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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (April 2, 2004)
18Jli* t o u t • aenl2.2QÛ4 |i,m;a:ivi4.imeius W elcom e B a c k , P o t t e r Former police chief (and outspoken PFLAG dad) runs for mayor by M eg D aly NIHVX Afl O iO H d EVERY BOOK OF GAY EROTICA ALWAYS IN STOCK! 6*?) Bel A m i Sum m er Diary. Naked Euro-boys w/ meat whistles aplenty. Color photo bk. $35. ( y y ) Kink. Dirty stories about whips, feet, cuffs, sandwiches, skin, and nos.l & 2. Whew! $16. Barbarians. Julius’s new illustrated story about boys and men in ancient Rome. $27.00. DOWNTOWN @ 927 SW OAK 226-8141 ‘TmAVAILABLE, „ when io u are! Careful and energetic handling of all your home financing needs JJA MORTGAGE 4 A d v o c a te s 6700 SW 105th Aw.. Suite- 200 Beaverton, OR 07005 loll Knee (877) 82(M)000 Fax (50B) 297-0824 E-Mail: c< >lleeinv<&mtgadv< tcatrs.c<>m www.mtgadvx tcau-s.ctmi In limiting donations to $25 a person, Tom Potter’s grassroots campaign relies on word of mouth Colleen Weed O ffice 503 « 297*9900 Cell 503 * 780*1561 PALM SPRINGS! Call on one o f Palm Springs’ most trusted Realtors JOHN BUTLER o f Jay Margrey & Associates 760-323-5000 x 145 johnbutler3 6@verizon. net (Sf? Prudential California Realty om Potter supports your right to dissent. That might not he the first thing you’d expect an ex-police chief to advocate in his mayoral campaign. But Potter is no ordinary candidate, and his by- the-people, for-the-people platform is a breath of fresh air in these dissent-quashing times. O n March 1, Potter was positively beaming. Maybe it was the spring air wafting in to his Bel mont Street office. Or maybe it was the roundtable discussion he’d just participated in at Franklin High, where rival Jim Francesconi was stumped by a student asking about the difference between civil unions and marriage rights. Only two days later the city would find out just what a big difference marriage rights make to gay and lesbian couples. And Potter would be there to witness his daughter Katie marry her life partner, Pam Moen. But on March 1, Potter could only speculate about granting same-sex marriage licenses if he were mayor. “If I had the authority I would do it. If the county had the authority I would support them doing it. I would be out there as an advocate mak ing sure this wasn’t a gimmick or short-term thing." Mayor or not, out he was. There have been a few whispers in the queer community about which political figures were where that day, and why— or why not. Potter worked the lines at the M ultnomah Building, shaking hands and greet ing friends. He is certainly no fool. W hat better way to communicate to queer voters that it he were mayor, they would receive his backing. But what one needs to understand about Potter is that, as an ally and a parent, he consid ers himself part of the queer community. It’s not just lip service. He speaks in tenns of “we," as in: “[Same-sex marriage rights! is the next phase of our civil rights cam paign.... We had our first skirmish in ’92, and since then the other side has weakened as we’ve become stronger." During that skirmish (the battle over Mea sure 9), Potter was duty-bound as police chief to protect btrth sides. He met with protesters in advance of rallies and marches to ensure that non violence could be everybody’s top priority. “I used to tell Lon Mabon, ‘I support your right to try to have me fired,’ ” Potter says with a smile. “ ‘My job is to make sure you have a right to say that.’ ” n Portland at large, Potter’s name is synony mous with community policing, a model in which officers work with citizens to prevent and solve crimes. As chief of police from 1991 to I N ext A d venture Bryan P ortlands A ltgrmativic S porting G ood ? V torg © S G ñ J X á lí ® i? *
