5
r r m io u t
OCEANSIDE
ju s t FTTnrrn
about Fox's new reality television
series Playing It Straight.7 Does the
competition m ake queers out to be
villains, or could the gimmick actually
help shatter som e stereotypes?
I
don’t think the show is set to vilify anyone.
Remember, the guys are both straight and
gay. It shows what guys are like in general, and
you get from that a spectrum o f em otions and
actions that further humanize gay boys. I think
you’re just watching people in a crazy situation
and the drama that ensues. Any exposure gay
people get I think helps desensitize people,
making them more comfortable having gay
boys around.
L ance H ickman
Portland
next r n r r r i ^ reflected
,,C A l 1
! ^ in the 2003
reader survey, are Just Out readers an
adequate and indicative reflection o f
the greater sexual minorities
community ? (P lease see related item
on Page 3 .) Respond at
www.justout.com. (Don't forget to
include your nam e, city and daytime
telephone num ber.)
Liberty and ju stice for all
To the E ditor :
1
think what we used to believe was a perfect
family— i.e., mother, father, 2.3 children and
a dog— needs an update. W hen I was growing
up I never had friends who only had one parent
until I was in my teens.
Now I look at my friends and the families 1
see, and it is mostly one-parent families or same-
sex, two-parent families. Som e children have
two sets o f parents due to divorce. How normal
is that and how confusing?
Som eone said the children would be con
fused by a same-sex family. I say they are lucky
to have two parents!
Children see that there are different kinds of
families and adapt. A ll that concerns them is
that they are loved and that their friends are
loved and cared for. Children are confused only
when they are told their parents are bad, evil
perverts by narrow-minded people.
Most o f the people I know in same-sex rela
tionships have been together for many years,
some as long as 40 years. 1 don’t know many
“regular couples” who have been together that
long! How is the sanctity o f marriage being
damaged when, after 13 years, you can legally
marry your soul mate and show your children
what com m itm ent really means?
T he new definition of family is two parents
who love each other and their children. If the
children are lucky, they can see that when two
people are in love, they com mit to each other in
the bonds of marriage and the meaning o f “with
liberty and justice for all.”
A lice L ynn
Portland
The w ar is never over
To the E ditor :
new biography of President Rutherford B.
Hayes reminded me of the present move
ment to outlaw gay marriage by means of a con
stitutional amendment. W hen Hayes was gover
A
nor of O hio, he waged a constant struggle against
groups who were trying to reverse O hio’s accep
tance o f the 14th Amendment, which abolished
slavery. To quote Confederate Gen. John Bell
Hcxxl in a fiction novel, “T h e war is never over.”
R ollin “S peedy ” Z awistowski
G resham
What iff the shoe
w as on the other foot?
To the E ditor :
n spite o f what political and religious conser
vatives would have you believe, there is only
one common thread that is found in ALL defin
itions o f marriage. Marriage always creates a
wholly new family. T heir claim of “one man,
one woman” is not as pervasive as that.
T h e right to create a family through marriage
is so important to us because most of us weren’t
raised in gay families. We were raised by straights,
with straight values and prejudices that hurt or
damaged most o f us. But the natural human
iastinct to bond together into family units is not
lost or diminished in us, just forbidden by law.
W e have tried everything possible to protect
our rights through existing legal means. And
still, any blood relative with the complicity of
practically any judge can throw out all the most
carefully crafted legal documentation after a
brief court hearing.
Nothing short o f full civil marriage will pro
tect our rights fully in the current legal climate.
In a more libertarian society none of this would
be necessary because the courts would not be
allowed to ignore legal documents and contracts
in favor of a bigoted blood relative.
But what if the shoe was on the other foot?
W hat if every straight couple had to execute the
excess of legal documents suggested as the alter
native for same-sex couples? Wouldn’t straight
couples be crying for equality under the law?
Wouldn’t they be demanding their rights to the
protections o f marriage as long as government
offered such protections?
T h e efforts to write discrimination into our
Constitutions serve only to deny us the right to
create our own families. We don’t want to dic
tate their church’s definition of marriage, nor
their own personal definition. All we want is our
equal right under the law to marry— nothing
more, but nothing less.
