Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 2007)
A— j LJ $ t OUt AÜÜUST 1 L 1QQ1 PtffTLAMB AWT MU At UM I" - I ■ FilmCenter lUStOUt J FREE TICKETS ^NEWSMAGAZINE Founded 1983 • Jay Brown and Renée LaChance PUBLISHER & MANAGING EDITOR Marty Davis NEWS EDITOR Jaymee R. Cuti ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR Jim Radosta STAFF WRITER Julie Sabatier ART DIRECTOR Anabel Ramirez to a film screening of PRODUCTION & AD DESIGNER JACK SMITH AND THE DESTRUCTION OF ATLANTIS Friday, Sept. 14,7 PM Barb McClendon Sponsored by Just Out Newspaper ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Larry Lewis ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES Roger Curtis, Ben Nystrom, Lynda Wilkinson ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER Jedidiah Chavez CONTRIBUTORS Yvonne P. Behrens, Stephen Blair, Meryl Cohn, West Duncan, John Esther, Chelsea Fine, Malka Geffen, Jemiah Jefferson, Timothy Krause, Jon Kretzu, Tony LeTigre, Patricia L. MacAodha, Andy Mangels, Jenny Nguyen, Rebecca Ragain, Floyd Sklaver, Dan Young EDITORIAL INTERNS Alex Baldino, Julius Calasicas, Neethu Ramchandar DISTRIBUTION Harry Bonfill, Youme Inhofe, Pat Kilmer- Cramer, Chance Schwartz Just Out is published on the first and third Friday of each month. Copyright © 2007 by Just Out. No part of Just Out may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. SCREENED AT THE QUEER DOC FESTIVAL! Jack Smith (1932-1989) was an intensely charismatic, sometimes exasperating fixture of the New York art scene. The patron saint of the queer avant-garde and the whole genre of performance art, his Atlantis was both the idea of a fantastical utopia and the reality of the Lower East Side apartment in which he staged improvisational one-man theatrical productions, often with a cast of stuffed animals and dolls. (Directed by Mary Jordan, US 2006) CONTACT: jacksmithtickets@nwfilm.org WITH YOUR NAME, EMAIL & PHONE NUMBER, & WIN 2TICKETS! More information at www.nwfilm.org Editorial guidelines: Letters to the editor should be limited to 500 words. Announcements regarding life transitions (births, deaths, unions, etc.) should be limited to 200 words; photos are welcome. Deadline for submissions to the editorial department and for the Calendar is the Thursday 15 days before the next publication date. Just Out reserves the right to edit for grammar, punctuation, style, liability concerns and length. Views expressed in letters to the editor, columns and features are not necessarily those of the publisher. Advertising policy: The display advertising deadline is the Monday 12 days before the next publication date. Classified ads must be received at the Just Out office by 5 p.m. on the Sunday five days before the next publication date, along with payment. Classifieds may be placed via www.iustout.com, by mail or in person at our office. Just Out reserves the right to reject or edit any advertisement. Compensation for errors in, or cancellation of, advertising will be made with credit toward future advertising. Advertising rates available upon request. Distribution policy: Just Out is available free of charge. Just Out is delivered only to authorized distributors. No person may, without prior written permission, take more than one copy. Any person who takes more than one copy may be held liable for theft, including but not limited to civil damages and/or criminal prosecution. Subscriptions are $22.50 for 12 issues. First Class (in an envelope) is $40 for 12 issues. Contact: Just Out at RO. Box 14400, Portland, OR 97293-0400; 503-236-1252, advertising 503-236 1253, fax 503 236-1257; e-mail justout@justout.com. Visit us on the web at www.justout.com. letters Religious War To the E ditor : I commend Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays for countering the anti-gay conference promoting the falsehood that one can cure homosexuality through prayer. [“PFLAG Addresses Anti-Gay Conference,” July 20]. However, the uncritical “fair and balanced" report ing by Just Out should have mentioned the immense medical harm to gay people caused by faith-based “ex-gay” programs. Religious ex-gay “d<x:tors” often whine that their “freedom of speech” is being abridged because main stream medical journals refuse to publish their treat ments for homosexuality. They are not published because their “cures” are harmful and don’t work. Although 1 support the right of anybody, such as Catholic priests, to choose celibacy for religious rea sons, 1 strongly oppose charlatan medical treatments for homosexuality done under the guise of religion. All of the current leaders of the ex-gay movement admit to retaining their homosexual feelings. In fact, all ex-gays eventually give up on finding a cure for being gay. A few chixjse same-sex celibacy, but most eventually accept their own sexual orientation. Anybody aspiring to be a “former homosexual” should read the Ixxik Anything But Straight (www.any