just out
by Marty Davis
J
It's About Time
VOL. 25 NO. 2
^NEWSMAGAZINE
NOVEMBER 16, 2007
Just Out turns 24 as we celebrate the long-awaited arrival of domestic partnerships
city the paper represents. Why is this? Because many, if not most, gay papers are
understaffed, underbudgeted and maintained by volunteers who rely heavily on
syndicated materials to fill their pages. You can go from state to state, pick up
the gay paper and read the same articles over and over.
In Just Out you will read about, yes, drag queens and the Sisters of Perpetual
Indulgence. Also our local bars and clubs, theater, business owners, activists,
leaders and politicians. We write about softball and bowling and hiking, all
local, all your friends and neighbors and acquaintances. Just Out provides a lev
el of excellence that is found in only a handful of papers nationwide. If you don’t
believe me, ask someone who has just moved here from another city.
Just Out proudly supports local community with thousands of dollars annually
in sponsorships and donations. Just Out maintains a scholarship fund, organizes
food and toy drives, sponsors Gay Skate and provides an excellent free online
dating service for our readers. We value our place in the community and take it
seriously.
To those who express dissatisfaction with our contents, we thank you for
your concerns and assure you that we listen. The day that we stop hearing from
you will be the day that we know we’re in trouble, because by then you will have
stopped caring.
I’ve told you what we provide to our readership; now here’s what we need
from you. We need information and notification about your events and your
activities. We can’t write about what you’re doing if we don’t know about it.
We’ve got phones, faxes, e-mails and people attending events all over town.
Talk to us. Siren Nation received a cover story because organizers spent a year
in advance of their event sending out press packets, asking for sponsorship and
making themselves available. The event that we failed to cover, Beartown,
didn’t send so much as a calendar listing. This was in was June, we were focused
on Pride coverage, it was busy, and we missed Beartown. Are we sorry? Of
course. Will it happen again? Hell no—I’ll track those bears down and wrestle
them to the ground if I have to. We will get our story.
The point of all this is that 11 people are dedicated to making our readers
happy. Trust me, we’re not in this for the big bucks. Everyone here, myself
en years ago the staff of Just Out —including myself, then a rookie salesperson— included, could make far more money working elsewhere. We’re here because
held a first-of-a-kind community forum to address questions and concerns from we love what we do, and we strive to do the best job possible.
the community about the contents and direction of the paper. We heard from folks
I hear that some, perhaps many, gay men feel disenfranchised and left out of
then much of what we still hear today. Readers want a reflection of themselves and the pages of Just Out. I’m constantly aware of the need for gender balance and
their lives in their community paper. One thing that we can count on is that read finding and creating opportunities to reach to “the center.”
ers will step up and let us know when we are not meeting their expectations.
As part of that I’m putting out again a call for columnists to cover areas in
At the risk of appearing defensive or reactionary, let me give tell you a few which we could use shoring up. I’d love a local political pundit, someone with
things about Just Out that perhaps you’ve not previously considered. Just Out a keen awareness of gay issues as they are affected by the broader picture. A male
has a full-time staff of 11. There’s myself, three people in editorial, five in sales humorist would be a great addition. Again, though, I don’t want a syndicated
and administration and two in arts and graphics. Our editorial team is supple writer. I want a local person sharing experiences of gay life in Portland, Oregon
mented with an outstanding group of freelancers and an occasional intern. With and Southwest Washington.
the exception of the world newsbriefs, “Ms. Behavior” and “Dykes to Watch Out
And that’s where we are 24 years after we started. In some ways the same,
For,” every bit of Just Out is original material written expressly for our reader different in others, always striving to improve and be the best. We’ll be on vaca
ship and the area that we serve. This is, I suspect, somewhat taken for granted tion for Thanksgiving week, except for Gay Skate Night on Nov. 19. When we
by our readership, who might not have familiarity with gay papers in other cities return I’ll ask for your help to brighten the holidays with your canned food
from which to make a comparison. 1 see many other papers from small and large donations for Esther’s Pantry. Finally, don’t forget to check us out daily at
cities, and I can tell you that often the contents don’t even give a clue as to what www.justout.com. If we missed you in the paper, we’ll get you on the blog. ©
ave you ever looked at a newspaper cover and wondered what the
numbering in the title is all about? Well, let me tell you. If you look
at the front of this issue of just Out, you’ll see that it reads Volume 25,
Number 2. And you know what? That’s kind of a big deal. Volume
references the sequential year published, and number is the amount
of issues published so far within the year noted. So, in this case, just Out is now
in its 25th year of publishing, and we’re on the second of the 24 issues that we
write and print on an annual basis.
