«
does. Please, please, please support those opin
ions w ith facts, though.
To T he E ditor :
First of all, No on 36 was a coalition NOT
n the Feb. 18 issue of Just Out, there was an under BRO’s control. The National Gay and
article by Jayinee R. Cuti titled “Theology Lesbian Task Force actually seemed to play a
and Christianity.” it described the clash much larger roll in the campaign than BRO.
between conservative Christians and gays Most of the campaign staff was made up of
through two opposing views, one by Alisa Sim NGLTF people. The Human Rights Campaign
mons, a board member for Basic Rights Oregon, also sent a contingent to help out w ith the cam
and the Rev. Renee Ward, a community rela- paign. How do I know all of this, you ask? j
tions spokeswoman for' Killingsworth Little I myself was a member of rhe campaign staff—a
Chapel of the Chimes. Each stressed her views i full-time volunteer staff member, actually.
about people being Christian and gay.
And while we are on that note, as one of the
In America, we have the right to freedom of more than 9,000 volunteers, no, I don’t feel like
speech. However, the opinion of one person a failure. On the contrary, 1 feel like 1 helped |
does not necessarily represent the philosophy , build something big, something gtxxl, a founda
and views of a particular organization. Dignity tion for future campaigns to w'ork with.
Memorial Funeral Homes represents eight loca
Now back to your attacks on BRO. You stat
tions in the Portland area. Dignity Memorial ed that you did not like the riming of BRO’s law- I
does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, suit. Not many of us did, either; however, most
color or sexual orientation. We provide services of us understock! the strategy that BRO was
to people of all faiths.
using and are willing to go along with it. You see,
As an employee of Little Chapel of the BRO is actually behaving smartly. It was actual
Chimes, it is an honor and privilege to serve ly trying to build a case that it could sustain in
everyone, no matter where they come from. It court and that would actually have some validi
is our motto to serve with pride, honor and ty and merit when its lawsuit was filed. The idea
dignity.
was that it wanted a case that its opposition
couldn’t merely throw a few motions at and get
D avid H inton
dismissed. No, the idea here was that BRO
Dignity Chapels
wanted a lawsuit that would withstand the argu
ments brought against it by the opposition. In
short, BRO wanted a lawsuit put together that
In defense of BRO
would actually, well, win (a novel concept,
To T he E ditor :
I know, but a good one).
his letter pertains to a letter to the editor
Now Win. Stephen Humphrey states that
from a former staff member of Just Out to Scott Mix ire is in support of the lawsuit, just not
The Portland Mercury in the Feb. 24 edition. the
I riming of the lawsuit. Strange, 1 saw' no indi
just thought I would show support for the folks cation of that in his article. All I could find was
at Just Out and Basic Rights Oregon. Thanks for sympathy for Tim Nashif et al. and a growing
all your help and support during the past year.
fear that BRO would lose and that this was all a
D ear M ercury :
waste of time. Interest ing comments from a sup
I am writing this in response to Meg Daly’s porter of the lawsuit, don’t you think?
letter to The Mercury published Feb. 24- Rather,
Finally, and 1’11 say it again and again: All I
I am writing in support of Meg and in response see is The Mercury's criticism of BRO. Where
to Win. Stephen Humphrey. I believe that there has The Mercury staff been hiding? I never once
are a few things that need to be straightened saw a member of The Mercury’s staff volunteer
out.
ing for No on 36. (If someone did, my apologies; *
When No on 36 started, it seemed like The however, what can 1 say—I call ’em as I see ’em.)
Mercury was very supportive of the campaign
and, through its humorous and editorial style, N eil B arnes
broadcast that support to its readers. However, Portland
once rhe campaign was lost, so was The Mer
cury's support. All I have been reading since the Don’t fall for the
campaign is how awful Basic Rights Oregon is.
You claim that everything in the campaign that homophobes’ trick
went wrong is BRO’s fault. The Mercury even To the E ditor :
carries this mentality forward into post-election
he Feb. 18 “Page 3” editorial by Marty
season events like the BRO lawsuit against Mea
Davis scolded the wrong party [“The
sure 36. It seems as though all you have to say is Reflex”]. Although I agree that angry e-mails are
how much the staff at The Mercury thinks BRO counterpnxluctive, she should have scolded The
is nothing but a pack of blithering idiots.
Washington Post for printing such a homophobic
That’s fine that you have opinions; everyone story.
Death with Dignity
I
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Specifically, why did rhe story focus on
anonymous “angry e-mails” that public officials
routinely ignore? Why did the story paint Bush
appointees as being victims of “angry” homo
sexuals?
Homophobes love to dismiss their opponents
as “angry." Misogynists use the same trick to dis
miss women as “angry” and “hysterical.”
By being graciously conciliatory, Marty
Davis fell for the homophobes’ trick. She in
advertently accepted responsibility for a prob
lem that was created by homophobes.
These apocryphal “angry e-mail” writers did
not create the “misunderstanding” over the sui
cide workshop title. The divisive leadership and
homophobia of the Bush administration are
solely responsible for this problem.
The police bureau will be conducting a
recruitment drive at Pride. It is actively recruit
ing candidates from a wide range of groups to
increase the diversity of the police department.
The roundtable encourages all those who might
be interested in working in the police depart
ment to contact the Human Resources Depart
ment of the city of Portland or drop by the infor
mation bxx)th at Pride.
D anny R osen
Sexual Minority Roundtable
How does that
foot taste?
To the E ditor :
realize it’s next to impossible to curb some of
the offhand comments made on local morn
ing television programs, but that dix:sn’t mean
we should just let them slide.
Ken Ackerman of KATU’s AM Northwest
wins a foot-in-mouth award for his smirk, “Well,
on that show anyone could have worn that
dress.” The show’s segment on purchasing
clothes worn by celebrities was looking at a dress
worn by Debra Messing of Will & Grace.
If a real comedian had made the comment, it
would be a “whatever.” But Ackerman’s homo
phobia is clear to me after viewing this program
for a few years. You can almost see his skin crawl
when anything gay is mentioned.
His need to be seen as a man’s man is obvi
ous, probably because he has issues being on a
predominately women-focused program. I’ve
heard breast comments in front of a studio audi
ence with children. His demeanor around
attractive women is sophomoric. Single, he is.
KATU management should really kxik at
the idea of sensitivity training for its talent on
this show. There’s a difference between being
funny and trying so hard to be.
1
T homas K raemer
Corvallis
Life partners
To THE EDITOR:
n behalf of the Sexual Minority Round-
table, thank you to Just Out for the cover
age of the celebration of the reaffirmation of the
partnership agreement with rhe Portland Police
Bureau. The roundtable also thanks all those in
rhe community who were able to attend the cel
ebration and reaffirm their participation and
support of the partnership.
Those who missed the February celebration
still have an opportunity to indicate their sup
port of the goals set out in the partnership agree
ment by adding their signature to the document
at the roundtable meeting from noon to
1:30 pan. April 12 in the Chief’s Conference
Room on the 1 5th floor of the Justice Center.
The partnership agreement will also be avail
able for review during this year’s Pride celebra
tion. You can see for yourself who has commit
ted to the ongoing support of the partnership.
Plans are to have the document displayed at the
Portland Police booth.
K enny D arling
Milwaukie
atout to ¿eaz {wu qwf
'l/¿4¿¿
& ¿úane you* optato*
to t£e Sditoz"
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