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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (May 20, 2005)
by jUSti1!11 M arty D ams newsmagazine the in publication for the out population Founded 1983 • Jay Brown and Renée LaChance Survey says... Vol. 22 No. 14 Put your money where your mouth is FEATURE plurality of attitudes toward gays and lesbians showed itself • The world of gay personals online is one of the driving forces in again on both a national and local level this month. USA today’s online gay market. I’ll get back to this topic in a few weeks as I Today reported May 15 on a new survey from The Boston wrestle with the decision of whether to try to keep the voice personal Globe indicating 50 percent of Americans disapprove of ads a part of Just Out or simply accept the obvious fact that this seg same-sex marriage. Furthermore, about the same number of people felt of our social lives is now exclusively Internet-driven. Sometimes ment same-sex marriages from Massachusetts, where the practice has been you just can’t fight progress. legal for a year, should not have to be recognized by other states. • Portland’s own Techncxlyke.com is listed as “additional lesbian Americans are somewhat more generous in doling out rights when it sites worth noting.” comes to the topic of civil unions. According to this particular survey, • According to this guide, gay consumers are characterized by high a generous 46 percent of those questioned said they would support civil income and education levels as well as above-average credit card own unions to provide gay couples with “some, but not all, of the rights of ership. Gay men and lesbians travel widely for business and pleasure, married couples.” About 41 percent of those same people surveyed pursue sports and other leisure-time activities, attend theater, collect art won’t even loosen their grip at all and said they oppose civil unions. and buy books and CDs at high level. Is this you? No mention is made These figures aren’t new; they’ve been hovering in this same range of gays and lesbians who ran for city commission and school boards, for about the past year. It depends on whom you ask and where you ask who raise children and maintain homes and pay taxes and live lives them. In a wonderful example of stating the obvious, this poll conclud geared toward personal growth and happiness. But damn, we buy a lot ed, “Americans older than age 65, Republicans, Protestants, regular of CDs. churchgoers and Southerners were more likely to oppose gay marriage.” • I LOVE this one. “Because of their prominent positions in the You think? Our team consists of people who are younger than 35, vote fields of fashion, design, media and the arts, gay men in particular occu Democratic and do not go to church. Sounds to me like even if we’re py a special sphere of influence in shaping national consumer tastes and behind in the game, we’re still having more fun playing. trends.” We get blamed for everything. At about the same time rhe poll was released, a group of business • In the ranking of states with high gay and lesbian populations, people—probably younger than 65 and not Republican—was meeting Oregon is ranked No. 24- Our buddy to the north, Washington, comes in Portland to discuss and strategize about how to make money off gays in at 12. California is No. 1, and North Dakota and Wyoming bottom and lesbians. It seems the Portland Oregon Visitors Association has rec out, though apparently not often, at Nos. 51 and 52. ognized the value of targeting the gay and lesbian market. It’s having • In a list of the top 100 gay and lesbian direct mail ZIP codes, Ore meetings and making plans, and it wants our money. I’m wondering if gon doesn’t place. But neither do North Dakota and Wyoming. the wedding industry will be a key player in developing these marketing • Portland is considered to be a “secondary market” along with strategies? cities such as Denver; Cleveland; Austin, Texas; Sacramento, Calif.; Now businesspeople in Portland have been marketing their wares to and Reno, Nev. • gays and lesbians for years. This very paper would not exist if folks didn’t And finally, let it be noted, per Hyperion Interactive Media, “Bisex see value in the buying power of our community. But most of these uals and transgender individuals have not yet been identified as distinct gtxxl people have been around for years, have joined our political bat markets by marketers.” Wow, who knew? tles and straggles and have been there when times were tough. A closing statement is made to rhe effect that, for more and more busi Here in Portland, the business community has been gtxxJ to us. But ness owners today, “gay” isn’t lavender, pink or rainbow-colored—it’s green. now it’s revving up to the next level. There are “specialists” with plans 1 think that as others are capitalizing on the power of our buying and guidelines and strategies on how to lure us to market. ability, we should reflect and recognize the tremendous economic clout There’s even a Gay Market Guide 2005. This glossy “comprehensive that we have in the $450 billion attributed to us. We can, of course, guide” identifies opportunities for marketing to the gay and lesbian spend our money, as projected, on