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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2005)
just rm newsmagazine the in publication for the out population Founded 1983 • Jay Brown and Renée LaChance Quite an ordeal Vol. 22 No. 11 FEATURE Can schools provide the needed safety net of emotional support and guidance? n Florida, Terri Schiavo loses her feeding tube and her life. At the empowered to carry out our wishes for health care and financial Vatican, Pope John Paul 11 gains a similar tube, and hopes that the responsibility. In Oregon, as in most states, the order of authority, Catholic Church might seize the opportunity to bring in vital and should one become incapable of making decisions, is spouse, adult enlightened leadership fade. The Boy Scouts of America see their children and then parents. leader resign in a child porn-related disgrace, and a Minnesota teen-ager It you don’t have a legal partner/spouse, if you don’t have children turns a gun on relatives and students. and should you be estranged from your parents—a not-unlikely sce In Oregon, Portland schixils are closed, funding disappears, and sub nario—isn’t that thought enough reason to prompt a call to a lawyer or stantial teacher layoffs are predicted. In this environment, how do trou a visit to a Web site? The American Bar Association at www.abanet.org bled students find solutions, strength and guidance? How many ques can provide starting steps to a pnxzess that might one day lessen a bur tioning, bullied, troubled and scared kids slip through the cracks den during tough times. Best do it now; each day brings the unexpected. unseen? If, and when, parents and families fail in their duties and obli Today you could run your car off the side of the Morrison Bridge. It gations, can schools provide the needed safety net of emotional support could happen. and guidance? Will the next troubled student bullied to the breaking point by cruel and predatory children and teens give in to utter hope s noted in “Reflections” below, 10 years ago Oregonians were lessness and turn his wrath and pain upon a Portland schtxil yard? locked in debate concerning minimum wage increases and guaran Why should you, as a gay, lesbian, bi or trans adult, care about fund teed wages to employees whose earnings included tips. Fast-forward to ing problems in Portland schools? Because that troubled child might March 29, 2005. House Bill 2409, backed by the restaurant industry, have once been you. And now it’s some other child who’s not yet been I would override planned wage increases for those who earn tips. On a able to accept the harsh reality of being “different” and the too-often federal level, Congress has rejected an increase in the minimum hourly brutal treatment that accompanies being different. Hopefully someone wage. Ten years of dancing about—one step forward, one step backward. was there to help you if and when you encountered hard times. And if While the president and his administration work to convince Ameri not, it’s now our chance, our opportunity, to give back to the school sys cans that Stx:ial Security needs reform, I (with no economic expertise tem with financial and leadership support. And if a schixil system failed whatsoever) humbly suggest that our nation might be better served by you, now you can give someone else that needed chance. closer examination of the institutions by which we pay working Ameri cans and less to those retiring. ortland’s Fox 12 News, KPTV, covers an anti-logging demonstration I suggest that the concept of minimum wage is broken. Minimum March 30 in downtown Portland and describes it as an “ordeal.” wage has come to be equated with minimum effort, minimum initiative Come on, Channel 12, skip the drama and exaggeration. This small act and minimum reward. This outdated component of the economic sys of civil disobedience was far from an ordeal. It was an annoyance, a dis tem is not serving Americans. We need to consider reforms that offer turbance, an illegal activity, a pain in the ass to those who were caught instead a “living wage,” a standard starting and training wage rather in traffic or had their shopping affected. It wasn’t even close to being an than a perceived dead-end minimum wage. We must develop tiered pro ordeal for anyone concerned. grams of wage increases based on performance and production. An ordeal is what we’ve witnessed the past few weeks in Florida. An Naive concept, ripe for abuse by unethical business owners? Yes, but ordeal is parents'being denied access to their daughter’s deathbed. An no more, no less than what we have in place now. Change must start ordeal is watching your same-sex partner lying in a hospital room and somewhere. Initiative and integrity, on the parts of workers and employ you’re also denied access because the state that you live in doesn’t rec ers alike, need to he returned as cornerstones of the American work ognize your relationship. An ordeal is when your partner’s family steps ethic. Gays and lesbians are small-business owners, employers and in and overrides your wishes and your plans and destroys all that you employees. We are all affected by an outdated compensation system. had together because you hadn’t yet gotten around to completing the paperwork that is required to, at best, closely approximate the right and ongratulations to Wade McCollum, who recently earned three of privileges afforded “traditional” marriage. This, KPTV, is someone’s true Southern California’s top theater awards for his stellar performances ordeal, not an 18-year-old kid blocking traffic in downtown Portland. last year in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Included in the awards was the And if the sad story of Terri Schiavo—again, a true ordeal—teach Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Lead Performance. es us anything, it’s the fact that we must protect ourselves. As gays McCollum has several projects under way in Portland, all of which are and lesbians in nonlegally recognized