JULY6.2OO7 justput; 5
letters
Appreciation for Pride
To the E ditor :
I just wanted to congratulate Pride Northwest
on a great parade and a fun festival. 1 enjoyed the
parade from the Embers Avenue on Broadway and
Couch. The Embers does an amazing job of
providing bleachers, a sound system and fabulous
MCs, Rose Empress XXIII Patti O’Dora and Rose
Empress XXXVI Maria. Patti and Maria enter
tained the huge crowd long before the parade
started and kept us informed about who was
coming down the street as the parade passed by.
Special thanks to Steve Suss, Bobby Brue, Jon
Thibodeau and the Embers staff for providing us
with such a great vantage point.
I really enjoyed the parade and the short
amount of time I was able to spend at the
Waterfront Festival. 1 know the Pride committee is
very small, but it does great work, and 1 wanted it
to know it is appreciated. Special thanks to Stef-
Anie Wells, who works very hard trying to appeal
to all the colors of the rainbow. In my opinion, she
is doing a fantastic job filling a largely thankless
position!
K imberlee V an P atten
Portland
Pride Is Free
L owell G reenberg
Portland
Equal Employment for Veterans
To the E ditor :
1 wanted to remind everyone in our communi
ty and our friends that veterans have hiring prefer
ence in all federal jobs. An extremely effective way
to have a positive impact today and in the future is
to work to ensure equality from both sides of the
fence.
Although the military might not protect
equality, civilian federal employment indudes
sexual orientation in its Equal Employment
Opportunity policy.
Gandhi said, “You must be the change you wish
to see.”
T revor H ulse
Estacada
To the E ditor :
This week’s Just Out editorial had an article
about how some in the LGBT community have
a jaded or negative view toward Pride [“1 Hope
You’re Proud of Yourself,” June 15|. 1 have a mes
sage for them and anyone who has a preconception
of what Pride should or shouldn’t be:
You may find yourself comfortably ensconced in
middle-class values, but do not forget: The struggle
is not over. Most in society do not accept who you
are.
If you are a teenager whose parents believe gays
should be put to death, you are not free.
If you are thinking of committing suicide
because you can’t admit to yourself who you are,
you are not free.
If you are afraid of losing your job if you come
out in the workplace, you are not free.
If you or a family member are a victim of a hate
crime, you are not free.
If you or your partner have fewer benefits and
rights than the straight population, you are not
free.
3338 SW FAIRMOUNT LANE
Pride is a way of saying to society that we have
freed ourselves and we will free our brothers and
sisters.
Pride says 1 am proud to be who I am—some
thing few in society can say.
Pride is about empowering and power.
So if you are a cynic, then 1 say that you are
blind—blind to your slavery. We are not free until
we are all free.
Profiting from Pride
the queer community, or whatever. Just because
you’re queer doesn’t mean you’re a cool person,
just because people are queer doesn’t mean we
have to have a party about it.”
The individual quoted was Sarah Dougher.
Some of Dr. Dougher’s highlights are: former news
editor of Just Gut, one of Out magazine’s “Out 100
Gay and Lesbian Americans Who Made a
Difference,” long-standing gay rights activist, Ph.D.
in comparative literature, volunteer for p:ear,
a musical education and assistance program for
homeless teens, etc. etc.
The unattributed publication was the media
sponsor of this year’s Pride Festival, The Portland
Mercury.
There are reasons for not liking Pride. Some
people, myself included, feel it has gotten quite
commercial.
Pride is organized by the reputable and
respectable nonprofit organization Pride Northwest.
Demographic statistics offered to prospective spon
sors on the Pride Northwest Web site state, in the
five W’s format, that the “who” of Pride is: 65,000-
plus visitors throughout the weekend; 55 percent
from Portland metropolitan area; other attendees
from Washington, Idaho, California and Canada.
The who is: The GLBT market is the largest,
non-ethnic, affluent market in the United States
with a population of 19 million people and an esti
mated spending power of $800 billion.
Average household income is $65,000; nearly
60 percent higher than the average household; 78
To the E ditor :
I was greatly troubled by the editorial in the
June 15 issue titled “I Hope You’re Proud of
Yourself’ by Marty Davis. Ms. Davis viciously and
intolerantly attacked members of our own commu
nity by insinuating that we suffer from “internalized
homophobia” due to our diverse opinions regarding
Pride. Ms. Oavis also stated that we are hate mon
gers and that she finds us more irritating than
“Bible-toting, sign-carrying, in-your-face fanatics
who walk along the Pride parade route, flaunting
their disapproval while preaching of.Christ’s love
and salvation."
To illustrate this point, she used a quote that
she neither attributed to the source publication
nor the individual. The quote was: “I find any
excuse to leave town during Pride. I hate it. I find
the self-congratulatory nature of it unbelievable,
and 1 don’t feel like it’s my world at all. Even
though it’s supposed to show this wide breadth of
1420 NW LOVEJOY #301
KEVIN DEAN
Principal Broker
Direct: 503-497-5037
Cell: 503-481-4400
kevindean@windermere.com
812 sq. ft., parking, storage & taxes frozen ‘til 2016.
$158,000
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Send your letters,
wedding announcements,
transitions,
or submit your events
online at
www.justout.com
Darin Moore, 1963-2007
Darin Moore died May 29. He was 44.
Moore was bom March 24, 1963, in Vancouver, Wash. He
graduated from Evergreen High School in 1981 and attended
Eastern Washington University, majoring in music. He was a
warehouseman for Fred Meyer and had lived in Portland for 25
years.
Moore was an avid softball player with Rose City Softball
Association. He played third base and outfield for the Redwings
team from 1999 to 2002 and on the Joq’s team as the 2003 pitch
er.
He is survived by his mother, Linda Brown; father, T. Moore;
sister, Wendy Moore-Martin; brother, Grant Moore; great-grand
ma, Shirley Wonner; nephews; aunts; uncles; and cousins.
A celebration of Moore’s life is being planned. Remembrances should be made to Cascade AIDS
Project.
For more information contact brucef@anewtradition.com.
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percent of the GLBT market prefers to buy
directly from companies that advertise to them
directly; 83 percent of the GLBT market has
attended college.
It would seem that the organizers themselves
see it as having some rather strong commercial
aspects. 1 make this point to show that one can
have reasonable reasons for not liking a festival
without having an inner Fred Phelps.
1 think Ms. Davis owes apologies to the people
who are not homophobic and do not support Pride.
She failed to attribute her source when she had
a prior relationship. She failed to offer reasonable
reasons for not liking Pride. She attempted to use
shame and self-doubt to promote Pride. She failed
to mention that Pride provides quite a bit of adver
tising revenue to the media.
1 don’t think 1 am a homophobe for not liking
Pride any more than I think Ms. Davis is one for
wanting to profit from it.
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CATHI WOODRUFF
Real Estate Broker
Cell: 503-380-8270
Office: 503-284-7755
cwoodruff@aol.com