june 6.2003 » J u t
David Martinez
commitment to the area’s queer youth, a com
mitment Judith Youngman considers a priority.
PHOTO BY MARIE FU I
come as a lesbian pastor," she says, “ I came as
a pastor. I don’t want to celebrate only one
aspect of myself.”
She does acknowledge the importance of
self-definition for others, “especially teen
agers, who are under the pressure to con
form.” After the state’s recent fiscal crisis
caused funding for the teen group Expres
sions to he cut, Youngman stepped forward to
serve as its mentor.
“Someone needed to take it over,” she says.
“We make community when we honor each
other and accept each other in our authenticity."
In coalition with a group of supportive
adults who make sure the weekly gathering
place is open, Expressions is being kept alive.
“Never cancel a Friday” is a rallying cry of
o u tjp ^
—Patricia L. MacAodha
David M a rtin e z
hether among sexual minorities,
Latinos or his Southwest Portland
neighbors, David Martinez is all
about building partnerships and creating access
to opportunity.
“The best part is making connections with
different groups,” says the 35-year-old, who
works as community relations liaison for Mult
nomah County Commissioner Maria Rojo de
Steffey. “What excites me is to be able to build
those bridges, bring peo
ple together and let
them see how collabora-
tively we can work.”
Sexual minority
youth and access to
higher education for
communities of color
are two specific areas
with which he has per
sonal experience and
passion, including 10
years working in univer
sity settings, often with
in multicultural affairs.
“I know from my
own experience that you
cannot take it for grant
ed,” says Martinez, who
grew up a middle child
among eight in a tradi
tional Latino family in
rural Ontario. “There
are individuals for
whom it’s not about aca
demic ability. It’s about
resources, support and
expectations.”
Back then, Martinez
struggled more with his
role as Latino than his
identity as gay. “My most
painful and biggest strug
gle was just how is it
that I’m doing this and
still able to feel connect
ed to my family and not
wanting to lose my cul
ture,” he recalls of his
yearning for higher edu
cation and, later, explor
ing his sexuality.
Tixlay, Martinez
embraces both his Latino
SlWf ios
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Austin Jay Rowley
and gay heritage. He serves as a board member
of Cascade AIDS Project and Portland Guadala
jara Sister City Association and as second vice
chairman for Hispanics in Unity for Oregon.
Martinez also has been co-chairman of the
Cesar E. Chavez Leadership Conference for
five years. In his free time he manages the
Bella Boys softball team, now in its second
year of playing with the Rose City Softball
Association.
— Timothy K rause
A u s t in Jay R o w le y
ustin Jay Rowley, 31, is a female-to-
male trans person who has been
transitioning on hormones for 16
months. A resident of the Brooklyn neighbor-
htxxl of Southeast Portland, he also volunteers
at the Dougy Center for Children and wants
to be an art therapist when he grows up.
Rowley and his partner, Brianna, who
have been together for a year, are engaged to
he married. “She has been incredibly sup
portive of my transition and has provided
strength and caring in difficult and awkward
situations,” he says. His biological family and
close friends all are aware of his transition.
“ I’m just waiting for a little more facial
hair to come in, and then I think it will be
easier for a lot of people,” he says. “It was a
real challenge to take everyone I knew aside
A
and talk to them about what I was going to
do. I guess it was a lot like coming out all
over again. Only it’s more com plex because
someone who is transgendered automatically
outs themselves to everyone as soon as they
go on hormones. Your body just does that for
you...I can’t tell you how many times, very
early in transition when my voice was
changing, that someone would ask if I had a
cold. I had to explain each time what was
going on with me in an attem pt to educate
people, for myself and others like me.”
Rowley describes his own experience
introspectively and openly. He is pre-op,
awaiting the funds for chest surgery that he
hopes will come from the next G ender Ben
der Variety Show at the Egyptian Club,
where he works as a bartender.
"I feel that a vast number o f trans people
begin their identification process in the larg
er sexual minorities community,” Rowley
says. “Many o f us have fought for rights in
the community for years. I would hope that
the larger community can embrace us and
call us allies as we transition. I think that
‘symbiotic’ is the perfect term for the trans
community and the gay, lesbian and bi com
munity. W hat we all want is acceptance,
respect for our lives and our choices, and the
right to live as we see fit.”
—Marie Fleischmann
Continued on Page P35