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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (June 3, 2005)
4 jUSt OMt • june 3. 2005 URBAN FAUNA PET SUPPLIES POGGY PAYCARE GROOMING SALON OBEDIENCE CLASSES NOW AVAILABLE New designs for Spring & Summer! Available online & in local shops www.queenbee-creotions.com emoil: queenbee@queenbee-creotions.com £5 O d . ££ Cl 22.1 ^£5 £5 — ■ F N e ons I n -H ome C are Registered Nurse We are a Eugene based company seeking RN’s to join our diverse team of professionals. You will be supervising and facilitating plans to support people In all age groups with varying dis abilities to remain in the comfort of their own home. Join our team and help us meet the ever increasing demand for our services. Call today: 541-687-8851 Or visit us on the web: www.careoptions.com We’re sending our returned license fee to Love Makes a Family Family. I believe Bonnie was personally attacked for having a vision different from Basic Rights Ore gon regarding our marriage/civil union politics. Your reporter’s obvious lack of knowledge To the E ditor : about our community’s history produced an arti he cover story Just Out published May 6 cle so full of negativity and biased reporting that about longtime community activist Bonnie it was completely disgusting to see Just Out print Tinker was so mean-spirited and based on such it. a Are we expected to fall in line and follow shallow understanding of the history of our com only BRO’s lead? Is there no room for other munity’s struggle for civil rights that I was stunned opinions around this important issue? Is Bonnie (“Is Love Makes a Family Still Effective?”]. being punished for not agreeing with BRO and Tinker’s contributions to Portland queer voicing her views? Why is Just Out supporting culture have included, among others, founding this tactic? (with others) Bradley-Angle House, the West Why would Just Out’s reporter try to embarrass Coast’s oldest and longest-ninning domestic Love Makes a Family by interviewing foundation violence shelter; activist with American representatives? Every nonprofit I know that has Friends Service Committee and Multnomah survived more than five years has occasionally Friends Meeting; founder of Love Makes a been late on a grant report. It is not unusual, but Family; and participant in annual Pride cele it was reported in JO like it was a major crime and brations, peace coalitions, numerous ballot pnxif of flakiness or irresponsibility or some measure campaigns and the Freedom to Marry such.... Coalition. Are you trying to cripple Love Makes a Fam Tit is article makes it easy to deduce that Just ily financially—to make it harder for it to suc Out has decided to align itself with Basic Rights ceed in the valuable work it does? And why Oregon’s vision only, but that may be too simple would grant givers and the American Civil Lib a conclusion. Certainly BRO’s vision could have erties Union spokeswoman even dignify Just been put forward in the paper without tearing Out’s reporter, Jaymee “NOT-SO-CUTEE,” down Love Makes a Family. So, the goal and with an answer? This kind of muckraking only agenda must have been more complex. serves to tear our community apart by marginal Or perhaps there was no goal, no-agenda, no izing dissenting voices. thought at all behind such a vicious attack on a I urge all members of our community to small institution that has impacted many indi think carefully when we are told we must only viduals positively, and one woman who has follow a narrow path dictated by a few self been a valuable voice for reason and communi proclaimed leaders. A truly democratic society cation across lines of difference for 30 years. has room for dissent and difference of opinion, Perhaps the idea of a “controversial” story was and a truly useful press would bring differing seen as a g<xxJ thing for selling more advertising ideas together in a way that encourages a broad and getting more people to pick up the paper, er understanding of complex issues, rather than and Love Makes a Family was just the unfortu promoting viciousness or suspicion and attempt nate vehicle. ing to discredit a longtime activist. Must we now For me this sort of muckraking puts Just Out fear our own press if we have another opinion? clearly in the same category as Willamette Week, My partner of 25 years, Kristan Aspen, and 1 a comparison 1 do not mean as favorable. It’s so will be sending our marriage license refund to disheartening to be faced with the reality that Uwe Makes a Family, in order to help it contin Portland has no queer press representing an ue the fine work that it does, including speaking intergenerational, community-building view for true marriage equality. 1 urge others to con point. There is no one printing articles about sider doing the same. how to survive fascism by coming together despite our differences. There is only a blatant J anna M ac A uslan attempt to marginalize and discredit an individ Portland ual activist with the result of further solidifying the power base of a larger, less radical institution Multnomah County that is positioning itself to be the only voice for should secede the LGBT community. To the E ditor : In my opinion this article is both a symptom of and contributes to the problem of our inabil believe that now is the time to consider form ity to tolerate dissension and difference of opin ing new states in this nation of ours. Since ion. I used to believe that we as LGBT queers reading about how journalists view North had the potential to lead the rest of society in America as a region of nine nations due to the bridging our differences. But until we can find a influences in those regions, I’ve thought long way to listen, hear each other and find common and hard on that Ixxik. ground, we are going to continue to self- Many areas have chosen to pursue secession destruct. 