— s
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MAY 1ft. 2007
justout 5
letters
Mother's Day Shout-Out
To the E ditor :
Blessed be those with moms who love. My
mother is a lovely person with a grand heart who
loves me, her gay son, and supports me very much.
1 want to give a shout-out to all the loving moms
(and dads) out there who accept their kids the way
they are.
K en S chram
Portland
tid in many ways. He has crossed party lines to
sponsor Ryan White extensions and federal hate
crimes legislation. He may even support a federal
domestic partnership statute, which, if passed,
could be the biggest breakthrough in American
GLRT1Q history! Surely his “measured” support
deserves the same in return. He’s gotten just such
a “measure" from HRC and Mr. Bean.
Politics in America (or any other pluralistic
democracy) is not an all-or-nothing game. The
zealots among us need to understand that if real,
lasting progress is to be achieved.
A Little Respect
To the E ditor :
As a local community leader in the ’70s
through '90s, 1 had to routinely ask people for
money. Some of them were rich but stingy, and it
made me feel sick at heart. But Bill Griesar’s letter
bashing Terry Bean made me sicker (“Gordon in
Denial," April 20].
Any fund-raiser knows that there are many
wealthy people who are incredibly generous with
their money, as well as their time and talents. Terry
is the epitome of such folk. No one works harder for
sexual minority people in Oregon or this nation.
Without Terry, Basic Rights Oregon, the Human
Rights Campaign, the Victory Fund, even the
Democratic Party of Oregon could not be as strong
as they have grown to be. Terry is 200 percent
supportive of our families and GLBTIQ youth. It’s
OK to disagree with things our leaders say and do,
but we need to be fair and respectful in the process.
Mr. Griesar was neither.
As for Sen. Gordon Smith, no one needs to
vote for him to understand that he has been help-
S teve F ulmer
Portland
Outnumbered
To the E ditor :
So maybe I should be picking some other sort
of occupation now that I’m nearly 61 and I need
a T-shirt that says, “Oh my God, 1 forgot to have
a career.” Nonetheless, I have chosen, at least for
the time being, home care work. I have jumped
through all the necessary hoops, becoming
“oriented” with the county and getting a criminal
background check and driving record. 1 now have
a provider number to add to all my other num
bers. I am ready to go to work assisting someone
who wishes to stay in her home and avoid the
grueling life of a rest home.
Mary’s daughter called and asked it I would be
available to do respite for her while she goes on
vacation for a week. Her mother has a number of
physical problems and needs someone to do basic
things for her, like cooking and cleaning. It’s
Tuesday morning, and I’m going to meet Mary on
this gorgeous day when 1 would much rather be in
my garden.
I am greeted by a rather deranged-looking
spaniel who will not stop barking at me and looks
like she may want to bite me. Maybe this should
have been a clue.
Mary's house has a lot of "Jesus” knickknacks,
little plaster things like Jesus with a lamb. I also
notice a Bible on the table and a copy of the Ten
Commandments on the wall. Most of this is to be
expected here in the Bible Belt of western
Washington County.
The interview proceeds in an easy vein. Mary
seems fairly intelligent, albeit uneducated. She says
she reads and used to like to cixik, and when I men
tion that I am also an artist, she is very excited
about that and says maybe I can help her out. She
used to be an artist, she says, but has quit doing it.
Can I iron? Yes. Do 1 have a son? Yes. Where do
I live? Gaston. What hours could 1 work? etc. etc.
“OK,” she says. “I’m going to ask one thing that
they don’t want me to ask, but I’m going to ask it
anyway. At least 50 percent of the population are
homosexual or lesbian. Are you anything like
that?”
“Would that bother you?” I ask.
“Well, yes, it would, yes, it would," she replies.
“Well, then I am not the person for you," I say.
U'
Do you really think that 50 percent of the popula
tion is homosexual?”
“Why, yes," she says. “That’s what one of the
pastors said last year.”
“It’s actually one in 10,” I say. “So usually there
is at least one person in someone’s family who is gay
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or lesbian—you know like Uncle Bob, who never
got married and lived with ‘Uncle’Jim all his life."
So then she starts in with a spiel about how she
is connected with the “spirit of the Lord” and she
has to do what the Lord tells her to do. “It just isn’t
right,” she says. “I’m sorry, you seem like a nice
person, and I was liking knowing you." Your loss,
I’m thinking as 1 get up to leave.
Outside, her daughter apologizes and says she
and her mother disagree about this. At least she
was honest, I say, and didn’t hire me and then treat
me bad later. By the time I get to my van, there are
rears running down my cheeks.
Fifty percent of the population, I’m thinking.
Now wouldn’t that be a different world. Just think
about it, yes. Half and half, now those are some
numbers 1 could live with!
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