relationships, it’s imperative to greatly anticipated by a loyal and growing audience and fan club, for take the extra steps necessary to ensure that family and friends are which I nominate myself as president! J71 T A P C r • Sexual orientation has finally been added to the nondiscrimination statement of the U.S. Department of Education. This now brings to 23 the number of federal agencies that include sexual onentation in their nondiscrimination statements. • Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, had 150 gay and lesbian activists over to their house March 3. • Portland police officials say reports of cnmes motivated by sexual orientation bias increased from 1993 to 1994, making it the only major category to see a jump during the period. “All the other categories—race, color, religion and national origin—were down," says Portland Police Bureau spokesman Lt. CW Jensen. • Veterans for Human Rights, a nonprofit military veterans group that advocates for gay and lesbian veterans and military personnel, says the state Department of Motor Vehicles has approved its request for recognition license plates. April 1. 2005 / 0 years ago in just out... Vol. 12 No. 11, April 7, 1995 • Robert E. Leverenz has been named the new executive director of Our House of Portland, a residential care facility for people in the latter stages of AIDS. • Portland's Rose City Softball Association recently became a charter member of the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance, a national umbrella organization with 28 member groups. As a result of the membership, teams will be able to compete in the annual Gay Softball World Series • • Why are women oppressed? Are you interested in understanding the root of women's second-class status? Join a weekly study group to discuss Evelyn Reed's Woman s Evolution. • Join the “Stop the 2.38 Minimum Wage!" Campaign to prevent the Oregon Restaurant Association from legalizing lower wages for all tipped workers . Just Out is published on the first and third Friday of each month. Copyright © 2005 by Just Out No part of Just Out may be reproduced without wntten permission from the publisher Editorial guidelines: Letters to the editor should be limited to 500 words Announcements regarding life transitions (births, deaths, unions, etc.) should be limited to 200 words, photos are welcome Deadline for submissions to the editorial department and for the Calendar is the Thursday 15 days before the next publication date. Just Out reserves the right to edit for grammar, punctuation, style, liability concerns and length. Views expressed in letters to the editor, columns and features are not necessanly those of the publisher Advertising policy: The display advertising deadline is the Monday 12 days before the next publication date Classified ads must be received at the Just Out office by 5 p m. on the Sunday five days before the next publication date, along with payment Classifieds may be placed via wwwjustout.com, by mail or in person at our office Just Out reserves the right to reject or edit any advertisement Compensation for errors in, or cancellation of. advertising will be made with credit toward future advertising. Advertising rates available upon request Distribution policy: Just Out is available free of charge Just Out is delivered only to authonzed distributors No person may. without prior written permission, take more than one copy Any person who takes more than one copy may be held liable for theft, including but not limited to civil damages and/or criminal prosecution Subscriptions are $22.50 for 12 issues First Class (in an envelope) is $40 for 12 issues Contact Just Out at PO Box 14400. Portland. OR 97293-0400. 503-236-1252. advertising 503-236-1253, fax 503 236 1257; e-mail justout@justout.com. Visit us on the web at www.justout.com. 22 DOUBLE EXPOSURE Focus on winners of Amateur Photo Contest NEWS 6-15 NORTHWEST Teresa Robinson and Smallthings Designs; southern Oregon report; Multnomah County Wedding Album Project; tobacco prevention grant awarded to SMYRC; Day of Silence/Night of Noise set for April 13; Central Washington University to host tri-state queer leadership con ference; Portland PFLAG chapter sets April meeting; PSU convenes Queer Career Confer ence; Guerrilla Girls on Tour in Portland 17-19 NATIONAL New Federal Marriage Amendment introduced; denial of marriage rights costs same-sex couples hundreds; Alabama bill would forbid gay adop tions; American Legacy Foundation provides anti-smoking resources 20-21 WORLD Gays march against Iraq war; lesbians demand U.K. recognize Canadian marriage; Scottish Episcopal Church OKs sexually active gay priests; Hungarian politician comes out ARTS AND CULTURE 35 MUSIC Ani and Tori’s mood swings 37 ART Forsaking life as a Jehovah’s Witness minister, Serena Davidson turned to photography for salvation 38-39 PEOPLE After flying off the handle with airport security, Broadway chanteuse descends on Portland 40-41 DIVERSIONS Triangle Productions’ Sordid Lives; BodyVox’s First Impressions; philosophy professor analyzes The Long Arc of Justice; Melissa Ferrick 43 BOOKS Fiction about young queers 44 FILM German drama traces Hitler’s Downfall; Lili's Apron: Argentina’s Mrs. Douhtfire COLUMNS 33 MS. BEHAVIOR Dykes on dicks 34 EPIQUEEREAN Feng sushi 45 JIM’S CLOSET I’m No. 1! PUBLISHER & MANAGING EDITOR Marty Davis NEWS EDITOR Sarah Dougher ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR Jim Radosta STAFF WRITER Jaymee R. Cuti ART DIRECTOR Bonnie Barrett PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Katy Maehl ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Larry Lewis ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES Ashley Austin, Kari Tate, Cshea Walker CONTRIBUTORS Yvonne P. Behrens, Kathy Beige, Stephen Blair, Meryl Cohn, Jodi Darby, Timothy Krause, Gary Morris, Jenny Nguyen, Rebecca Ragain, Bob Roehr, Floyd Sklaver, Jim Thompson. Rex Wockner DISTRIBUTION Kristine Ashton, Allison Benn, Lisa Benson, Pat Kilmer-Cramer
