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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 20, 2004)
auflusl 20.2Q04 • just out 33 PEOPLE ................▼................ eatingout It's a queer world after all M eg D aly t first glance, Kevin Thomas seems an unusual suspect for an entrepre neur of a gay and lesbian greeting card company. The 46-year-old history buff is the cre ator of Our World Press, publisher of glossy black and white and sepia-toned cards depicting same-sex couples from the early to mid-20th century. But Thomas, who has lived in Southeast Portland for four years with his partner and their son, is straight. “It’s something that needed to be done,” says Thomas, who for decades has collected images and objects from U.S. history that he feared would be “forgot ten.” His 14 years as an antique dealer has given him special access to a world of memorabilia. As a child of an interracial marriage, Thomas took a particular interest in saving pictures of nontraditional couples and has created an informal photo history of anony mous same-sex and interracial pairs. The images, he says, “tell a story of our history.” The idea occurred to him a few years ago that many of the photos would make great greeting cards. March 3 of this year Kevin Thomas (right) and his catapulted him into action. Watching so best-selling wedding card many queer friends and fellow Oregoni ans line up for marriage licenses at the Mult existence shows they nomah Building, Thomas knew he had the were taken “by peers perfect wedding cards just waiting to be made. who also accepted Less than two months later, Our World this lifestyle.” Press rolled out its first nine cards targeted at Thomas has found newlyweds. Each one has a salutation inside a wide audience congratulating the lucky couple. through distribution Thomas says it was “very difficult” deciding to card and other spe which images to use for his first print run. cialty shops. In the Many he ultimately chose are posed family por Portland area, you traits. Others are candids. One card that looks can find them at In to be set in rhe 1950s features a woman on Other Words, Powell’s City of B<x)ks, Powell’s bended knees, head upturned, taking a bite of B<x)ks on Hawthorne, Greg’s, Wham! and New an apple being fed to her by a female compan Seasons, to name a few. ion. Inside it reads, “Yes!” “People love them,” says Sue Bums, man Another shows the backs of two men with ager of In Other Words. “I’ve even had people polka-dotted aprons doing dishes. This one, his come in and buy them for straight couples best seller, reads, “Congratulations on your who are getting married.” Thomas has also marketed the cards national- domestic bliss!” Thomas tries to stay away from explicitly ly, including to stores in Massachusetts, New sexual or nude photos for the cards. “I wanted York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. He something that your grandmother could get says shop owners have been responsive, often thanking him for providing these kinds of images. you,” he smiles. Next up on the Our World production line But, by the same token, there is no way of will be a series of cards for same-sex parents. proving whether the “couples” featured are Thomas says it was particularly difficult find actually lovers or just friends or relatives. “One ing a photo of gay dads from the mid-1900s, never knows,” Thomas muses. “Still, same-sex but find one he did. couples did pose for these types of photos, they After that, he plans to make cards that were just not allowed to talk about what was aren’t necessarily wedding or family related but really going on.” that reflect happy queer couplehocxl in general. After spending years poring over thousands One particularly striking image features a 1950s of old photos, Thomas feels convinced his interracial lesbian couple on a motorcycle. cards contain images of actual couples. Either “I want to see the expression on a black way, they “read” gay and lesbian, especially to a ‘dyke on a bike’ to the fact that she existed queer audience. back then, too,” he says. Thomas acknowledges that Our World ccording to Rob Douglass of the Gay and Press is not a get-rich-quick scheme. “I could Lesbian Archives of the Pacific North probably make more money doing other west, historical photos are important to things,” he notes. But he loves old photos, and modern-day queers. “The photographs are he feels good about filling an important niche valuable because they validate that homosexu in the greeting card business. als did indeed exist across all strata of society," Like other same-sex marriage proponents, he says. “Oftentimes the only proof we have is Thomas shows no sign of losing momentum in some round-about yam in the family about old the celebration and legitimization of queer Auntie being ‘a little peculiar.’ ” love and family. 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