4 JUStlOUt
JANUARY 6. 2006
just out
J
NEWSMAGAZINE
letters
Condensed Font Unreadable
To
the
E ditor :
I’d enjoy the new look of Just Out a lot more if I
Founded 1983 • Jay Brown and Renée LaChance
could read it without needing a magnifying glass!
graveyard and give him to someone who deserves him.
Write another ending, Annie, a better one. Write an
ending for gay men instead of straight America. It does
not need to be happy. But write an ending that allows
two men to move beyond the endless first date and,
PUBLISHER & MANAGING EDITOR
Marty Davis
NEWS EDITOR
Sarah Dougher
ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR
Kimberly Shute
Team Manager
Marvin Salles
Licensed Assistant
Rex Buchanan
Broker
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Call (503) 484-8739
Find out the VALUE of YOUR HOME
SW Home w/ Huge Shop -1/3 Acre - $325,000
4bd 1 2 ba Q)mer lot w/ great 1976 sf. Home. Family rm,
2 fireplaces, (¿versized 3 car garage w/ 4th bay SHOP,
territorial view from large covered deck, patio below,
surrounded by plush garden!
NE Vacant Lot - $99,900
Jim Radosta
STAFF WRITER
□
r~~
D
?\
Let us Pamper your pet
and Brighten their smile
PAMPERED PET
A full service grooming salon
503-233-2799
and
K9 DENTAL
Anesthesia free teeth cleaning
503-348-1313
☆ •
4236 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
Portland, OR 97215
Please call
for an appointment
WWW.
portlandpictureframe
.com
Check out our Services and
Coupon Online
PORTLAND
PICTURE
FRAME
503.236.1 400
2801 SE HOLGATE BLVD.
TUES-SAT 1 Oam to 6pm
get snuffed to save society from witnessing men enjoy
Condense a Font, Lose a Reader
ing each other. It is time for a different ending. Give
To the E ditor :
them the nails to build their cabin.
I completely agree with the letter writer from
DESIGN DIRECTOR
in the redesigned version oijust Out |“New Font Size
Hoquiam, Wash.
Anabel Ramirez
Is Too Small,” Dec. 16].
AD DESIGNER
As much as I enjoy reading your publication, I may
Cat Cheng
have to accept the fact that I just won’t be able to do
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR
so much longer.
Larry Lewis
1 am in my mid-50s and periodically have to deal
ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES
with issues surrounding CMV retinitis. Each time I
Michael McDuffey, Kari Tate, Cshea Walker
have eye surgery, my vision is a bit less clear.
CONTRIBUTORS
Yvonne P. Behrens, Ka’hy Beige, Stephen
Too bad you folks don’t realize that many of your
readers are not 25 years old with perfect vision.
Blair, Meryl Cohn, Timothy Krause, Andy
Mangels, Gary Morris, Jenny Nguyen, Joshua
Allison Benn, Lisa Benson, Youme Inhofe, Pat
www.marvinsalles.com
Let’s stop replaying the final scene where gay men
J ack J anisch
NE Great Bungalow Bones! - $229,900
REAL ESTATE
lake Oswego
most importantly, allows both men to live.
Roseburg who complained about the size of the font
Ryan, Floyd Sklaver, Rex Wockner, Dan Young
SohnC. Scott (=1
M. T ucker
Jaymee R. Cuti
Close-in Comer Lot w/ partial view.
May be developed as Duplex, Single Family,
or 2 Row Homes.
1912 FIXER - 5bd 1 2ba w/ over 2400 sf. Huge 25x8 porch
awaits restoration to original luster. Fir floors, high ceilings.
Brick fireplace, bay window, built-ins, deck off kitchen,
leads to private yard w/ patio. Quiet,
near MAX, downtown.
L yle
DISTRIBUTION
Kilmer-Cramer, Chance Schwartz
Just Out is published on the first and
third Friday of each month. Copyright
© 2006 by Just Out. No part of Just Out
may be reproduced without written
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 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 authorized 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
RO. 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.
Ray Southwick, 1946-2005
Ray Southwick, a significant gay businessman and
activist in Portland since the late 1960s, passed away
Dec. 2,3. He was 59.