In a year from now, October 2008, we will have arrived at Volume 25,
Number 24, and this will mean celebrate! This will mark a major milestone;
newspapers serving the gay, lesbian, bi and trans community for this many years
are few and far between. This accomplishment will call for a celebration of
community and partnership—a partnership of Just Out, our readers, our adver
tisers, our supporters...and you.
It is very fitting that we enter our 25th year with a feature story celebrating
the long-awaited arrival of domestic partnerships in Oregon. This legislation,
along with nondiscrimination, was so long in the making that its process and
history predate even this paper. For more than three decades, gay and lesbian
activists, leaders and supporters toiled for civil rights, for equal rights, for gay
and lesbians. It took until 2007 to achieve these goals. The next 25 years of Just
Out will continue the telling of the achievement of full equality and full
marriage for same-sex couples in Oregon.
As Just Out approaches our silver anniversary, we note changes and we note
sameness. Twenty-five years ago, AIDS was on its destructive path through the
community, leaving devastation, confusion and turmoil in its wake. Today, as
noted also 10 years ago by the Rev. Roy Cole at Metropolitan Community
Church of Portland, “AIDS is not over.” It has simply widened its path and
broadened its area of destruction. Once the “gay disease,” AIDS now includes
in its toll heterosexuals, minority women and entire African countries. Dec. 1
marks World AIDS Day, and the emphasis is now truly on the world. AIDS is
not over.
H
T
reflections
10 Years Ago in Just Out... volume 15 number 2, november 21,1997
• "I'm delighted to be here." With that simple phrase
Bill Clinton became the first sitting president to attend a
gay and lesbian event. The symbolism far outweighed
the words he spoke, and the audience roared back its
appreciation. A capacity crowd of 1,500 tuxedoed and
gowned supporters of the Human Rights Campaign paid
$250 to gather at the Grand Hyatt a half dozen blocks
from the White House for the Nov. 8 gala dinner.
• Federal workers may one day have domestic partner
benefits, thanks to a bill recently introduced by Barney
Frank, an openly gay Democratic congressman from
Massachusetts.
• The Rev. Roy Cole, pastor of the Metropolitan
Community Church of Portland, wants people to
20 01.01.08
The comprehensive guide to Oregon’s
domestic partnerships
NEWS
8-15 NORTHWEST
World AIDS Day; travel writers have
unhappy stay; advocate awarded for Human
Solutions; trans people remembered;
entrepreneur wins business owner of the
year; volunteer to party; gay candidates
victorious; Quest expands services
16-17 NATIONAL
Trans-free ENDA passes House; Alabama
inmates gain rights; California gays coupled
elected royalty; victory for gay sergeant; gay
witch hunt continues; Westboro to pay
$1 IM; official declares New Jersey civil
unions a failure
19 WORLD
Church of Sweden to marry gays; Ireland to
fix trans birth certificates; Vilnius mayor
blocks rally; gays picket Saudi embassy in
Lindon; Singapore MPs keep gay sex ban
ARTS & CULTURE
41 ART
Gay German photographer taps into our
subconscious
42-43 FILM
Families grapple with homosexuality in For
the Bible Tells Me So; queer Portland
filmmaker Todd Haynes directs I'm Not
There; The Life of Reilly documents last
public performance of Charles Nelson
Reilly’s acclaimed one-man show
44-45 CULTURE
Mr. Oregon State Leather 2007 speaks
about integrity, masculinity and spanking
46 NIGHTLIFE
Blow Pony draws queers of all stripes
48-49 MUSIC
Tegan & Sara give birth to their fifth
album right here in Portland
COLUMNS
remember this: "despite what you hear, AIDS is not
over. Huge numbers of people in this country and
woridwide continue to contract HIV and die of
AIDS. This is a reality."
33 EPIQUEEREAN
Main Street, USA
35 MS,
BEHAVIOR
Where
There’s
a Will
• The Lesbian Community Project hosts a dance
following tonight's Portland Power game. The team
has been invited.
• A panel of judges, including Just Out's Inga
Sorensen, chose Moira Bowman, 29, as best
femme, and her real-life partner, Jae Larsen, 31, as
best butch during the first Evening of Divine
Decadence: The Naming of Portland's Best Butch
and Fabulous Femme! Contest, held Oct. 26 at
Darcelle XV in Old Town.
FEATURE
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50 OUT
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MIND
Got a
Cervix?