mai ch 5. 2004 * J u s t o u t g
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L esbian C laims V ictory
A gainst OCA
dents are placed with a member of their assigned
sex, regardless of their personal gender identifi
cation. Joe Petroni, United Sexualities coordi
nator, told Just Out that this policy causes dis
comfort for queer students, who are responding
with a genderblind housing campaign.
“Residence life programs at colleges world
wide are behind the curve," he said. “In order to
follow through with Lewis &. Clark College’s
promise to accept all members of its community,
our housing systems cannot any longer enforce a
gender binary.”
Students are demanding genderblind hous
ing options by September. A college official said
they might have to wait until the 2005-2006
school year.
A
fter more than a decade of legal battles with
the Oregon Citizens Alliance, Catherine
Stauffers latest lawsuit has finally succeeded in
pressuring a board member to pay her despite the
anti-gay group’s refusal to do so for years.
The lesbian photographer has been waiting to
collect more than $40,000 owed to her for being
assaulted at an O CA event in 1991. Stauffers most
recent suit, filed last year, alleged that the OCA,
including leaders Lon and Bonnie Mabon and
board member Joseph Chotard, fraudulently trans
ferred assets to avoid her effort to collect the money.
Chotard has agreed to pay Stauffer an un
disclosed amount. Attorney Thane Tienson
called the settlement “very satisfying.”
“Catherine has pursued this judgment with a
passion and dedication that is unbelievable, and
it’s extremely exciting to see it finally pay off,”
he said. “The O C A was obviously willing to do
just about anything to avoid seeing Catherine
get a dime, but their organization has paid a
heavy price in credibility.”
In 2002 Lon Mabon spent 42 days in jail for
refusing to comply with a judges order to pro
vide Stauffer with information about O C A
assets. Since his imprisonment, attorneys say the
organization has lost most of its credibility and is
financially ailing.
“It’s good to finally get paid, but it’s even bet
ter to see that the O C A has basically self-
destructed because of its homophobic fear of
paying their debt to me,” Stauffer said. “All the
O C A has done is spawn hatred and violence in
the name of God. If my case helped expose how
crazy the people who run the O C A are, then I
couldn’t have asked for anything more.”
S ymposium E xplores
G ender in C onflict
L
Kestryl Lowrey of United Sexualities listens
to students discuss genderblind housing
March 1 at Lewis & Clark College
C ollege S tudents D emand
G enderblind H ousing
A
bout 50 people attended a forum March 1
at Lewis & Clark College to challenge the
campus housing system’s gender binary. Queer
students want residence halls opened to people
of all gender identities, instead of male- or
female-only rooms.
For their first two years at the college, stu
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ewis & Clark College’s 23rd annual Gender
Studies Symposium will explore gender in
conflict March 10 to 12 on the campus, located
at 0615 S.W. Palatine Hill Road.
All activities are free and open to the public.
Parking costs $3 a day but is free after 7 p.m.
The event includes music and performance
art, readings, workshops and panels covering a
wide range of gender issues. Several presenta
tions will focus on queers:
• Dividing the Church: Homosexuality and
Religion: Syndicated columnist Marc Acito
serves on this panel with the Revs. JoAnn Leach
of Christ Church Episcopal Parish and Barbara
Campbell of St. Mark Presbyterian Church
(10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. March 10, Stamm).
• SR S: Stations Remain Structure: This per
formance explores the medical, cultural and psy
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chological endurance of a transsexual male process
that is shown to parallel the stations of the cross
(3:30 to 4:30 p.m. March 10, Council Chamber).
• After D-Day: Lesbian writer Judith Bar
rington reads her award-winning poem (12:30
to 1:30 p.m. March 11, Stamm).
• Intersexuality: Learning from the Lived
Experiences: Intersex Initiative director Emi
Koyama leads this workshop (10:30 a.m. to
noon March 12, Council Chamber).
• Gender and Sexuality in Ancient Greece:
Lewis &. Clark student Thu Ngo suggests “Men
Are Pigs in Homer’s Odyssey,” while Christo
pher Rivera of Rutgers University discusses
“Plato’s Phtiedrus: Homosexually Loaded” (2 to
3:15 p.m. March 12, Thayer).
• Harper’s Arrow: Queer musician and edu
cator Sarah Dougher performs this folk and pop
series inspired by Homer’s Odyssey that exam
ines gender, the status of the veteran and the
violence of war (3:30 to 5 p.m. March 12, Agnes
Ranagan Chapel).
For more information contact Kim Brodkm at
503-768-7678 or kbrodkin@lclark.edu. For a
complete schedule of events visit
wvuw. Iclark. eduj~ gender.
G rants P resented
E
quity Foundation presented grants to 36
queer-friendly Oregon nonprofit organiza
tions Feb. 19 during its fourth annual Invest
ments in Dignity Awards. Equity, which was
founded 15 years ago by gay men and lesbians,
awarded grants in four categories:
• A rts and C ulture: Artists Repertory
Continued on Page 11
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