beyond that...w hat’s going to he done about it? Will there he answers? Who deserves the blame? Is it the fault of the officer, or do we go right to the top and in reactionary anger blame again Portland Police C h ief Mark Kroeker? Will there he honest answers, a thorough investi gation? Will the police bureau pro tect its own before protecting the community? “Why was Kendra killed?” should he only the starting point. Next we all should he asking ourselves, and those around us, a lot of hard questions. Hard questions such as: “Why should 1 care about Kendra James? This shooting, her death, this is not a gay issue. Why should I care?” Why, because we’re all people first and gay and lesbian second, and this death is an issue about matters far greater than being gay or les bian. The answers to these questions affect us all. Because we’re all part of the community that looks to the police department for protec tion. Straight, gay, black, white. This death should bring us together as we join in the search for answers. "Why was Kendra killed?” No, the death of Kendra James is not a gay issue. It is far bigger and more important than that. It is an issue of our greater community and of our values and integrity and the very ways in which we look at and treat each other. Indeed, this death has nothing to do with issues of sexuality. But it has everything to do with loaded shots of racism, class- ism, elitism and everyday acts of judgment and condemnation. I did not know Kendra James. I can’t imagine any circumstances under which 1 might have ever known her. And to be honest, from what I’ve read, 1 don’t think I would have liked her or ever even want ed to know her. This very apathy in and of itself is an act of judgment and condemnation. 1 take no pride in this statement...other than hav ing the honesty to admit it. And that is what is bothering me the most about the death of Kendra James. / » P f ' * *«*w&M8m** * ■>* *riV' ä ,* a * r¥£ v , f, , * ‘ t . 4 & . _ ■ ■ -j - I ■ r : 'fV V * * * » ¡pÌM- « J A - # M :>v'; . :• i' jî ‘ ■ r • •'4?; ....... . * .T Ä - # * Because the truth is that I don’t find myself caring about the person at all. 1 trouble at the circumstance of her death. But I do not mourn the person. I question the probability of disconcerting factors that caused her death. I wonder why this happens, seemingly over and over. But the worry is outward, not inward. Because I know it’s not going to be me who is shot next. Because I’m not like Kendra James, and it seems to be people like her who get shot. Not people like me. I trouble about the death of Kendra James because it’s easy to dis miss. Because our ability to feel for others is being numbed by televised wars and deaths. We daily view murders and casualties that no longer seem real. I trouble because there are too many deaths and they no longer touch us, and as soon as that happens we are lost souls indeed. Yes, I will have the shamed courage to admit that the person killed means less to me than the circumstances of the killing itself. How about you? Can you be honest with yourself? Do you care about Kendra James? Do you know when she died, how she died? Do you feel anger? Do you feel sadness? Do you rage, do you blame, do you care? Do you demand truthful answers? Or do you, do we, wait a few days and then forget all about it? Until the next Kendra James? J H PLEASE NOTE: M ay has five Fridays, so the next issue o f Ju st O u t w on’t hit the streets until Jun e 6— an interval o f three weeks rather than two. the wheel p 53 Jm t m ut to published m the first and third Fri day of each month. Q ip y n jih t C 2 0 0 ) hy Just O u t. N o pun REFLECTIONS o f Just O u t m ay h r reproduced w ith o u t w ritte n p erm iw to n from th e publisher. 