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