T h e Libertarian Party of Georgia recently
approved a new platform plank supporting the
gay community’s position in this fight, and the
national Libertarian Party is moving to do the
same. Isn’t it strange that just when the gay
community needs the power of the Democrats
most, so many of them go limp on us?
I
you much: For the primary, Tom won’t accept more
than $25 per person in your household (tx per
organization donating). A small price for one, but
collectively what an incredible amount it could be.
If yOu don’t have money to donate, consider
volunteering your time and energy to his cam
paign. Work on the lawn sign campaign, volun
teer to register voters, work the phone banks, or
just talk to your family and friends.
As a lesbian and a small-business owner, I’m
really happy to be able to say this is a positive
choice. A choice that fills me with hope for our
city and the G L B T community. I hope you’ll
agree and join me.
Help us spread the word to everyone across
Portland: A t last, there’s a real alternative to
“politics as usual” in our city— a proven leader,
standing up for the inclusive and forward-
looking community we want.
Tom’s campaign slogan is “Bringing Portland
Together”— and it all starts with your help! T he
first step is registering to vote if you haven’t
already; this means if you have moved you need
to reregister!
Also, don’t forget the stand our Multnomah
County commissioners took for our community.
We must fight every step of the way to keep
them all in office!
Your vote matters. Don’t waste it!
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To the E ditor :
inister Tyrone Williams sometimes con
fuses publicity with actual formal educa
tion— and I don’t mean what Oregon calls a
basic education [“T h e Last Dawn," Feb. 20J.
To wit: The 10 million men, women and chil
dren— 6 million being Jewish, the remaining 4 mil
lion being non-Jewish— did not just go into the cre
matorium and quietly die. How patently stupid!
“Queers” of all stripes were one of the very first
groups to be rounded up, beaten, tortured and then
forced like a herd of cattle into chambers that had
gas pellets of cyanide dropped into special contain
ers in the roof. When the showers were turned on,
the water reacted with the cyanide, and clouds of
deadly poison rose up and eventually killed every
single man, woman and child in that chamber.
What is true and is known by those of us who
actually know history is sometimes the S S would
peer through windows from the top and laugh.
Once dead, the bodies were then taken to the cre
matoriums and reduced to ash and bone pieces.
A s to kids being raped, sodomized and
murdered, what is needed is for somehow the
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Continued on Page 7
A llan K. W allace
Outright Libertarians
Vote ffor Potter
To the E ditor :
^ | 7 e are living in remarkable, historical and
V V changing times, and now more than ever
the G L B T community must work collectively to
elect the leaders who will keep us moving in the
direction o f a brighter future.
I’ve decided to support Tom Potter for mayor
of Portland. I like what Tom stands for. He was a
different kind of police chief, and I believe he
will be a different kind of mayor. I like his com
mitment to small businesses, healthy schools and
the G L B T community. 1 believe he has the lead
ership, the vision, the character and the strength
to reignite true community involvement in the
future o f our city and to bring us together.
You can see his positions and sense his passion
at www.tomformaytx.org. While you are there you
can also axitribute to his campaign. It won’t cost
co rre ctio n s
T
he March 19 newsbrief “Show Your Support
for Commissioner Rojo" misreported that
Love Makes a Family is holding a fund-raiser for
Multnomah County Commissioner Maria Rojo
de Steffey. T he event is being hosted by Kevin
and Alex Bailey-Gilliam, Steve Wagenhoffer,
M itch Zahn, Sima Teherani, Willa M cConnell,
Barb Bloom and Gabrielle Groshong.
A caption accompanying the March 5 news-
brief “Training Workshop, Potluck Planned”
misreported that Bonnie Tinker and Sara G ra
ham are married. They have their license, but
the ceremony will take place April 17.
T he lasf sentence of the March 19 column
“A Friend in Need” was cut off. It should have
read: “No matter what the outcome o f our bat
tle for marriage rights, very few o f us living in
Oregon will ever know or face the fears o f the
two women who I met from Alabama."
Just O ut regrets the errors.
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