5 y e a rs ago in • A handful of city officials and friends gathered M ay 1 to kick off the Keeston Lowery Meditation Garden project by planting several shrubs i bs and flowers in the proposed sp o t The plot wÉ encompass a 50-by-40-foot ares in the C ity H a l courtyard at Southwest Fourth Avenue and Jefferson » re st. The garden w i brim with perennials— Lowery s favorite—as wefl as pathways, a bench and a watering system. The submission of w ritten and graphic m ateri als to welcomed. W r itte n m aterial sh ou ld he typed and dou- hle-spuced Just Out reserves th e righ t to ed it for (¡nm m ar, p u n c tu atio n , style, lia b ility c o n ce rn s an d length. W e w ill reject o r ed it articles o r advertisem ents th a t are o ffensive, d em e an in g o r may result in legal actio n . Letters to the editor sh ou ld he lim ite d to 5 00 words. A n n o u ncem en ts regarding life tra n sitio n s (b irths, deaths, unions, • This month Portland lawyer Mark Johnson becom es the president-designate of the Oregon State Bar. In September he wfll assume the presidency, becoming the first openly gay lawyer to hold the position. etc.) sh ou ld he lim ite d to 2 00 words, pho to s are w elcom e. Dead line far subsnissiona to th e e d ito ria l d ep artm en t and for th e Calendar is th e Thursday 15 days before th e n e x t p u b lic a tio n ilate. V ie w s expressed in letters to th e editor, c o lu m n s an d features ate n o t necessarily those o f th e publisher. T he display advertising deadline is th e M o n d a y 12 days before th e n e xt p u b lic a tio n date. Classified ads must be received at th e Just O u t office by 4 p.m. i x i th e T h u rsd ay e ig h t days before th e ne xt p u h lic a tk x i date, a lix ig w ith paym ent. A d s m ay be p laced by te lep h o n e o r v ia the Internet w ith V is a o r M a s te rC a rd paym ent. Ad paUcy: Jusl O u t reserves th e n g h t to reject o r ed it any advertisem ent. Q x n p e n s a tu x i f ix e m its in , <x c a n c e lla tio n of, ad vertisin g w ill be m ade w ith c re d it tow ard future ad vertisin g A d v e rtis in g rates are a v a ila b le u p ix i request. Distributisn pslicy: Just Out ts availab le free o f charge, one copy per person. Just Out is d elive red ix ily to a u th ix ite d distrthu- tixs. N o person may, w ith o u t p ru x w ritte n p em u ssuxi from Just Out, take ttvxe th an ix ie ccgty. A n y person w h o takes ttuxe than ix ie copy may be held lia b le f ix theft, in c lu d in g but tu x lim ite d to c iv il damages and/tx c rim in a l p n n e c u tu xi. •ubscripetoes are $ 2 2 .5 0 fcx 12 issues. First ( lass ( in an en velop e) is $ 4 0 f ix 12 issues C x i t a c t Just Out at P .O . B o x 14400, P o rtla n d , O R 97 2 9 1 -0 4 0 0 ; 5 0 1 -2 )6 -1 2 5 2 , a d v e rtis in g 5 0 1 -2 1 6 -1 2 5 ), fax 50 1 -2 )6 -1 2 5 7 ; e-m atl ju s tix itO ju s to u i.c ix n . V is it o u r Internet site at w w w .justout.com . • A few days before Mother's Day. May 10. Portland Pubic Schools staff recewed messages in their work maiboxes reminding them families come in many configuration«. The missives were crafted by the Sexual M nority Parents Advisory Group, which advises the dfctrict on issues related to making schools safer and more equitable for sexual minorities. HIM • Marty Davis NHVS o r a • Jim Radosta ARTS AM CMJMI EMM • Lisa Bradshaw • Timothy Krause • Marie Fleischmann • Marc Acito, Kathy Beige, Jamie Bolyard, Meryl Cohn, Gina Daggett, Jodi Darby, • By a 4 3 vote, the Beaverton School Board rejected a proposal to insert the words 'sexual orientation’ into its existing nondecriminetion policy. The vote, which occurred M ay 4, was the second such rejection in as many months. • A Kvely crowd o f nearly 200 turned out for the M ay 9 grand opening of the Sexual ad M I inority Youth Recreation Center. The Hedging establishment, located at 424 E. Burnside St. in Portland, is designed as a sodai and meeting space for queer kids 23 » id younger. • Despite infighting among various national queer organizations, the id Mitennium proposed Mtfennium Mar March on Washington. D C., has realized a firm date:-’ ft April ------------- 30. 2000. • Com e to the Prom You Never Had. Prom King and Queen titles and free horse-drawn carriage rides M ay 21 at the Egyptian Oub. • It's Queer Night at La Luna every Monday! D Ja are Aquaman and Brad Vischel. AM ages welcome. Susan Detroy, Tim Joyce, Karen Kudej, Patricia L. MacAodha, Andy Mangels, Christopher McQuain, Gary Morris, Catherine Sameh, Floyd Sk laver, Rex Wockner, Pat Young I • Larry Lewis : • Markie Acevedo • Erin Sexton I • Kevin Moore • Zanne dejanvier I • Marie Fleischmann I • Kevin Friends I • Kristine Ashton, Dana Corbin, Mary Hauer, Youme Inhofe, Crash Schwartz