Scissor Sisters CDs. But we can also community. According to the publisher, Hyperion Interactive Media, use it to sustain kx:al progressive causes and candidates. We can revi there are 16.5 million gay Americans with a combined buying power, talize our communities and neighborhixxls through the power of shop in 2004, of $450 billion. (Yes, billion with a b.) That is indeed a lot of ping locally. We can withhold money from the 50 percent of people buying power. who view us as credit cards and not as people deserving full and equal Here are a few other nuggets of information I gleaned from the civil rights. We can, and should, refuse to patronize those businesses pages of the book: and institutions that don’t support us. We have the power to put our • First, it was printed in Canada. If you’re trying to market to gay money where rhe votes are. Americans, how about finding a gay-owned American printer—per We are $450 billion strong. We are a force with which to be reck haps Witham &. Dickey of Portland? oned. Let’s go shopping! JM A REFLECTIONS • Affirmative action includes all measures necessary to make equal opportunity a reali ty for currently and historically excluded groups of people in the United States. Attacks against affirmative action assume that equal opportuni ty for women and people of color is already a reality. It's not. • A gay man in the state of Tasmania, Australia, plans to open a sperm bank for lesbians, reported the Reuters news service. Lesbians are often denied access to regular sperm banks. Richard X, whose last name was withheld, said he will collect semen in glass jars and inseminate women with syringes. • The British Broadcasting Corp, has commissioned its first show targeted exclusively at gay men and lesbians, reported London's The Daily Telegraph. The company said the “glossy magazine-style" program, which debuts on BBC2 in June, will be “camp, frothy and fun." • A court in Romania approved April 19 the nation's first known sex-change operation, reported the newspaper Tineretul Liber. The court was concerned that the 19-year-old transsexual would commit suicide or an act of self-mutilation if denied the operation. May 20, 2005 just the report said. Officials opted to classify the individual as “handicapped" due to “mental disability,” the newspaper said. • Gay- and lesbian-owned businesses along Northeast Broadway in Portland have formed a new business association called Out on Broadway. One of its goals is to promote the diverse businesses locat ed along Northeast Broadway to the gay and lesbian communities • The Metropolitan Human Rights Commission offers “Dynamic Differences' workshops to help individuals develop a basic under standing of how people are oppressed or oppress others and how to build alliances and network in their communities. • Cascade Bears sponsor "Prowl Lite '95 " Less filling, more fun and at a lower cost, this year's redesigned Prowl is meant to be more user-friendly. • Attempting to view the world in a positive light gets easier with support The Portland chapter of Brother to Brother invites African American gay and bisexual men to become involved in the direction of the group 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 necessarily 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 www justout.com. by mail or in person at our office Just Out reserves the nght 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. 24 INNINGS AND OUTINGS Baseball player’s profession puts a lot into play at Artists Rep NEWS 8-16 NORTHWEST Vocation Vacations gets television pilot; trans man sues Home Depot; Cistus grows beyond the zone; Queen Bee sews up a storm; Witham & Dickey wins Portland Business Alliance’s Top Ten Growth Award in the small-business catego ry; Spokane mayor accused of molesting boys in 1970s; Red Dress Party announces funds raised 18-21 NATIONAL Lesbians underserved by heath care system; 3,000 gather in D.C. AIDS protest; ACLU launches Marriage Campaign 22-23 WORLD Amnesty supports arrested Saudis; New Zealand civil union law takes effect; Vatican urges civil disobedience in Spain; Scottish Parliament bans anti-gay speech; Chile passes pro-gay measure; World Pride postponed ARTS AND CULTURE 37 HUMOR This is not your mother’s Tupperware party 39 BOOKS Kinsey researcher unearths compelling evidence that President Lincoln’s ax swung both ways 41-42 MUSIC Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein takes it to the limit; American Idol contestants try to make it big 43-45 FILM DVDs depict determined students who stood up for their rights; Eating Out: like an R-rated Three’s Company 46-47 DIVERSIONS Madison mosaic; Corpus Christi; Stevie Nicks Tribute Night; Chris Pureka; Btxibie Auction; GLAAD Media Awards 48 TELEVISION DVDs focus on the funky families COLUMNS 35 MS. BEHAVIOR Pillow talk 36 EPIQUEEREAN Bringin’ breakfast back! 49 JIM’S CLOSET Nups and downs 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, Stephen Blair, Sarah Burgundy. Meryl Cohn, Jodi Darby, Timothy Krause. Karen Kudej, Patricia L. MacAodha, Andy Mangels, Gary Morris, Jenny Nguyen. Rebecca Ragain, Bob Roehr, Floyd Sklaver, Cori Taratoot, Rex Wockner DISTRIBUTION Kristine Ashton. Allison Benn, Lisa Benson, Pat Kilmer-Cramer
