Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 17, 2004)
September JA20Q4.r by M a r t y D avis The IN publication for the OUT population Value judgment V ol. 21 N o . 22 Those against gay marriage should look inward FEATURE F ounded 1983 • J ay B rown and R enee L a C hance September 17, 2 0 0 4 BAND ON H i RUN: The acoustic genius o f y column today is written for those who will never read it. It is for those who are beyond my reach; it is meant for others and not tor yourself. But I will share these thoughts with you, and with them comes the hope that with or without the others, we’ll continue to strive to do our very best in a world that seems to have lost her way. Blame should not be assigned to the city, the mayor or the cops when your children shoot their neighbors in the streets in the darkness of the night. Government doesn’t exist to raise your children for you. T he role of government is not to teach your children right from wrong. Govern ment builds sch<xds and prisons, paves streets, administers the law and provides services. The government is not to be kx)ked to for moral or spiritual leadership. Parents rear children. Parents instill values. T h at’s e live in a world of terrorist atrocities. We live in a world of fear and their job, their right, their privilege. loathing. We live in a world of hunger and famine and drought and W ho is to blame for society’s shortcomings? Again and again we thirst. We live in a world of absurd overabundance, and we live in a world hear the question. Yet where are the answers? W ho steps up and of deprivation. We live in a world (if terror; we Jive in an Orwellian nation accepts responsibility? W ho says: “ 1 was absent when 1 should have at war and, ever so sadly, we live in a city where people throw kittens from been present. I was impaired when should have been sober, I failed the windows of cars speeding along the Fremont Bridge. where I should have succeeded. I gave up when 1 should have tried O f all the attacks, tragedies and horrors that harder. I did not do my job. T his burden is mine. pummel us daily, this one sad, sick and perhaps T his is my fault.” W ho will step up and speak Who to blame these words? seemingly less important incident has come to greatly disturb and hauntingly hang over me. This Sadder yet, in a world, a nation, a state, a city for society's shortcomings? cruelty symbolizes and links together all that is where our values have fallen to such lowly levels, wrong with a world where people are so morally dis Again and again citizens and institutions are spending millions o f dol solute that they neither comprehend nor care about lars to fight gay marriage. In a world where terrorists we hear the question. murder hundreds of Russian children, in a world of the utter wrongness of their actions. Animal abusers are often victims of abuse. Animal abusers often suicide bombers, in a world of public beheadings, our Yet where are the answers? continue to abuse family and strangers. Who might churches, our neighbors, our citizens take stands and Who steps up be the next victim of this cycle o f abuse? This inci positions setting up roadblocks to providing structure and foundation for all families and children. In the dent speaks so much about the decay of values and and accepts responsibility? morality in our culture. How does a person come to name of family values, people turn a blind eye to such behavior? What were they taught? How were what’s happening on their own watch. Parents sue they raised? Who is responsible for watching over them? Where are the state agencies for their own failures to love, protect and guide their chil parents? Where is the church, the family, the leaders, the teachings, the dren. Parents are absent while their children are abused, some tragically elders? Who steps up and takes responsibility when kittens are tossed on murdered. But it always seems others are held to blame. What a waste of time and energy and money. What a waste o f young lives. Wake up, roadways, dogs are dragged behind cars and blind men become the vic Americans. Wake up, Oregonians. Your children are killing themselves tim of hit-and-run cowards? All these sad events have taken place in 100 mph car wrecks. They’re throwing kittens from cars. They’re run recently right here in our own City of Roses. Who takes responsibility ning from you in the company of sex offenders. And all while you’re for these acts? worried about the impact of gay marriage on the structure of traditional There will be those who say that the schixils and the teachers are to values? blame. This, however, is misplaced blame. Teachers are to impart To those who fear or would deny gay marriage, I say Ux>k to your knowledge, to teach life skills. Teachers are not to be held responsible own house first. Your walls are decaying, and the rtxif is falling in. J H for molding and shaping the core of the person your child becomes. W is REFLECTIONS 10 years ago in S E ^ K 1 9 9 4 | Sneakin’ Out p 24 NEWS NORTHWEST • Washington judge mies for same- sex marriage pp 7-17 NATIONAL . Gay Republican group refuses to endorse President Bush 19-21 WORLD • Seven out gay and lesbian athletes win Olympic medals pp 22-23 pp ARTS AND CULTURE PEOPLE • Margaret Cho’s new act evolves with every political twist and turn p 35 THEATER • Stark Raving kisses Portland p 37 M U S IC • Scissor Sisters strive to rescue radio with fun pop; The Butchies lose momentum pp 38-39 FILM • Mean Creek's Jacob Estes has two daddies, plus John Waters’ latest and Stephen Fry's directorial debut p 40 WHAT'S POPPIN ? • Donnie Darker worth a second look p41 DIVERSIONS • John Cameron Mitchell; Portland Taiko’s Curly Ncxxiles p 43 CULTURE • Morrissey times two p 44 COLUMNS M S . BEHAVIOR • Into thin air p 33 • Twenty-five years after the birth of the gay and lesbian movement at Stonewall, our community faces a mortal clanger from a swiftly growing and powerful enemy— the self-styled "Christian“ right— who would like to see us erased from the face of the earth, literally. • On Sept. 11 Republican Gov. Pete W ilson vetoed California’s domestic partner legislation, Assembly Bill 2810, which had cleared the state Assembly and the Senate. The measure would have allowed same-sex and unmarried heterosexual couples to register with the secretary of state. Registered partners would have been granted hospital visitation rights, the right to will each other property and the nght to act on the behalf o f a partner Who became incapacitated. It wouid have been the first such legislation in the country. • O pponents o f B allot M easure 13, a proposed state constitutional am endment barring governm ental “ prom otion o f hom osexuality.