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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (April 20, 2007)
-------------------------------------- ——---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- APRIL 2Q. 2007 JUStjOUt | 5 letters CAP Hiring Called Out To the E ditor : Recently, several people 1 know with impressive résumés have applied at Cascade AIDS Project and not been hired. Fortunately, I was able to gather some information from some insiders at CAP regarding this situation. One of the applicants, a gay man in his 30s, applied for an events coordinator position. He acquired his skills working at a busy Los Angeles nonprofit and for various studios in Hollywood. Along with having two degrees, he has more than enough experience to promote events for CAP. He was not hired. An insider at CAP asked her super visor to explain why this person was not hired and was told “he doesn’t fit into our matrix." Candidate No. 2 was applying for a basic accountant position. He has 30 years of experience behind him doing payroll, running an office at a law firm, GL balancing, etc. He also was not hired. Reason? When he called to inquire, he was told he was not a good fit within the organization (which is difficult to understand, considering they never interviewed him). A third friend, this one a female in her 30s, was applying for an assistant administrative position. Again, she has enough experience to be an office manager. As with the other two people who applied with CAP, she was not hired. When she called after a week to inquire on the status of her application, she was asked to call back in a week. “We have not made a decision,” she was told. There were two people up for this job: her and another (younger) gentleman who was ultimately hired. All three of these applicants waited at least a week or more before calling to find out they did not get the job. Only then was a formal letter of rejection mailed to these applicants. It’s wrong for CAP to make people wait for a decision when one has already been made due to their systematic hir ing practices. 1 don’t exactly understand the details of CAP’s hiring matrix; all I know is that it is denying jobs to people who more than meet the qualifications. Several of the people I know inter nally have considered leaving CAP, not wanting to work for a company with prejudicial hiring practices. Senate Rill 2, the Oregon Equality Act, was created to add protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It’s shameful that we might actually need something like this to protect us from one of our own. CAP’s own mission statement says some people lose their housing and medical care because of AIDS. People also lose their housing and benefits when they are refused jobs due to some precon ceived notion of who is going to fit in because of looks/race/sex/age/identity. I question CAP’s abili ty to serve the public while refusing employment to the same people it claims it advocates for. M ike K rzeszak Portland Gordon in Denial To the E ditor : If Republican U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith is a “friend” of gays and lesbians, then why does he 4 y Oregon Tradeswomen, Irx —-2007 work so hard and successfully to deny us basic civil protections in the Oregon Constitution? (“Honestly, Gordon," April 6] Why did the cam paign literature for “Yes on 36" prominently feature powerful statements of support from Gordon Smith? Why does Gordon Smith think his person al religious prejudice tnimps the American promise of equality of opportunity for all? There’s a generational shift occurring here, and both Gordon and Terry Bean are behind the curve. Terry, like Gordon, is another “traditional ist,” and perhaps on some level thinks marriage might be a stretch. Traditionalists, gay and straight, look in amazement at all the gay and lesbian families with children these days who are not only thriving and active in schools and neighborhiHxIs but also done settling for second- class American legal status because of someone’s religious beliefs. Terry is also fine with Gordon because Terry is rich. Mary Cheney is rich, too. Rich people can buy their rights. They’re not too worried about backing a Republican senator who votes to selectively exclude their fellow gays and lesbians from consti tutionally guaranteed marriage rights, as long as he cuts their taxes. (Who cares that you won’t receive your partner’s Social Security benefits when you’ve got that much money in the bank?) And Gordon Smith certainly likes rich people—especially rich people who give him political cover in the pages of Just Out. Touchy, Touchy To the E ditor : Even though I'm a heterosexual, I am not a homophobe. In fact, I’ve been reading Just Out for years, and 1 subscribe to e-mail newsletters from The Advocate and Out magazines. I guess you could call me gay-curious. Rut I have a question I hope somebody can answer for me: Why are homo sexuals so easily offended? An asshole member of the Rush administration recently said homosexuality is immoral, and the gay community went ballistic. They were so offended by that jerk’s stupid remarks, they demanded an apology. What 1 want to know is, why do you let those kinds of people upset you so much? All you’re doing is letting them win. They want you to be hurt and upset by their .intolerant bullshit. Why do you let them bother you so much? I don’t give a shit what people say about me. They can call me names and put me down all they want. I don’t care. It doesn’t hurt me a bit. Why? Because I have high self-esteem and I’m not insecure. 1 think all the so-called minority.groups are way too sensitive. Perhaps you should figure out a way to bcxist your self-esteem and confidence so homo- phobic idiots and their stupid remarks won’t hurt you so much. Honestly, when you demand an apol ogy from these dumbasses, you make yourself look pathetic and you embarrass yourself. Don’t let the homophobic bigots win. I i i I i B ill G riesar S hirley D. J ackson Portland Portland Free Admission WOMEN in Trades Career Fair Financial Group, LLC I Retirement • Life Insurance • College Planning • Long-Term Care • Sustainable Investing l’Arno Floreid Walker project Financial Planning Strategist floreid ©wfgadvisors.com May 5W 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Safe, effective chemical 503-335-8200 x21 dependency treatment for the GLBTQ community. www.tradeswomen.net NECA/IBEW Electrical Training Center 16021 NE Airport Way, Portland Greg Look* II I! Financial Specialist grvg©wfgadvisors.com 5O3-445-939O www.wfgadvisors.com 3529 NE Broadway Suite* 100 • Portland, OR 97232 3550 Liberty Rd. 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