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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 20, 2004)
augurt 20. ?fXM T J—t jg|C> FPrnTFrn a^out Willamette Week cover story on Portland Fellowship? ‘ ' Was it worthwhile information, or did it lend unearned credence to the (i ex-gay” movement? extraordinary flora J ell-meaning people have been trying to “cure" homosexuality since the dawn of time, and now these Portland Fellowship ple think they have the answer? For shame to anyone who believes this. You can’t fix/cure something just because you don’t like it. There is much more information and documentation on the fact that people are bom homosexuals, not made. Perhaps with genetic engineering someday you can have a child who is just what you want, but I think nature will always emerge the victor. I would be greatly upset to have any of my gay friends suddenly become heterosexual. Are we just going to FIX anyone who isn’t the norm? Myself, I have always been a different person; 1 get asked if I am straight and I just say no, I am just a little bent. I have never been crazy about labels for peo ple; I was a geek long before anyone knew what that was. We all as a race of human beings con tribute the glory of the whole. Sort of like the Borgs being a part of the collective, only not so Gene Rodenberry. I don’t think the article had worthwhile information, but it was good for a chuckle, and I hope those people are happy. W This man who claims to be cured is truly fooling himself. He will spend a lifetime pray peo ing or whatever to suppress his natural urges. Then one day he will wake up a very old man and realize that he’s wasted an entire lifetime trying to be someone he’s not. He’s done nothing to validate the “ex-gay” movement; once a homosexual, always a homosexual. If anything he should be pitied. municated this truth, it was valuable. But this value was blunted by WW's signature attempt at “aren’t-we-cool-cause-we-know-the-truth” irony. Starting with the headline and continu ing through the closing paragraph, this obscured the truth, rather than clarified it. S tephen S impson Portland 1019 nw 11th ave p 503.228.2558 • • • D avid W. H artsook Portland enjoyed WWs article and think it did more good than anything. It showed both sides, rather than hammering down the obvious truth y perspective is that tolerance is a double- about the “ex-gay" movement’s illegitimacy. edged sword. Although it seems obvious While the article’s voice remained neutral, the to most comfortably out folks that Portland facts in the article still showed that science and Fellowship’s mission is absurd, I feel: logic are on our side while only bad theology 1. Any quest for sexual identity must be and pretense are on theirs. Such objectivity can honored. be important in convincing those more- 2. The group has a huge failure rate and so moderate-than-thou folks who we all know. is its own worst enemy. I’m speaking of the ones who are willing to 3. If a person doesn’t want to “be gay,” good believe any of the typically one-sided, pro-Bush riddance. Better they be confused somewhere crap the mainstream media put out just because else. I have no doubt the gay community will it is coming from an “objective" source but always be here to welcome them home if it would never believe any of the actual facts in A lice L ynn doesn’t work out. Fahrenheit 9/11 (or any other well-researched, Portland fact-oriented progressive work) just because it M icheál M c D uffey hails from one side of the political spectrum. For • • • Portland whatever reason, many people do not look at or are not able to tell what the actual facts are, so • • • found the July 28 Willamette Week on “ex the information they actually believe tends to gays” amusing, to say the least. I can tell you be information coming from sources with at from my own personal experience that no agreed to be interviewed for the article least a supposed premise of objectivity. This arti amount of deprogramming/praying/therapy can because I believe that the truth about the cle fit that bill and can perhaps woo undecideds make anyone change his or her sexual prefer “ex-gay” movement needs to be told. It hurts better than ohe that is more obviously slanted ence. There are many well-published articles as people. It reaffirms homophobia in all its forms. toward what we know to be the truth. well as documented medical proof that people It also robs good people of time better spent are bom homosexual. No matter what the far growing into well-rounded human beings. T om S oppe right says, it’s not a choice; we are bom this way. To the limited extent that the article com- Portland I • • • I M www.Dharma-Rain.Org I Hpyf | New Jersey Qov. James E. McQreevey comes out as the highest-ranking openly gay official in ■■****■• I bbl, I’d history amid a sex and ethics scandal: Do you feel this will have positive or negative repercussions for the queer community? (Please see related item on Page 16,) Respond at www.justout.com. (Don’t forget to include your name, city and daytime telephone number.) The other disturbing point of Mr. Bealer’s letter comes with his saying, “Can you believe that anyone other than straights and gays who have just come out would ever go near that con notation?” The subtle bi-bashing inherent in this remark is unfortunate. I am not a straight man, and I am not a gay man who just came out. I’ve been an out and proud bisexual for more than a decade, and there are millions of others just like me. We are not inexperienced with gay or straight life, since we are involved in both worlds. And we aren’t going away. Whether one agrees with an article or not, what’s true shame is for someone to deny others else their place at the table on the basis of their identity. largely convinced myself that there was no real prospect that 1 would. I resigned myself to work ing on a local level to build a hopeful future for my community here, knowing that this at least would make a real difference to a limited num ber of trans Americans. But the pain remained. Thank you for taking this step, for writing these words and for reviving the dream within our hearts of a day when we do not have to won der if our lives and our futures were expendable to some pragmatic compromise. This question really hurt trans people more than 1 can ever say—but I suspect you know this already. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has done the right thing for years about trans inclusion, and in particular the work that Lisa Mottet has done for our community can’t be G lenn S cofield W illiams overestimated. But this statement has a magnif Portland icent power to it that supersedes even these efforts in effect. It is a risky thing to return to our An open letter true values and eschew the easier sanctuary that to Matt Foreman we desperately seek for ourselves, but those of us who are defiantly and joyously out for the world To the E ditor : have so many feelings going through me about know we are better for it. You are obviously a man of great compassion, the issues that you’ve addressed in your recent statement about Employment Nondiscrimina vision and courage. Someday I hope we will get tion Act inclusion. One is foremost: admiration a chance to share more. Till then, my warmest and most grateful regards and best wishes—and for your courage to speak so openly and honestly about this difficult and painful topic. many, many thanks. I have waited for years to read these words in L ori B uckwalter unequivocal clarity from a national LGBT Portland leader of your stature, and for these years have I <• Httlth it leautifvl” RETREAT Fire off a missive! $*tin c*™ practice of Anne C. Heenan, nurse practitioner • Massage ’ European facial treatments Now accepting opinions on all topics in "Letters to the Editor" at www.justout.com ; • • Microdermabrasion • Superficial chenikWp ’ V • natural naK care V \ AC 503.517.8565 WISEHawtbonelM I ww.lAUtwImt. cm
