juna 6 .2QÛ3
er,” says Hall, who sees it as a way to “mend
the gaps” between deaf and hearing queers.
“A lot of deaf people feel left out.”
Hall says many queer events in town
aren’t tailored for deaf or hard-of-hearing
folks. So she is changing all that. By working
with other groups in town, the program is
pushing to have American Sign Language
interpreters for more gay events, including
Pride. It is also working on getting closed
captioning at next year’s queer film festival.
Plus a deaf cultural night is coming up this
month. “ It’s for everyone,” Hall stresses.
She and her girlfriend, Boots Davis, live
together in Portland. In addition to being an
activist, Hall is a photographer; her next
project will he a book about the deaf queer
community.
“S h e’s the most amazing person ever,”
Davis says, giving Hall a hug. “1 admire her
for the work she does.”
OK, so Davis might he a wee hit biased.
But H all’s open, inviting manner and dedi
cation to fostering communication and
inclusion in the queer community is decid
edly worthy of admiration.
— MD
MultiQueer’s mission is “to serve and sup
port LG BTQ youth of color in a safe, fun,
inclusive and culturally competent environ
ment while recognizing the many oppressions
they face.” The program, which was developed
for and by kids ages 14 to 21, utilizes connec
tions with schools and organizations to help
young people become leaders in their own lives
and communities.
Flavors, the support group component of
MultiQueer, provides a forum for queer youth
of color to get together and discuss issues like
these. “You don’t have to be out to join,”
Sablan notes.
He tcxik over the MultiQueer/Flavors helm
from Des Anderson and Stephan Herrera a
few months ago. “It’s empowering to see queer
youth of color coming together,” Sablan says.
Already, he has been inspired by how moti
vated the youth are to work on issues of insti
tutionalized racism and homophobia.
“We talk about how to he OK with all
our identities,” Sablan says, “to integrate our
ethnic heritage with being queer.” For youth
of color, this can be particularly challenging,
he says. They are faced with queerphobia
from their own cultural communities as well
as racism within the queer community. They
come together for social support and to
develop leadership skills.
“1 never had these resources when I was
aye Sablan, 25, is overflowing with enthu
younger,” says Sablan, who grew up in the
siasm for queer youth. The coordinator of
Northern Mariana Islands. “1 think it’s awe
Love Makes a Family’s MultiQueer and
some that these teens are uniting for social
Flavors programs is also a student at Mt. Hcxxl change.”
Community College, where he is specializing
— MD
in human services for youth.
Jaye Sablan
J
Jaye Sablan
B e fo re Y ou
Cut a Rug
fo r P ride,
M a k e Sure
I t ’s C lean!
P37
Thursday for happy hour at a different bar—
recent- takeovers include the Alibi, Pirate’s
Cove and Low Brow Lounge.
“I moved to Portland a year ago, and I like
that the queer community here is so visible,”
Orth says. “In Portland you can take your pick
of drag king shows, fat burlesque theater and
queer cinema. I also like that there is a lot of
young queer activism in this town, and respect
and mentorship from older activists. Young
activists ensure a bright future for the queer
community in Portland.”
— MF
Barbara M or
A
Christa Orth
C hrista O r t h
C
hrista Orth, 27, is a single queer
dyke from Bothell, Wash. She works
as the resources development co
ordinator at Equity Foundation and has a
master’s degree in queer labor history from
University of Oregon. Her career history
includes stints as a nonprofit professional,
bartender and desk jockey.
This Northeast Portlander is co
chairwoman of Pride at Work Oregon, the
AFL-CIO’s queer caucus. She says she’s helping
expand the group “to include workers from all
different unions and workplaces so queers don’t
have to feel left out of workplace issues.”
Orth came out to her family recently and
notes: “I’m the first person to come out. My
mom made me a social butterfly, and my dad
made me a great arguer.”
She started out as an HIV/AIDS activist in
high school. “Our group celebrated the first
National Condom Week at Bothell High in
1992," she says. “We faced some resistance
from homophobic students, who tore down our
posters, and the principal, who refused to
announce it was World AIDS Day over the
school intercom. I stotxJ up for students’
rights...that’s how I became an activist.”
In her spare time, Orth serves as “tour
guide” for Portland Happy Hour Club, a rowdy
bunch of queer and straight friends who want
ed to get out more. This mix meets every
W e ' re
P roud of I
our
discussion at In Other Words book
store had drawn a small but vocal
group. A woman sat in the back row
of chairs saying little, but her observations were
astute and informed. Who was she? Finally,
someone asked.
“I’m Barbara,” she answered with an elfish
grin.
“ Barbara who?” the questioner persisted.
Barbara Mor sighed. Her anonymity was over,
for now.
Hers is a name widely known by feminists
and lesbians, especially those who read and
write about spirituality. Her book, co
produced with artist Monica Sjoo, is The
Great Cosmic Mother. The initial work came
out of correspondence between her and Sjoo,
but the final version, illustrated with S jo o ’s
art, was written by Mor, much of it as she
lived the struggling life of a single mother in
rural New Mexico.
During that time she also wrote poetry, and
her two chapbooks, Winter Ditch and Other
Poems and Mother Tongue, are classics of the
era’s New Mexico “poetry of place." Once
shunned by literary critics as rustic, this body of
poetry has gained in popularity and is seen in a
new poetic ambiance. While the poems are
almost unknown in feminist circles, Great Cos
mic Mother continues to be cited by feminist
and pagan scholars. Still, Mor prefers anonymi
ty, choosing to he known through her work
rather than any cult of personality.
The Portland resident continues to encour
age new writers and expresses her radical eco-
feminism through women’s writing groups, cor
respondence and her Internet site, Rad Victori
an Radio (www.telcport.com/~bmor). She calls
herself a polymorphous perverse nun.
“What I mean by radical,” she says, “is that
you ask certain basic questions. You can try to
work within the system, or you can stand out
side the system and throw rocks at it.”
—PLM JH
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