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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (April 2, 2004)
acni 2.2004 by M a r t y D a v is The IN publication for the The state of the community V oi. 21 N o . 11 Just Out reader survey provides useful information FEATURE t started a month ago. The phone began ringing early in the day. First came the questions, then later the rumors and the speculations. N o one was really sure what was happening, hut one thing was clear: Something big was about to go down. And then about 4 p m. March 2, clarity came in the form of e-mails and press releases. On March 3, Multnomah County would begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. And then the commotion began. C o m motion that continued up though and including April 1, an odd irony indeed, when the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners resolved, by a vote o f 4-1, to support Chair Diane Linn’s decision whereby she directed the Tax Collection and Records Management Division o f Business and C o m munity Services to issue marriage licenses to all qualified persons regardless of their gen der or sexual orientation. In the past month same-sex marriage has seldom left the forefront of public scrutiny. There have been countless articles, inter views, letters, meetings, rallies and rants and raves. The Oregonian, which historically could scarcely bring itself to use the words gay and lesbian, has been spewing forth a gay lexicon almost as frequently as their ads for a Meier &. Frank sale. With all the attention, all the spotlight, many questions still remain unanswered about the gay and lesbian community in Portland. M isconceptions abound. Em o tions override logic, and anger mistakenly confuses people and families with process and government. Who are we, this group suddenly in every one’s faces? Where do we live? Where do we work? How many of us are there, anyway? Does our agenda really include world domi nance, or are we more likely to he concerned about just how we’re going to pay the new Multnomah County income tax that’s due in two weeks? Just Out can help provide useful informa tion and answers to many of these questions. As you may recall, last fall we solicited feed back and data for our 2003 readers survey. By sharing with you now a portion of the results, we can start to piece together the answers to some of the questions above. Just how many gays and lesbians are there in Oregon? Well, that question we cannot answer. No one knows exattly. Even if we all picked a day and agreed to stand up and count off, the number would he different the next day. People come and go daily; we are not a static community. The 2004 Oregon Blue Book lists an estimated Oregon popula tion, for 2002, at 3,504,700. Using the old tried-and-untrue 1 -in-10 theory, an estimate of the gay and lesbian population in Oregon would put our number in excess of 350,000. What an amazing number. What powerful potential we have as an political and eco nomic force. Just Out distributed mail-in surveys in two issues of the paper and posted the questions on our Web site. By the closing date we had F ounded 1983 • J ay B rown amassed 548 entries, from which we compiled the following data. Many more entries were ultimately received hut well past the closing date of Dec. 1. The question will be asked, “Are Just Out readers an adequate and indicative reflection of the greater sexual minorities community?” The answer is “yes” and “no.” I’ll come back to this question later. First, some facts and figures for your consideration. H ow do readers o f J u s t O ut s e lf-id e n tify ? W hat is the c o m p o s itio n o f o u r c o m m u n ity ? Male Female Trans Other/multiple No answer 47% 48% 2% 2% 1% White/European American Multiracial Other Hispanic/Latino American Native American Asian American Black/African American Other 88% 4% 3% 2% 1% 1% 1% 1% Gay Lesbian Bisexual Queer Straight Trans Otber/muitiple/questioning 42% 35% 7% 7% 5% 1% 3% Younger than 21 21 to 34 years old 35 to 45 years old 46 to 55 years old Older than 55 No answer 1% 26% 31% 25% 8% 8% Single In a committed relationship Other 43% 48% 9% Own their own home Rent their home Other living arrangements 57% 41% 2% F o llo w in g are the fig u re s co m p ile d fo r th e a n nu a l h o u s e h o ld in com e ; note th a t h o u s e h o ld im p lie s dual incom es in p a rtn e re d h o u s e h o ld s . Less than $15,000 $15,000 to $30,000 $30,000 to $50,000 $50,000 to $75,000 $75,000 to $100,000 More than $100,000 No answer 12% 21% 25% 19% 12% 6% 5% In addition to the above statistics, here are more facts reported by our readership. The average number of children in house holds in 2003 was zero. The average number of pets in gay and lesbian households in 2003 was two. What can we conclude from this? Gays and lesbians raising children probably have little time for completing long news paper surveys. About 98 percent of Just Out readers graduated from high school, and 84 percent hold a post-secondary degree. This breaks down to 17 percent with a two-year degree, 36 percent with a bachelor’s degree and 21 percent with a master’s degree. About 9 per- ' cent of Just Out readers have received a doc torate or similar professional degree. About 78 percent of respondents indicated they are employed, with the remaining 22 per cent including students and retirees. About 30 percent of readers say they work in profession- al/managerial roles, with 14 percent employed in the service and/or technical sector. Health care employs 10 percent of readers, and 8 percent more say they are teachers or professors. About 4 percent toil in sales, and 4 percent did not answer the question. A great deal of additional data were obtained from the surveys, much of which will be presented to you at a later time. But in context to the same-sex marriage debate, it should be noted that when asked what topic readers would like to see most frequent ly in Just Out, the highest category recorded was “relationships.” Clearly