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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (June 2, 2006)
iustout page 3 by Marty Davis J Best Wishes ~tNEWSMAGAZINE JUNE 2, 2006 VOL. 23 NO. 15 Leadership change translates to a win-win situation for everyone t’s official. Hie end has come. After months of rumor and speculation, we now face the finality of it all. A leader among women is leaving the position where we’ve come to respect her constancy, her leadership, her staunch dedication to duty. Leaving behind the comfort and familiarity of co-workers, allies and supporters, she’s gone to join another organiza tion. With her departure comes a well of emptiness. No more smiles, warmth, perkiness. No more gossip about her dating, relationships and break-ups. No more distant yet e’er so close friendship. Yes, Katie Couric has left The Today Show to join CBS. Mornings in America will never be the same again. Meanwhile, on a local note, Basic Rights Oregon executive director Roey Thorpe has announced that she, too, will be leaving the organization that she’s guided for the past five years. News of the departure was met with little sur prise by those in and about the organization and the community. Most agree that it’s time for a change, both for BRO and for Thorpe herself. Five years of frontline leadership will take its toll on body and soul. There comes a time to step aside and leave others to continue with the work. Isn’t it great to know that someone has the sense to recognize the need for a logical exit strategy? What a winning concept. With relative calm weeks ahead, leading up to the post-Labor Day battles for midterm elections, BRO has a good window of opportunity within which to select its next leader. While Thorpe is leaving her current position, she will be remaining in Portland, and this translates to a win-win situation for everyone. As a community, we retain her national visibility, her activism and her leadership while gaining a new presence in whomever will be her successor. Congratulations, Roey, on the good work you’ve done here. Best wishes for great continued success in the future. And if you run into Katie Couric along the way, please let her know that she’s missed, too. I rom across America and the world, eyes have been on Moscow as organ izers and activists planned their first-ever Gay Pride parade. Met with fierce opposition from a trinity of foes composed of riot police, religious militants and neo-Nazis, these folks risked their lives to make their political statement. Faced with threats of arrest, physical assault and literal loss of life, a few hardy souls nonetheless took to the street to proclaim their unity, their dignity and their determination to exist. As we enter June and weeks of Pride activities in our own communities, what meaning will we bring to and take from our own events? If you knew that you risked arrest and assault, would you show up to F the parade? How much are you willing to lose? How much are you willing to fight for? If you think that there are no battles looming on our own horizon and that Pride festivities are meant only as celebrations of beer, boobs and brazenness, you might want to direct your attention toward the looming vote on the Federal Marriage Amendment. According to reports from Washington, D.C., the biggest boob of all, President Bush, has scheduled a press conference for June 5 to declare his support for the proposed constitutional amendment. In the streets of the Russian capital, the Pride parade ended in bloodshed and arrests. In our own nation’s capital, in our month of Pride, we, too, are under attack. While it’s unlikely that blood will be shed June 5, we will suf fer also the pains and bruises of verbal cultural attack by the leader of our country. I say fight back. Here’s what I think we should do in Portland on June 18. Pick your favorite spot along the parade route. Bring all of your friends, family and neighbors to watch and enjoy the activity. As the end of the offi cial parade goes past, quickly gather up your belongings and your troupe and fall in and march together with gay, lesbian, bi, trans and allied people as we take to the streets in a massive show of unity. You don’t have to be part of a group or organization; you simply have to stand up and take your place. They did it on May Day. They did it in Moscow. We can do it in Portland on June 18. It’s our time to fill the streets. It’s our time to be seen and heard. hanks to all of you who submitted your photos for the Just Out Amateur Photo Contest. Clearly we are a nation of procrastinators, with lots of folks showing up on the last possible day with photos in hand. The judging and tab ulating begins now, and all winners will be introduced and presented in