SEPTEMBER 21. 2007
letters
One of Our Own
To the E ditor :
I’m going to put myself out on a limb with this
letter, but I think it is important to get our
community to think about the Sen. Larry Craig
“scandal” with reason and logic.
As most of the readers know, Craig, R-Idaho,
was arrested in the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport
and plead guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct.
The whole incident stems from a roe-tapping
incident that, according to the arresting officer, was
“solicitation.”
As much as this writer despises almost every
thing Craig stands for, 1 must ask the question:
“What law did he break ?”
As most of us are aware, restnxim stings such as
the one conducted in this matter have ehtrapped
thousands of gay men through the years. These
stings have raised the ire of the community with
a loud chorus of “entrapment, gay baiting, bigotry.”
Yet when someone we despise is caught up m
such a sting, we are silent about it. If Rep. Ramey
Erank, D-Mass., had been found in such a situation,
would we be outraged about police entrapment?
You better believe there would be a chorus of
outrage over the situation.
The question we must ask ourselves as a com
munity is this: Are we really happy being such
small-minded hypocrites?
There is no proof Craig engaged in any
nefarious activity, although that might have been
his intent. His arrest is yet another case of entrap
ment aimed at gay men. Whether we agree with
Craig is not the point. We, as a community, have
a duty to point out that this type of entrapment is
wrong and that there was no crime committed.
Yes, it is nice to see Craig exit the stage, but
there’s something horribly wrong about our
community’s hypocrisy regarding the whole event.
We would scream and yell, “Entrapment! Bigotry!
Gay baiting!” if it was one of our own. Yet we are
silent if it is one of “theirs."
We can’t have it both ways. Entrapment is
entrapment, and it is our duty, no matter how
despicable the individual involved, for us to come
to that person’s defense.
Craig has a despicable record, yet he deserves
to be treated as we would treat one of our own in
this situation. Shame on our community for
failing to understand the right thing to do, no
matter who the beneficiary of that action may be.
We can do better.
in size. If major Portland thoroughfares can be
renamed after people with significant historical
contributions even though they are not from
Portland (think Rosa Parks Way or César Chavez
Boulevard), then why not build a lasting tribute to
Lady Peacock right in what literally was her own
back yard?
1 encourage the scholarship fund to pursue this
and encourage Just Out readers to contact Portland
City Commissioner Pan Saltzman, who oversees
the Parks and Recreation IVpartment. His contact
information is: Pan Saltzman, Portland City
Commissioner, 1221 S.W. Fourth Ave. Rixim 230,
Portland, OR 97204- Phone: 503-823-4151.
E-mail: dan@ci.portland.or.us.
D avid M eltzer
Portland
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Peacock in Washington Park
To the E ditor :
Several years ago when Peacock in the Park had
its swan song, so to speak, there were promises of
bigger and better ways to continue the memory of
Lady Peacock.
This past weekend I was taking visitors on a tour
of Washington Park and we came across the innocu
ously named Rose Garden Amphitheater.
And then it dawned on me. What better way to
make sure that the memory of Lady Peacock and
the gixxl work of the Audria M. Edwards
Scholarship Fund lives on than to rename the
venue the Lady Peacock Amphitheater?
Peacock was the longest-running event in the
amphitheater’s history, not to mention the largest
Labor Di
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