42 , jUStOUt
JANUARY 5. 200 7
books
WINNER!
BEST OFF-BROADWAY MUSICAL
2005 OUTER CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD
WINNER!
Longtime lesbian activist reflects on her rich life
FAVORITE LONG-RUNNING OFF-BROADWAY SHOW
2006 BROADWAY.COM AUDIENCE AWARD
“HOLY HIT!”
THE LAUGH-PACKED
AWARD-WINNING
MUSICAL COMEDY
ROCKS INTO PORTLAND.
FredMeyer
B roadway
A cross A merica
PORTLAND
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Hand-Whistling
and Community
l lx-l lilt<rt> I .llllils
be hospitable
by Patricia L. MacAodha
n a Saturday night during the annual
Irish Weekend in Heppner, a group of
family and musical friends sat in John
Dougherty’s kitchen listening to Sally
Cohn hand-whistle a well-known classi
cal tune. When she finished, Dougherty, deeply
moved hy the performance, remarked, “Guess we
don’t need to go to church tomorrow.”
That’s the way Cohn’s hand-whistling often
strikes people, whether it’s a small gathering of
friends or an audience of more than 1,000 at one
of the many whistling competitions she’s entered.
Portland’s sexual minorities community, however,
also knows Cohn as a longtime and active mem-
her of the local scene.
During her childhood in Morrow County,
Cohn watched hoys cup their hands and whistle to
make noise at sports events. She discovered she
could make music using the same technique.
She recalls a bucolic childhood, a life that was
“fine until my mid-teens. Then 1 got bored. My
peers were all dating boys, but the boys avoided
me.” Desiring acceptance, she tried to date boys
Sally Cohn hopes the Lesbian Community Project
but wasn’t really interested. Frequent teasing by will remain to serve Portlanders.
classmates created more problems.
Cohn’s primary teen rebellion was smoking,
drug and alcohol agency. She kept that job until
and she hung out with girls who also smoked,
retirement 25 years later.
which led to problems because “Mom didn’t
Cohn discovered an active and growing queer
approve of my schexd friends.”
community and became unwilling to continue the
During this time, she began getting crushes on
closeted life. The relationship ended, and in 1975
girls. Continually unhappy, she convinced her
she bought a house that she still owns. Cohn got
parents to send her to a Portland school. They
involved with her community: entering talent
chose a private school, St. Helen’s Hall (now
shows and attending Portland Community Church
Oregon Episcopal Schools). The social atmos
(forerunner of Metropolitan Community Church
phere wasn’t ideal, but Cohn found a few friends
of Portland) as well as rap groups at the Women’s
and enjoyed the academic atmosphere. Ongoing
Place Resource Center. Once isolated, she finally
crushes on girls led her to come out to herself, but
discovered the community she’d been seeking.
these feelings conflicted with her religious beliefs.
In 1988, going half-time at work, she began to
She graduated in 1952 and attended Lewis &
volunteer more with the Lesbian Community
Clark College for two years before transferring to
Project. She became volunteer coordinator for
University of Oregon.
Donna Red Wing, then for Laverne Lewis. Cohn
Although history was her greatest interest, she
eventually joined the LCP board. These days she’s
decided to major in education. (Her mother had
still part of LCP and hopes it will remain to serve
been a teacher.) She was still closeted, still strug
Portland’s lesbians. She also volunteers with Start
gling with beliefs and reality. She returned to
Making a Reader Today and helps out in the office
Portland in 1958, discovering the queer bar scene.
at Nativity Schexd. In addition to continuing to
In 1962, a desire to leave everything familiar led
hand-whistle, she sings in the choir at St. Andrew
her to the East Coast. She lived in Massachusetts Catholic Church, where she is a member.
for a year, then moved to New York, where she
Buoyed by publishing efforts by housemates,
resided until 1972.
and realizing she had a gcxxl story, Cohn decided to
Cohn’s first long-term relationship, with a
write an autobiography, A Hand-Whistler: Memories
woman who was also closeted, began in New York.
of Creativity and Activism, reflecting the roads she
There were a few opportunities for community,
has traveled and how projects and hobbies have
including writing for The Ladder under an assumed
often moved her forward. At 72, her life just gets
name.
more interesting, with more things to enjoy in her
widening community. ©
Cohn’s mother died in 1964. Unable to attend
the funeral, she felt trapped between community
and family. As her father’s health declined and
SALLY C ohn reads selections from A Hand-
New York became “the city that didn’t work” for
Whistler: Memories of Creativity and Activism
her, she decided to take her recently earned
6:30 p.m. Jan. 18 at In Other Words, 8 N.E.
master’s degree and return to Oregon. The couple
Killingsworth St.
moved to Portland in 1972 and rented a house.
Getting Oregon teaching credentials proved almost
P atricia L. M ac A odha is a Portland freelance
impossible, so Cohn found clerical work with a
writer. E-mail her at patmac3l@juno.com.