the June 16 issue. We will celebrate you and your works as our focus on Pride 2006. With the photo contest deadline having come and gone, our attention now turns toward the Just Out Scholarship Fund. The deadline to return your applications is June 15. Please visit www.justout.com for all details on qualifi cations and application submissions. Having the opportunity to share the financial burden with deserving students is one more way Just Out demon strates our ongoing commitment to the community we have been serving for more than 22 years. Finally, birthday wishes go out to Bill Dickey as he celebrates the big 5-0. Dickey is a rock in our community, and his big birthday merits lots of good wishes, cake and goodies. © T reflections • Actor Eddie Murphy, facing demands that his appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman be canceled because of remarks he made about AIDS in the early 1980s, issued a public apology for those remarks in May, The San Francisco Examiner reported. • After an emotionally charged public meeting May 12, the Freedom Day Committee, sponsors of Seattle’s Gay Pride parade, voted to exclude the North American Man/Boy Love Association from this year's event. The vote reverses an earlier decision to include NAMBLA. • Several hundred people turned out for a celebratory rally May 26 at Pioneer Courthouse Square. The event, orchestrated by Basic Rights Oregon, was one of many gatherings nationwide designed to celebrate the May 20 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Amendment 2, the controversial anti-gay initiative approved by Colorado voters in 1992. 21 GET YOUR PRIDE ON! Portland Pride expands with a full week of activities NEWS 6-13 NORTHWEST Roey Thorpe announces resignation; Oregonian lobbies Washington; Equality Task Force convenes; “Color of Art” brings green to CAP; Washington seeks equal rights supporters; Men’s Wellness Center opens; writing benefits vulnerable groups; Western States Center has family values; Lon Mabon to propose anti-gay initiatives; balanced body work; bringing your memories to life; catering company offers exceptional seasonal fare; young queer woman travels to Bethlehem; Eugene’s Q Center celebrates anniversary 16-17 NATIONAL Closed-door vote rankles ACLU; anti-gay adoption law quashed; amendment doesn’t trump partner benefits in Utah; Georgia court strikes down marriage amendment 18-19 WORLD Melee in Moscow; group says Iraqi police executed 14-year-old boy; China blocks adoption by gays; Australian Capital Territory passes partnership bill ARTS AND CULTURE 44 FILM Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin stand out in A Prairie Home Companion 47 CULTURE Everything you wanted to know about bears but were afraid to ask 48 THEATER Will this year’s Drammy Awards find anything outstanding among Portland theater’s queer contenders? 10 Years Ago in Just Out... volume 13 number 15, june 7,1996 • We have less to Tear from conservatives and Republicans than most gay and lesbian activists assume. The gay and lesbian movement should stop being obsessed by the far right. In riveting its focus there, it blinds itself to the future that is unfolding before us. FEATURE • In the Life, the gay and lesbian newsmagazine on PBS, presents its June Gay Pride Special featuring gay and lesbian directors, producers and their films, including a sneak preview excerpt from Oscar-winning director Debra Chasnoff's documentary It's Elementary. • Phoenix Rising Foundation hosts its second annual Lesbian and Gay Pride Dinner on June 20 at the Portland Hilton Hotel. This year's Jack Abele Award will be presented to John E. Baker. Entertainment will be provided by Michael Allen Harrison and Ritah Parrish. 52-53 TELEVISION Sundance Channel celebrates Gay Pride Month with several new queer documentaries 55 BOOKS Dykes to Watch Out For creator turns the pen on herself DykeS Watch Ouf ÎoT byAluwB«cMcl MAJ A HAfT>- the Long war rr*» A ougm I ri© urmi ►« XMOot • Through its continuing collaboration with the Oregon Health Division, the Portland Gay Men's Chorus has teamed up with community-based organizations in Medford, Eugene and The Dalles to hold three concerts June 15, 16 and 17. masAMirr 1 om , torr iw jx I mmuti WITH «MIA ggj ABOUT 1 ASSO CIATTS A* 56 MUSIC Start planning now for the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival COLUMNS • It was more than a year ago—on Feb. 24, 1995—that four-time Olympic-gold-medal diving champion Greg Louganis announced to the world via a televised interview with Barbara Walters on ABC's 20/20 that he is a gay man living with AIDS. 1 41 MS. BEHAVIOR Repressed and Depressed 43 OUT GOING Nights of Passion 50 DEAR ETHEL Get with the Program 57 EPIQUEEREAN Mobile Manna 59 JIM'S CLOSET Crystal Clear