thingbutstraight.com) by Wayne Besen (www.wayne besen.com), who also runs www.truthwinsout.org and www.respectmyresearch.org. Besen’s cover photo shows Fixzus on the Family’s ex-gay leader John Paulk leaving a gay bar, which led to his resignation. Also, the www.exgaywatch.com blog is a good source of news about the evildoings of ex-gay organizations. This is not an innocuous debate between two equally strong positions. This is a one-sided religious war against gay people. Beware! T homas K raemer Corvallis A More Perfect Union To the E ditor : 1 came out a decade ago and was excited to go to my first Gay Pride parade. I felt—freshly out of the closet—that there was a part of me that need ed further exploration, research and understanding. That first year, my personal reading almost exclusively dealt with gay rights issues, spirituality, sexuality and history. 1 volunteered at the local center and other organizations and fostered queer friendships over straight ones. (My straight friends were supportive, knowing it was a complete time of exploration.) How could I not know this intrinsic, inborn part of myself? My 22nd birthday came and, soon thereafter, the following year’s Pride. I had fallen in love, come out to my friends and family, but never again found myself in another Pride parade. It was not that I had turned anti-gay or that I had experienced discrimination or shame—the explorations had marked the beginning of a continued«- conscious engagement in achieving a totality of “being,” and that intrinsically included my queer self. I simply felt that Gay Pride celebrations did not most accurately portray who I was or who my com munity was. During the next decade, 1 walked away from defending Pride celebrations as a need in our world, particularly for those first coming out of the closet. I feel disappointed and saddened that the queer movement has not rattled this last “cage” and brought enlightenment within it. It was pride in who we are that inspired Stonewall. Its ultimate aim was socio-political: securing basic human rights for all, regardless of sex ual orientation. So why, in the truest spirit of pride, have we not followed the original intent of those who first risked their freedom for peace, justice and equality? Why, instead of becoming a celebration remembered for sexual proclivity, did Pride not evolve to that original pursuit of its founders, work ing to forge a more perfect union? 1 propose we make June Queer History Month—that instead of parades, there be signature gathering, speeches, rallies, forums, memorial celebrations, job fairs, educational lectures and invitations to legislators to engage the queer and nonqueer public. 1 propose that all block parties be fund-raisers for nonprofits. Last, I propose that all nonprofits serving queer communities show true leadership and come together once a year within each city to help achieve this. My parade would work to not just guarantee the rights that I have now but to further them. It would work to secure a safe place for my queer brethren and our posterity. My parade would work to fund programs to decrease youth suicides, encourage dialogue in schools, educate employers on how to foster and build a diverse workplace and penetrate all comers of our nation with a message of accept ance in an embrace that will chip away and perhaps vanquish all shame. 1 challenge you who read this to put it on the desk of your executive director every week until you have answers. I challenge you to begin a dia logue on what a true Pride celebration can achieve. 1 want to be proud of Pride for once, since I was not there with Sylvia Rivera and countless of other drag queens, transgender people and ethnic minori ties marching into history for my benefit one fate ful night in June, long ago. A drian D ole Portland Back Off, Outsider To the E ditor : If you must accept advertising from creepy porno “gentlemen’s club” owners who project what they think lesbians want, at least don’t give them the back cover. Putting it inside in the back section makes it so those who don't want to see women in demeaning porno shots don’t have to, There is a distinct difference between this ad and the ads placed by gay clubs directed to gay men. While I know there has been debate about these men’s ads, 1 don’t find them so offensive because it does represent a part of our community. It is gay to gay. In contrast, this ad is placed by someone from the outside, a hetero porno guy trying to get a mar ket in our community. He doesn’t know us and shouldn’t be accepted in our newspaper—or at least not in such a prominent position. C arolyn R oos Portland P.S. After sending this letter, I found out the event is sponsored by a women’s organization, Girls on Gay. I still think such ads should be located inside Just Out, rather than on a cover. I also still wonder what Just Out’s decision would be regarding an ad placed by an outside “gentle men’s club," hypothetically.
