GUEST COMMENTARY
BY Rotv T horpe
The IN publication for the OUT population
F ounded 1983 • J ay B rown
Vol. 21 N o . 5
and
R enee L a C hance
Ja n u a ry 9 , 2 0 0 4
FEATURE
GENERATION STONEW ALL Sexual minority seniors’
legacy of pride and struggle
P 25
NE WS
NORTHWEST • MCC Portland seeks donations to
retire its mortgage; social group gives gay men
a place to network in Cowlitz County, Wash,
pp 7 - 1 5
NATIONAL • Community outraged at AIDS drug
price increase; Michigan governor bans anti-gay
discrimination in state employment; California
referendum effort fails
pp 1 7 - 1 9
WORLD • Canadian couple selected as
“ Newsmakers o f the Year” ; Taiwan is planning
to legalize same-sex marriage
pp 2 0 - 2 3
ARTS AND CU LTU RE
CULTURE • Motorcycle mamas get their wheels in
motion
pp 3 6 - 3 7
THEATER • Antonio and Bassanio pound the flesh
in an all-new M erchant o f Venice
p 39
BOOKS • Family secrets revealed
PP 4 0 - 4 1
FILM • Charlize Theron delivers a breakout,
powerhouse performance in Monster
pp 4 2 - 4 3
DIVERSIONS • Wade McCollum never sleeps;
Mark Woolley turns 10; buxom beauties and
hairy men at Medieval Feast
p 45
WHAT'S POPPIN'? • The Cooler is way cooler
than Cold Mountain
p
47
COLUMNS
Waiting list
Let’s make this a year to remember
t’s officially the new year: 2004 has blown in with gusto! All
that snow and ice has given us all a chance to sit inside by the
fire and reflect on the year that passed and what might lie
ahead. I’m no fortune teller, hut it doesn’t take one to predict
that this coming year will he a big one for G L B T civil rights.
Why? I’ve put together a Top 10 list of all the reasons this will he a
year that pro-gay Oregonians will remember:
10. M assachusetts marriage decision. History may not repeat
itself, hut it sure is ironic that the deadline for Massachusetts legisla
tors to act on the issue of marriage equality is also the 50th anniver
sary of the landmark civil rights decision Brown vs. Board of Educa
tion. They’re slugging it out right now, with conservatives hacking
civil unions as an alternative to marriage. Hey, wait— doesn’t that
make Howard Dean lixfk like a moderate? Shhhh—
don’t tell the president!
9. Impact of Lawrence vs. Texas decision. Expect
the first wave of court rulings based on the Supreme
Court’s decision to ban sodomy laws, hut don’t expect it
to he limited to cases that involve sex— the wording of
the decision made it clear that to discriminate against
gay and lesbian people is unconstitutional.
8. Federal Marriage Amendment in Congress. All
that good news has made us the No. 1 target of the
Christian right wing. If discrimination is unconstitu
tional, then by golly, they’ll amend the Constitution to
make sure that bigotry is written into our most hal
lowed document. How this plays out will he one of the
top stories for us this year.
7. Gay adoption in Florida. Portlanders Stephen
Lofton and Roger Croteau and their lively, lovely family
will find out the results of their case against the state of Florida. With any
luck, and a handy new Supreme Court decision (see No. 9), they’ll force
the state to allow gay and lesbian people to adopt just like everykxly else.
6. Queer Eye is everywhere. It’s that adorable Carson Kressley and
the Fab Five, along with a whole host of other positive representations
of us in the media. We’re hot right now, and middle America is falling
in love with us— and apparently with male skin care— in shocking
numbers. That must he what’s keeping Jerry Falwell up at night (unless
he’s drooling over reruns of Boy Meets Boy).
5. Oregon is a swing state in the 2 0 0 4 presidential election. You
don’t believe it, do you? Oregon matters on the electoral map? Well,
Virginia, I’ve got news for you: We’re a target state because the num
bers were so close here four years ago. A ton of money and strategy is
being blown into our fair state, and with marriage equality being such
a hot campaign issue, we’re going to he feeling the heat starting right
after the primaries. St) you’d best get up off your fanny and get
involved, because otherwise some anti-government fundamentalist is
going to he picking your president in your name!
4. Oregon Legislature up for grabs. After the last nasty session, some
gtxxl people have decided to move on, and there are plenty of snarling
bigots who want to take their places. Watch for lots of hot races, a war in
the Republican primaries between moderates and extremists, and plenty
of action on the campaign trail.
3. M ake way for N o. 2. Batten down the hatches,
friends: T i e next one gets two spaces on this list because
it’s si) big! Yep, it’s huge, it’s ugly, and it’s coming at you
faster than the pope can say, “Just one more year.”
