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iustout
by Marty Davis
J
Good Question!
Just Out publisher has the answers
«■ ■ here are no foolish questions, and no man becomes a fool until he
has stopped asking questions.” So said Charlie Steinmetz, electri
cal engineering pioneer, now best known for being consistently mis
quoted and paraphrased.
I’.
In the spirit of questioning, and the pageantry of debate, I’m
going to address a few of the questions that were brought before me recently.
After all, inquiring minds want to know.
Q: “Does Portland need a gay paper.7” queries Willamette Week columnist
Byron Beck.
A: Yup. That’s the short answer. The longer answer is yes, of course, but as
the movement and rhe community have grown and evolved, so must the gay
press. We must take on watchdog roles regarding organizations within our own
community. It’s not our place to be cheerleaders for political activist organiza
tions but rather to be the catalyst for demanding accountability. Where once
the gay press was deemed to be the public relations arm of political activism,
we must now acknowledge the changing of roles. The maturation of the gay
press now leads us to having the right and the obligation to question strategies,
tactics and leadership. Our community needs a vehicle by which we police our
selves. We need to ask questions. We need to keep a watchful eye.
We are, as a community, asked over and over again to financially support
civil rights groups such as the Human Rights Campaign and Basic Rights
Oregon. Your contributions make you shareholders in these organizations. You,
we, have every right to demand accountability. This is one reason why we will
continue to need the gay press. To ensure scrutiny from within. Scnitiny, by the
way, that is often not welcome.
We need the gay press to celebrate our lives and to mourn our deaths, to
honor our accomplishments and to acknowledge defeats. We need the gay press
to shore up weakness, yet neither pander nor turn blind eye and deaf ear to
weakness from within. We need the gay press to step up and ensure that the gay
community is never put back in the closet by our own leaders as a political strat
egy to bring about legislative victory.
We will need a gay paper until the last gay bar closes, until the Amazon
Dragons paddle their last race, until Our House closes because AIDS is prevent
able, manageable and curable. We will need the gay press until the last day that
a queer youth is taunted or harmed in school, until the day families stop writ
ing letters to their lesbian sisters telling them they can’t be around their chil
dren. Until no gay person feels lost or lonely, until civil unions and full rights
are available to all. Until that day, we will still need a gay paper in Portland.
From Club Portland owner Dick Lawson comes the question that troubles
me the most—the question that is. the hardest to answer, as it comes wrapped
in the feelings and memories of those who remember another day, another time.
A time that 1 count myself from.
Q: Why does Just Out use the word “queer” so much?
A: Is the reclamation, by a new generation, of a once-despised word more
NEWSMAGAZINE
VOL. 23 NO. 18
surprising than the actuality that in 2006 same-sex marriage is an open discus
sion topic across America? Can anyone deny the paradigm shift of the past
decade? If you are a child of the '50s, ’60s and ’70s, you likely endured rhe taunts
and cruelty of the despised epithet. Decades later, the word can still bring pain
to the surface. And yet, now, it is everywhere we look. “Queer” leaps at us from
the television: Queer as Folk, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. It shouts out from
the pages of papers and magazines. It adorns Q Center. It has spawned a culture
of its own. It demands attention. It rebuffs misuse. It proclaims, “Never again.”
And it is not going away. Why does it appear so many times in each issue of Just
Out? Because at the same time that we honor the memory and feelings of yes
terday, our focus and journey are now about tixiay and tomorrow. And “queer”
is the word chosen by those who will secure the future.
By way of trying to bridge the gap, we do, by and large, use the word when
presented in self-identification. If you say it, if you live it, if you present it, if it’s
you, then we tell the world. We’re straddling two sides of a deep and wide
divide, and now and then we’ll lose a bit of balance.
Q: Why are there more photographs from women’s events in your Web
site gallery than there are of men’s activities?
A: Until this question was asked, I had not realized that this was the case.
But should someone tally photo by photo, there might appear to be a discrepan
cy. Here’s what I think is the reason, albeit nondeliberate. Women simply cre
ate more public social opportunities for themselves. The women’s community
has Tart, Hot Flash, Cupcake, Girls on Gay, Eat My Martini and other events
designed by women, for women. Women have a community built around music,
musicians, ceremony and ritual. Women get out and create opportunity. The
men’s community dues not have equivalent events. To very broadly generalize,
men tend to socialize at private parties in homes and in bars—smoky, smoky
bars where 1 will not send myself or any other photographer. I do, however, look
forward to bringing you photos from the new nonsmoking facilities at Boxxes.