“ are m aking a last-m inute push to raise funds and a ttra ct volunteers to defeat the initiative. W ith only 50 days before the Nov. 8 election, the N o on 13 C om m it tee, form erly known as S upport O ur C om m unities PAC, hopes to raise m ore than $1.5 m illion to fund a media blitz urging voters to reject the O regon C itizens A lliance's latest discrim inatory initiative. M aintaining Hope Under S iege,” a w orkshop w ith Holly Near, who has more than 25 years o f experience working fo r social change, w ill be held Sept 18. Through music and the sharing o f her own experi ences, Near w ill teach you how to avoid burnout, how to stay effective and how to keep hope alive. ♦ Come to a candlelight* march, vigil and rally Sept 25 in Salem in memory o f Hattie Mae Cohens and Brian M ock, who were murdered tw o years ago by skin heads Sponsored by the Lesbian Avengers, the march begins at the C apitol and ends at the fire- bombed building where the pair died. • Vermont is the first state in the union to offer "domestic partner" benefits to its employees, according to The Baltimore Gay Paper The policy, which wet into effect in August, came about as a settlement to a grievance filed by a state worker. • Six openly transsexual women were allowed to enter the Michigan W omyn’s M usic Festival this year, despite the festi val’s exclusionary policy o f allowing only “womyn-bom wom yn." The event followed a weeklong protest by 13 transsexual women and their friends and supporters. The Lavender Menace airs live on Cable Access Produced and hosted by Satya Riversong, the program features a diversity o f lesbian, fem inist, queer and general interest guests- call-ins, entertainm ent and general truth- revealing and rabble-rousing. GRAPHIC DIRECTOR • Kevin Moore ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR • Lisa Bradshaw Madison, Andy Mangels, Christopher McQuain, Christa-Margaret Nelson, J.B. Rahin, Boh Rix.*hr, Floyd Sklaver, G iri Taratoot, Rex Wixkner FEATURES EDITOR • Meg Daly ADVERTISING DIRECTOR • Larry Lewis Lisa FWnson, Brian Boucher, Boh Terry CONTRIBUTORS • Marc Acito, Michael Burdick, ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES • Kari Tate, Meryl Cohn, Els F)ehhaut, Evan James, M L. Ashley Austin NEWS EDITOR « Jim Radosta From the mouths o f babes 34 EPIQUEEREAN • Hail Mississippi Mary! 36 OUT W ITH IT! • The way things (xight to be 43 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO M ARC • In praise of • Family, Friends and Neighbors, a unique collection o f photos and personal stories focusing on 50 gay and les bian Oregonians, is on exhibit at the Salem Public Library through Sept. 30, • The Alliance for Progress, a Dallas-based nonprofit or ganization. has filmed what it calls "the nation's first gay rights television commercial.“ The commercial, titled "Sun day Morning," is intended to present the daily lives of gay men. lesbians and bisexuals through a chronological series of scenes. * PUBLISHER AND MANAGING EDITOR • Marry Davis OUT LOUD PRODUCTION ASSISTANT • Zanne dejanvier DISTRIBUTION • Krist ine Ashton, Allison Renn, outing p 45 |ust out is published on the first and third Fri day of each month, < aipyright C 2004 by Just ( hn N o part o f Just Out may he reproduced without written permi.ssion from the publisher. The submission of written and graphic materi als is welcomed. Written material should he typed and dou ble-spaced. Just Out reserves the right to edit for grammar, punc tuation, style, liability concerns and length. We will reject or edit articles or advertisements that are offensive, demeaning or may result in legal action. Letters to the editor should he limited to 500 words A n nouncements regarding life transitions (births, deaths, unions, etc.) should he limited to 200 words; photos are welcome Dead line for submissions to the editorial department and for the Calendar the Thursday 15 »lays hefore the next publication date. Views expressed in letters to the editor, columns and features are not necessarily those of the publisher. Th display advertising deadline is the Monday 12 days hefore the next publication date. Classified ads must he received at the Just ( Hit office by 5 p.m. on the Sunday five »lays N-tore the next publication ilate, along with payment. Ait, may be placed via the Internet with Visa or M;isteK -ird payment, by mail with a check, or in person at our office. Ad policy: Just ( )ut reserves the nght to reject or edit any advertisement. Cximpensation for errors in, nr cancellation of, advertising will lx- made with credit toward future advertising. Advertising rates are available upon request Distribution policy: Just ( H ii is available free of i harge, - <ne copy per person. Just Out is delivered only to authorized distribu tors. N o person may, without prior written permission from Just ( )ut. take more than one copy. Any person who rakes more than one copy may he hekl liable for theft, including h it not limited to civil damages and/or criminal prosecution Subscriptions are $22.50 for 12 issues. First ( lass (in an envelope) is $40 for 12 issues. C o n tac t Just Out at P O . Box 14400, Portland, O R 97293-0400; SO V256-I252, advertising 503-236-1253, fax 503-236-1257; e-mail |ustixit@)iisti xit.com. Visit out Internet site at www.justixit.com.
