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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 20, 2006)
just out by Marty Davis J Let's Roll NEWSMAGAZINE VOL. 23 NO. 6 JANUARY 20, 2006 Just Out's Gay Skate Night off to a successful start ■ HANK YOU! This large and sincere “thank you” is for the 150 skaters who showed up for Just Out’s first Gay Skate Night on Jan. 16. With the evening falling on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, accompanied by amazingly heavy rains and at a location that’s virtu- I ally impossible to find, 1 was not entirely confident that my sponsor ship would be a success. But you came and, in doing so, made the evening undoubtedly the best-attended Gay Skate in the history of the event. The crowd was a good mix of ages and genders. We had Logan, the skat ing toddler, and we had silver-haired gentlemen skating among energetic 20- somethings. We had beginners sticking close to the wall, and we had those who took to the floor with ease and skill. The music, a mixture of songs from the present to the now-too-far-away ’60s, seemed to please all. One tradition of all skating nights at Oaks Park, however, will fall way to the changing cul ture and needs of our community of the 21st century. Those old favorites, “all girls skate” and “all-boys skate,” are just not quite as encompassing as they used to be. We will now happily find new ways to make sure that everyone feels included at Gay Skate. Future skate nights will showcase community groups and organizations. March 20 will be softball night with the Rose City Softball Association pres ent and ready to recruit you for summer games. Gay Skate is also a great place for singles to meet and mingle. It’s nonsmoking, it’s gixxl exercise, and it has a snack bar and game arcade together with a history and sense of grandeur that’s darn hard to beat. Please join us Feb. 20 for our next night out. qually successful was the launch and first weeks of activity at JustOutPersonals.com, Just Out’s new online profile-based dating service. With hundreds of profiles now in place, thv site is buzzing with activity. Remember, it’s free to use. No cost to post your profile; no cost to browse pro files. Why would I spend thousands of dollars to build such a site and then charge no fees to users? Hmm, that’s a damn good question. Here’s your answer. I built the site because 1 felt that it was very much needed. The era of voice personal ads was past. However, the need for people to meet each other still exists. Online services are the current standard and the expectation. 1 built the site as a gift to our readers and as a strengthening of the bonds that link together Just Out, our readers and our advertisers. The site will, eventually, generate income and pay for itself via banner ad sales. In lieu of monthly fees, E MARTY DAVIS you will be asked, as always, to support the advertisers who help maintain the site. Fair enough? The Internet knows no geographical boundaries, and neither does JustOutPersonals.com. I encourage, 1 urge, posts from all over Oregon and Washington. Eugene, Corvallis, Salem, Newport, Longview, Centralia, Seattle—this site is for you. Here’s an opportunity to meet and develop friend ships with like-minded folks in Idaho and eastern Oregon and all points north, south, east and west. Expand your boundaries. hame on American Idol, whose perpetually acerbic judge, Simon Cowell, hit an all-time low on the Jan. 18 show with his rude and insensitive atti tude toward a self-identified young man whose gender presentation did not fit Cowell’s rigid expectation of masculine identity. Announced by spineless host Ryan Seacrest as “Denver’s strangest audition,” Zachary, 18, accompanied by his mother and sister, showed poise and composure as Cowell made a complete ass of himself expressing dismay and consternation about Zachary's physical gender presentation. In these times of positive movement and message with successful and powerful big-screen movies such as Transamerica and the engag ing and informative Showtime series TransGeneration, Fox showed deplorable taste by not editing out this extremely insensitive portion of the show. While 1 seldom share the way-too-close-to-censorship views of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, I would, in this case, support any efforts that it made to demand an apology and a statement from Fox assuring view ers that Cowell’s moronic and puerile behavior is not reflective of the net work’s overall values. S would like to briefly respond to a well-written, well-thought-out letter that 1 received from a male reader who respectfully took issue with a recent pro file that Just Out wrote about Fat Cobra Video. The gentleman writes, “I am respectfully asking you to consider the possibility that the cycle of depression and self-destructiveness that manifests itself through rampant substance abuse among gay men goes hand in hand with the pervasive influence of pornogra phy in our subculture.” The writer goes on to suggest that by profiling the busi ness and the owner, Just Out is actively promoting and encouraging pornog raphy among its male readership. Pages, volumes, could be written on this topic—with no one coming to agree ment. It’s not my intent or desire to condone nor to condemn the use of pornog raphy. This is, however, my column and my place to express my opinions (but not those of Just Out staff). My strongly felt opinion on this topic is that 1’11 support virtually any place that provides an outlet for men to have sex with men outside of fmblic parks and spaces. If the existence of Fat Cobra Video, and similar establish ments, keeps even one (or two, I suppose) man from creating an uncomfortable and unsafe environment at Kelly Point Park, then kudos to Pat Lanagan. My e-mail address is marty@justout.com. © I 20 A CURIOUS AND PECULIAR PEOPLE Metropolitan Community Church of Portland celebrates 30 years NEWS 7-13 NORTHWEST Queer Portlanders help out dogs in distress; interview with new Cascade AIDS Project head; pastor plans boycott of supporters of Washington gay-rights bill; In Other Words new digs in Northeast; Equity gala Feb. 16; Corvallis film fest to benefit women’s cancer prevention; Oregon Queer Youth Conference to take place Feb. 25; Salon Q goes mobile; Equity offers financial planning workshop 15-17 NATIONAL Alito looks toward confirmation despite objections by civil rights activists; Colorado Dems push partnership bill, jobs protections; prominent anti-gay minister arrested on sex charge 18-19 WORLD Gay adoption now allowed in England, Wales; Spain to take in sexual refugees; Vicar who changed sex to sue U.K. government; man chased by bashers drowns; court clears gay marchers; kissing gays kicked out of Los Cabos hotel; marriage battle hits Estonia ARTS AND CULTURE 35 MUSIC Gossip mongers rejoice at band’s new record 36-37 FILM Self- absorbed, emotionally toxic Garçon Stupide tries to get smart; male-to-female transsexual hits the road in Transamerica; Merchant-Ivory’s swan song 38 TELEVISION God save the queens in Little Britain 41 PEOPLE LaSara FireFox brings her sex-positive mission of empowerment to Magickal Winter Weekend COLUMNS 12 DEAR ETHEL T, E and Trans Workouts 29 EPIQUEEREAN Clinton in '06 33 MS. BEHAVIOR Hung Up 34 OUTGOING Beyond the Comfort Zone 42 JIM'S CLOSET Now Hear This