Southwick
came to Portland in
1968 to work for
IBM. His involve
J im G ianakis
ment with the gay
Portland
community brought
him into contact
Brokeback Mountain
Gives Me Nothing
with
To the E ditor :
lar in the city: Dahl
Were I to write Annie Proulx, here’s what I would say.
Dear Annie:
Tell me, what does Brokeback Mountain offer me?
the
various
taverns then popu
& Penne’s, Embers,
Flossies
and
Derek’s. With his
Once again, man-to-man love lurches along via anger
partner, John Phillips, he opened a popular gay bar
and confusion until put to death for defying culture.
and eatery, JR’s East, in 1979 on Southeast Hawthorne
There is little uncertainty about where the story is
Boulevard at what had been the Raven’s Nest. This ven
headed. We know, sure as shit, that someone must die
ture was so successful, they opened a second location,
and that probably the better of the two men will be
JR’s West, at Northwest 10th Avenue and Everett Street
killed (which he is). The only real uncertainty is what
at what had been The Long Goodbye and is today
weapon will be used. The tire iron is imaginative—
Jimmy Mak’s.
and applied to the head, apparently attacking the
JR’s West also featured a lower space known as
problem where it resides. I do, however, appreciate
JR’s Cell. Although owned by Southwick, it was man
you not allowing his assailants to fuck him with the tire
aged by “Raunchy” Robert Dunn, arguably Portland’s
iron before killing him. That is an improvement, I sup
leather master. Activity at the Cell equaled or exceed
pose—killing rather than torturing and killing.
ed that of any bathhouse in Portland and even, some
I would also like to ask why you, as a woman,
believe yourself qualified to write about gay sex and
said, San Francisco. Because of hard times and AIDS,
both businesses closed in 1984.
what gay men feel. Some details in the story are accu
Southwick’s second major involvement in the com
rate. Leather, sweat, muscular bodies, hard work, for
munity was his successful newspaper, The Alternative
example—these pair with gay men like butter and
Connection, which he began in 1991 and published
bread. But butt fucking, particularly the first time, is
until 1994, carrying news, advice and advertising for
not so easy, as you imply, and spit doesn’t help much.
the gay community.
The story’s early remarks on Ennis' pleasant mem
In the mid-1980s, he became the partner, then the
ories about Jack also seem off the mark emotionally.
consort, of Woody Johnson, better known as Lady
Isn’t Ennis at the center of Jack’s death? Jack and Ennis
Elaine Peacock, Empress XXIX of the Imperial Sovereign
also know the fate of gay men in Wyoming, yet there
Rose Court. His loyalty and service to Peacock during
they are kissing, on the porch and going at it in broad
her 1988 reign and through the years until her death at
daylight. This just forces Jack’s death.
age 33 in 1993 is well-remembered by his friends and
Discretion is survival out here in small towns. But
members of the court. Noted for his sense of humor
society wouldn ’t quite be satisfied if Jack and Ennis
and hearty laugh, Southwick gladly played the support
lived happily ever after, would it? Society knows gay
ing role as Peacock in die Park became a Portland insti
relationships are poisonous. Just look how they
tution. Peacock s intention was to expose the greater
destroy marriage. Jack also has to go because he
population to the charms, character and talenLs of drag
wants more than sex. Jack says: “We could’ve had a
queens. It was an unqualified success for 19 years, end
good life together, a fuckin’ real good life. You
ing in 2004. Together, Peacock and Southwick estab
wouldn’t do it, Ennis." Yeah, Ennis, you got Jack’s ass,
lished the Audria M. Edwards Scholarship Fund, hon
so why take more risk? Limited options is shit, ain't it,
oring Peacock's mother. Today, die fund is administered
Jack? If gay men weren’t so screwed up and sexually
through Equity Foundation.
obsessed, we could film our own stories about finding
Southwick was a good friend, a loyal companion
each other. But it’s not that simple, is it? Society won’t
and a positive influence on all he knew. He will be
leave us alone, even if we re sweet.
sorely missed.
Jack doesn’t ask much—to build a cabin and to be
Remembrances can be made to the Audria M.
safe. Let’s not make him wait 20 years for happiness,
Edwards Scholarship Fund, c/o Equity Foundation,
then bash in his head. Let’s instead pull him out of that
P.O. Box 5674, Portland, OR 97228.