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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2005)
aprii 1.2005 ’ jUSt «Hit1 IJbkhli'i'H.'Hnews he amount of stuff we’ve gotten has been incredible,” reports Matthew Lashua, community relations liaison JL. for Multnomah County Commissioner Maria Rojo de Steffey. “It really shows the diversity of the people who got mar ried last year." We stand over a table piled high with albums, each full of documents from the wed dings of March and April 2004- Where one year ago hundreds of same-sex couples gathered to sign their papers, now the lobby is quiet and houses a display of memora bilia from that time: handwritten cards, e-mails to the commissioners, wedding announcements, name-change cards and photographs, each plumbing a deep well of emotional resilience that characterizes the couples who were mar ried. The Wedding Album Project was the brainchild of the commissioners who Worked together to gain the. right for same-sex couples to marry—Rojo, Lisa Naito and Serena Cruz. “This was a historical and momentous event, because the marriages were halted, and we don’t know what is going to happen,” Rojo says. “This is worth archiving and noting in a particular way. 1 can’t think of another thing I've done in my career that has been historical. But this is. I think it is important for it to be noted in an important way. When we got the first submis sions I started crying all over again. All those incredible people, I was back in that space. I can’t describe how I felt last year when it hap pened. To see all these fantastic people doing what they should be able to do. It is really mov ing to see it all again.” Multnomah County is the only government T he W edding A lbum P roject Multnomah County gathers memories and images by Sarah Dougher agency that is taking rhe time and effort to collect the arti facts of its citizens regarding same-sex marriage. Although The San Francisco Chronicle newspaper is also collecting historical artifacts, Multno mah County is alone in mak ing a civic project of it. The cost for the project has been minimal—only postage for invitations to the 3,022 couples who were mar ried—especially considering the rich responses it garnered. Matthew Lashua shows guests the Wedding Album Project in the foyer of the Multnomah Building. Staffers willingly volunteered the time it took to mount the pieces into Arizona. Interestingly, of the 260 couples who archival plastic holders and to stick them in sent memorabilia, there were three times as binders. many female couples as male. Some objects were actually too large to fit in After its public display, the project will be a traditional album: Collages, large framed moved April 1 into Room 610 of the Multno photo montages, signs from the days of the wed mah Building, where press and other invited dings and even two wedding dresses were donat guests will be invited to examine it more closely. ed to the collection. The collection then will move to its perma Contributions came pouring in from all over nent home as part of the Gay and Lesbian the United States when the call went out, and Archive of the Pacific Northwest at the Oregon so the collection contains entries from Alaska to Historical Society. GLAPN is a historical society and archive focusing on Oregon, Washington and Idaho. It works with existing repositories to acquire and preserve records, papers, photographs and other materials related to regional queer culture and conduct oral history interviews with members of the pre-Stonewall generation. Its Web site describes the collections it has amassed and pro vides several articles on regional queer history. - -About 10 years ago, GLAPN began giving its collections to the Oregon Historical Society to become part of the overall research library. Materials from the collection are accessible to the general public for a small library fee. If you are interested in finding information, you need only visit the library and speak with a librarian about your interests and research needs. The collection has oral histories, film, video, pho tographs, journals and all other manner of ephemera from the Stonewall/gay liberation era and before. GLAPN is used extensively by visitors to the society, particularly an award-winning piece by Peter Boag called “Does Portland Need a Homophile Society? Gay Culture and Activism in the Rose City between World War II and Stonewall,” published in Vol. 105, Issue I of Ore gon Historical Quarterly. The society’s Ken Dubois told Just Out that the idea to donate the collection came from the commissioners themselves. “We are grateful that they though of it; we wish more people would,” he says. “Even though some people thought that women’s suffrage was controversial when it happened, we are glad to have the materials here in our collections. So many of these struggles make up the fabric of culture that we now take for granted.” JH Celebrate your independence at Kuni Saab. 2004 9-5 Sedan 2004 9-3 Sport Sedan Visit kunisaab.com for current lease and model year closeout specials. All-Wheel Drive 2005 9-2X The Best of Sweden, Right Here in Beaverton. S 1.877.279.9194 3725 SW Cedar Hills Boulevard • Beaverton Welcome to the state of independence ■ À 24 hours a dajfGkunisaab.com Open Weekdays 8 to 7:30 • Saturday 9 to 6 • Sunday I I to 5