1, for one, do not find this to be since the ’70s when that book came out. CUTE-EE in any way, shape or form. Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Islands in As a longtime activist myself (Lesbian Com Massachusetts and the upper peninsula of munity Project, Pride Northwest, the Conversa Michigan are examples of this longing to go tions Project and now Bradley-Angle House), their own way. Even the San Fernando Valley I feel sad, embarrassed, disgusted and deeply dis voted to split from Los Angeles. California couraged about the likelihcxxl that our commu recently voted to separate into several states. nity will ever get itself together. As thinking Now that the presidential election has come individuals who understand that civil unions do and gone with the recognized division of the not provide equal status, my partner and I are nation into blue and red states, which brings to sending our returned license fee to Love Makes mind the old division of blue and gray, we have a Family. other issues that confront us as a nation and as a state. K ristan A spen I propose that Multnomah County become Portland the 51st state with Diane Linn as governor. This way Portland won’t be the brunt of attacks by the rest of the state as taking most of the rev linker coverage enue for schools, providing most of the revenue embarrassing for the rest of the county and forcing our way of To the E ditor : viewing marriage upon the rest of the state. We was embarrassed for our community and could provide two new Dem<x:ratic senators to extremely upset at the recent attack on com the nation. munity leader Bonnie Tinker and Love Makes a I would even suggest this to San Francisco T I I County and Gavin Newsom for the very same issue. Also Sandoval County in New Mexico. Our flag can surely hold two or three more stars. P hil R oberts Portland Oregon Public Broadcasting is not feeling the Pride To the E ditor : just received my June Oregon Public Broad casting Member Guide. As in previous years, I eagerly looked for the symbol indicating the special programming cel ebrating GLBT Pride Month. 1 was astounded when 1 couldn’t find it. Not the symbol, but the programming. Of course the monthly In the Life was there. Brother to Brother mentions homophobia, so maybe that contains some Gay Pride. And, of course, Judy Garland is always fabulous. That is not much of an offering celebrating our special month. It is obvious that OPB is not very proud of its GLBT audiences and donors. This year we were rewarded with very little con tent and no acknowledgment. In the last issue Marty Davis suggested we spend our money at those businesses that support us and refuse to patronize those that don’t [“Sur vey Says...” May 20]. I invite the community to join me in finding something better to do with our money than support an OPB that doesn’t really support us. Next time there is an OPB pledge drive, call in and tell them why you are not donating this time. I K en V annice Portland Furious about parade route change To the E ditor : just read Tobin Britton’s explanation of Pride Northwest’s decision to bypass Stark Street this year in the May 20 issue of Just Out [“Pride Northwest Explains Parade Route Change”]. Give me a break! I am sure that the board has worked hard during past year, ¿Mid that such an event is a challenging undertaking is without question. But to write—twice, no less—about all the “thousands of man [person!] hours volun teered” seemed to smack of self-aggrandizing whining about the board’s volunteerism. Pride Northwest’s focus on the tasks and work of putting together Pride seems to have obscured the spirit and traditions of Gay Pride. The birth of Gay Pride was at a little bar in New York called Stonewall because queer folks had had enough of police oppression and city gov ernment ignorance. Remember, folks? For all that can be said about bars in our community, they are without a doubt represen tative of major gay businesses that have gener ously and faithfully supported our community’s efforts through a health crisis and numerous political and social actions for decades. It is, to my mind, an absolute insult to not include these businesses in our parade celebration. Moreover, for Tobin to suggest the route changes are due in part to “city projects” and “police bureau issues” is only salting the wound. This year Tom Potter and Sam Adams were busy glad-handing constituents in the Bumside Tri angle and Chinatown during their campaigns to gamer our support. They got it. Now is the time for both of these men to give back some of the support we showed them. I am betting that with some effort from the mayor’s and City Council’s offices, the Works Bureau can make accommodations for our one-day celebra tion parade and the Portland Police Bureau could resolve its “issues," whatever they might be. 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