our partners, spouses, children, families, friends and myri ad others in our lives are so often first and foremost in our minds. So what is it about our relationships that is so very threatening to so many people? I asked earlier the question, “Are Just Out readers an adequate and indicative reflection of the greater sexual minorities community ?” Does this survey reflect our greater community as a whole? Again, “yes” and “no.” Clearly our readership is not representative of the under-21 demographic. There are two things I know for sure. First, indeed there is a large, vibrant and energetic queer youth crowd in Portland. Second, I’m well aware that this age group does not read Just Out . In this specific example, our survey is N O T rep resentative. Do I fuss and fret about this? Yes, but mostly to the point where I have to accept and realize that Just Out cannot and will not ever he all things to all people. Short of a cover-to-cover reworking of the entire paper, it’s not likely that we’ll ever be able to capture this demographic. What we hope for is that in a few years our paths will cross and our new young 21 - to 34-year-old readers and Just Out will continue on together in converg ing parallel lives. As far as racial representation goes, even while acknowledging that the sexual minori ties community in Portland is predominantly white, we cannot overl(x>k that we’re not doing a good job in bringing a racially diverse our former Features Editor and the person who did all the work on this survey, summed it up well with: “Just Out readership remains skewered towards white/European Americans when compared with Oregon’s population. If compared with Multnomah County census data the disparity would be greater. Just Out should consider how to better target and serve the Asian American, African American and Hispanic/Latino American populations, in particular.” So as we work and struggle together to find our place at the table of the community at large, Just Out will also not lose sight of the fact that there’s plenty of work and improvement to be done right here ir\our own house. jn GRAPHIC 0IRECT0R • Kevin Mcxire ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR • Lisa Bradshaw Darby, Els Debbaut, Kobe Kemple, Andy Mangels, Christopher McQuain, JB Rabin, Bob Roehr, Andy Simon, Floyd Sklaver, Rex Wockner FEATURES EDITOR • Meg Daly ADVERTISING DIRECTOR • Larry Lewis CONTRIBUTORS • Marc Acito, Michael E Barrett, ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES • Kan Tate, Ashley Ed Carder, Ashley Conley, Darren Linder, S & E Distributors Kathy Beige, Meryl Cohn, Gina Daggett, Jodi Austin PUBLISHER AND M ANAGING EDITOR • Marty Davis NEW S EDITOR • Jim Radosta PRODUCTION ASSISTANT • Zanne dejanvier DISTRIBUTION • Kristine Ashton, Allison Benn, OUT population and R enée L a C hance A p ril 2 , 2 0 0 4 Why dykes should fight for reproductive rights '28 NEWS Former police chief (and outspoken PFLAG dad) runs for mayor » 8 19 NATIONAL • Amendment amended pp 20-25 W IR LI • Quebec legalizes same-sex marriage pp 26-27 ARTS AND CULTURE MHSIC • The Rose City Gay Freedom Band hosts a tri-city party p 39 DIVERSIONS. Oregon joins gay rodeo association; Jeff Stryker action figure; Spank! picks winners '41 ART • Tips for enjoying and being enjoyed at Cascade AIDS Project fund-raiser '4 3 CBLTRRE . 2 Girls Travel opens up a world of possibility for women '4 5 CRUBRI • New Portland-based magazine gives women and children a voice pp 46-47 FILM • Come out, come out, wherever you are for Sing-a-Long Wizard o f Oz '49 WHAT'S POPPIN'T • Dawn o f the Dead lively '5 1 RANGE • Think you have no dance ability? p 53 COLUMNS MS. REHAVIOR . Here come the brides '3 7 BBT WITH IT! Dreams do come true for little gay boys '4 1 EPIRBEEREAN • Paris a Portland '4 2 THE C U P EL ACCORDING TB MARC . Heaven help us '5 4 •M t la pu blish ed on the firs t and th ird F ri day o f each I l f lift! (jipynght © 2004 by Just Out. N o putt if Just Out may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. The subm ission o f w ritte n and grap h ic m a teri a l* la w elcom ed . Written maternal should he typed and dou ble-spaced. Just Out reserves the right to edtr for grammar, punc tuation, style, liability concerns and length. We will reject or edit a n c le s or advertisements that ate offensive, demeaning or may result in legal action. L ett era ta the ed itor should he limited to 500 words. A n nouncements regarding life transitions (births, deaths, unions, etc.) should he limited to 200 words, photos ate welcome. D ead lin e fo r euhm iaaiona ti i the edironal department and for the IT is the Thursday 15 days before the next publication date. Views expressed in lettets to the editor, columns and features are not necessarily those of the publisher. The d la p la y a d vertisin g d ea d lla e is the Monday 12 days before the next publication date. C lassified ada must be received at the Just Out 'd ice by 4 p.m n the ThuraJay eight days before the next puhhcatkxi dare, akxig with payment. Ad* may be placed via the Internet with Visa nr MastrK aril payment, by mail with a check, or in peraai at < ** «dice Ad p o licy: lust Out reserves the nght to refect or edit any advertisement. Compensation for emits m, or cancellation of, advertcsing will he made with credit toward future advertising. Advertising rates are available upon reefuest D istribu tion p o lle r Just i'htt is available free of charge, one ciyy per pervxi Just Out » delivered only to authorized dtstnhu tors. N o person may, withistt pm » written permnwxi from Just Out, take more than one copy Any person who takes more than n e c«yy may he held liahfe for theft, including hut not limited to civil ilamages andAw criminal pmarciitmn Subscriptions >re $22.50 few 12 issues First Class (in an envelope) is $40 for 12 issues Contact Just Out at P.O. Box 14400, Portland, O R 97291-0400; 503-236-1252, advertising 503-236-1253, fax 503-236-1257; e-mail I'MoutOfustiait.com. Visit out Internet site at www.)inrnut.com.