2. It’s the backlash! This one should scare.you, and I
mean it. Across the country the major right-wing groups
have all declared that rolling hack gay rights is their top
priority. T hat’s a lot of combined muscle: These organi
zations are huge. For instance, Focus on the Family’s
budget is more than $120 million, six times larger than
the Human Rights Campaign. Oregon, as one of only 13
states without a Defense of Marriage Act in place, is sure
to he flashing big and bright on their radar screens.
1. Incredible momentum. This is our year— perhaps
our decade— and you need to get your fine self
involved. Don’t he like one of the gazillions of people
who claim they threw a rock during the Stonewall rebellion when
really they were home crying over “T he Killing of Sister George.”
What will you say when they ask what you did to stop the backlash of
2004? Step up, get involved, and help move this movement a little
further. G ive us a call here at Basic Rights Oregon (503-222-6151)
and ask how you can help. We’re doing great things, and we’d love to
help you make history. j H
What will you soy
when they ask
what you did
to stop the backlash
of 2004?
Step up, get involved,
and help move
this movement
a little further.
JJ.
XlLh'JJ
'm
R oey THORPE is the executive director of Basic Rights Oregon.
4
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...............................
10 years ago
V ol . 11 No. 5, J an . 7,1994
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W ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ
M S . BEHAVIOR • Sex and marriage
An Indian AIDS expert has predicted that
Asia will surpass Africa as the world center of
the epidemic by 2000. The prediction is based
on projections made by the U N. World
Health Organization that 10 million people in
India will carry HIV by the next decade.
P 35
EPIQUEEREAN • The Last Sashimi
p 38
OUT WITH IT! • The L stands for Ludicrous
p 45
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARC • Notes from
• A lawsuit against the Italian clothing firm
Benetton, for ads showing photos of
body parts tattooed with the words “HIV
Positive,’ has been thrown out of court.
the Marchive
p 49
Ju s t ou t it pub lish ed on the first an d third Fri
d a y of each m onth. Q ipyncht © 2004 Hy Just < hit N o p u t
• The World Health Organization has
called on governments to eradicate
laws that discriminate against gay men
and lesbians. The U.N. health agency
said that such laws act as “ barriers*
to effective A ID S prevention efforts.
Chit m.iy he repnxluceil withtmt written permission from
the publisher.
d I Just
The su b m issio n o f w ritten an d g rap h ic m ateri
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• Shareholders of the Cracker Barrel
chain of restaurants recently voted
against a proposal for the company
to adopt a nondiscrimmatory
employment policy regarding gay
men and lesbians. About 77 percent
of the shareholders present at a
closed-door meeting voted against
the proposal, and 14 percent voted
in favor of it.
PUBLISHER AND MANAGING EDITOR • Marty Davis
ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR • Lisa Bradshaw
Cohn, Patricia L. MacAtxlha, Andy Mangels,
Christopher McQuain, Eric Plemoas, Bob Roehr,
Tom Stevenson, Rex Wockner
FEATURES BNTOR • Meg Daly
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR • Larry Lewis
CONTRIBUTORS • Marc Acito, Michael E Barrett,
ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE • Pam Colton
Kathy Flelge, Jamie Bolyard, Bart Church, Meryl
ADVERTISING ASSOCIATE • Erin Sexton-Sayler
NEWS EDITOR • Jim Radosta
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tmmm- wÊmi®eÊH83&Bk
• The FBI has agreed to adopt regulations that
expressly state that sexual orientation will not
be considered a negative factor in deciding
security clearances or employment. It also
agreed that sexual conduct will be considered
equally for people regardless of sexual
orientation.
• Multnomah C ounty C h air B everly Stein
appointed 27 people active with youth and
fam ily issu e s to the new ly formed
Com m ission on Children and Fam ilies on
D ec. 16. M em bers include Steven Fulm er, a
founding member of the Sexu al M inority
Youth Task Force and of the Right to
Privacy PA C .
• Two Canby C ity Council members who
opposed an Oregon Citizens Alliance
discrimination initiative were voted out of office
by a slim margin D ec. 14.
• The Oregon Citizens Alliance turned in
enough signatures last month to put a
discriminatory m easure on the Marion County
ballot for the March 22 election. The measure
is similar to those passed in 15 Oregon cities
and counties since M easure 9 w as defeated in
the November 1992 election.
[Ml Cl 88 • Kevin Moore
ASSISTANT • Zanne dejanvier
DISTRIBUTION • Kristine Ashton, Allison Benn,
Ed Carder, Ashley Conley, Darren Linder,
S &. E Distributors