I’ll happily show up for the very next event—especially the Underwear Party.
Until then, many other nongender-specific events such as Pride, Gay Skate
Night, the Red Dress Party, softball and Q Center activities will continue to be
featured on the Web site.
The final question comes from Pat Lanagan, owner of Fat Cobra Video and
North Portland’s Primal Urge. Admittedly this query was originally posed as less
of a question and more of a hurled insult, but in the spirit of genteel discourse,
1’11 paraphrase as follows.
Q: As the lesbian owner of Just Out, are you deliberately using the paper
as a tool by which to emasculate gay men?
A: Hell yes. Now sit down, shut up, and be a good little boy. Don’t make
Mommy mad.
JULY 21, 2006
Oregon Leather Pride Week promotes
pleasure and pain
NEWS
7-15 NORTHWEST
Dogs dig day care; restaurant boasts patio;
Scream at the Beach opens year-round;
American couple in Canada win registered
parenthixxl case; Eugene youth honored at
New York Pride; awards fund arts groups;
BRO, HRC endorse governor; Pride
continues; LCP tournament under way;
Our House cixrks up fund-raiser; appellate
judge aims gavel at Supreme Court; Family
Pride Coalition comes to Portland
16-17 NATIONAL
Congressman wants “don't ask, don’t tell”
repealed; report: gay marriage benefits kids;
court denies protections to same-sex
couples; marriage vote postponed;
legislators try to “encourage” anti-gay
discrimination; S.F. lends a hand to trans
citizens; L.A. spawns Queer Music Festival;
Gay Games go digital
18-19 WORLD
EuroPride numbers disputed; gay prince
disowned; actions against Iran planned;
Korea OKs gender change in official
records; Congress blasts Russian gay
bashing
ARTS AND CULTURE
38-40 FILM
Recent DVD releases include two clumsy
duds, two pleasant surprises; large Jewish
family serves up the screwball in When Do
We Eat?
42 THEATER
Perhaps I’ve answered a question of yours today; if not, please send your
comments to me at marty@justout.com. ©
For actress Julianna Jaffe, there’s power in
the prtKess
43 MUSIC
reflections
Reviews of two new Broadway musical
soundtracks
justnrn rs
44 BOOKS
5 Years Ago in Just Out... Vol. 18 No. 18, July 20, 2001
• Gay-owned Counter Culture closed its doors for a brief hiatus late last
month in anticipation of moving to a larger location.
but opponents call it "a nuclear
bomb."
• During a meeting July 18, the Portland City Council postponed any
decisions on the hotly contested West End planning recommendation until
September. This also means no action will take place regarding the
proposal to declare the Burnside Triangle an official gay district.
• "The Bush administration is
working with the nation's largest
charity, the Salvation Army, to
make it easier for government-
funded religious groups to practice
hiring discrimination against gay
people, according to an internal
Salvation Army document," began
a front-page story July 10 in The
Washington Post.
• New census figures indicate Seattle is second only to Washington, D.C., in
same-sex households. The Seattle Times reports July 11.
• Donna LaPerle received the Community Pride Award during Saturday in the
Park on June 14 in Vancouver, Wash. Originally from Maine, she moved to the
Pacific Northwest in 1978.
• Social conservatives formally trotted out their latest stunt to "save"
marriage—an amendment to the U.S. Constitution—during a news
conference July 12 at the National Press Club in Washington, D C. They
tried to wrap it in language of moderation and "letting the people decide,"
• Expect rides, a river, a trolley, a picnic and queer families socializing
together during Love Makes a Family Gay Day at Oaks Amusement Park.
• Come to us and feel good by working with the Portland Faith of Roses, a
nondenominational spiritual society that challenges the religious right wing.
Graphic novel creator
Abby Denson comes
to Portland
45 SPORTS
Queer soccer team
catches World Cup
fever
COLUMNS
14 GET DIRTY WITH DAN
The Seduction of Summer Blooms
35 MS. BEHAVIOR
Sister Act
36 EPIQUEEREAN
In Vitro Bistros
37 OUT GOING
Gayberry, PDX
46 JIM’S CLOSET
Encore Presentation