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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 2008)
JANUARY 18. 2008 jUSt|OUt 5 letters Crumbling the Cookie Cutter To the E ditor : In a stunning decision, Federal District Court Judge Michael W. Mossman issued a temporary restraining order postponing Oregon’s domestic partnership law from going into effect. It’s been a tough year for human rights and equality if you happen to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or, particularly, trans. 1 witnessed Joe Solmonese lie about the Human Rights Campaign’s commitment to a trans- inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act before an audience of 1,000 trans human beings. We’ve seen an insidious escalation of rhetoric against trans children and youth. Not a week goes by without a conservative political or religious coalition, organization, group, club or cabal object ing to a youth expressing his or her gender identity in a nonconforming fashion. They claw their way out of their cave of intolerance and point fingers, spread lies and threaten elected representatives. They petition school boards if a 10-year-old trans child is using the “wrong” bathroom. They protest a high school drama department’s decision to stage the play Rent because it has a sympathetic and positive portrayal of not just gay characters, but trans characters as well. What makes this so insidious? Well, that may be the greatest socio-cultural sleight-of-hand trick in history. While the focus is supposedly on “who one sleeps with,” in reality it’s about gender identi ty expression. In fact, anti-gay bigots themselves say: “We don’t care what you do in the privacy of your own bedrooms. Just don’t flaunt it.” This is what Barney Frank, Joe Solmonese and other “leaders” don’t'acknowledge. It’s the part the Alliance Defense Fund, Mike Huckabee and even Barack Obama don’t understand. The voices of intolerance have distracted us with the shiny object in one hand (same-sex physical acts) while pulling the wool over our eyes with the other hand regarding gender expression and trans gression. It’s not about sex. It’s about how far from gender conformity someone drifts. It’s about the “too feminine” male or the “too masculine” female. People aren’t discriminated against because a same-sex physical act has been witnessed. They are discriminated against because of assumptions someone makes based upon their gender identity expression. “Straight acting” gay men and women suffer less oppression than their “gay acting” gay and straight counterparts. “Passable” gender-conforming people suffer less oppression than their “nonpassable” counterparts. This applies to cisgender and trans gender people. “Straight-acting” children (who may not yet have a sexual orientation) suffer less bullying and teasing than their “gay-acting” gender nonconforming counterparts. Each of us has a stake in this fight. We have a stake because there are those who want to meas ure “how much equality” will be portioned out based not upon who we love but upon how we (and our children) express ourselves. We must work together to build a world in which our chil dren are not forced into a gender-expression cook ie cutter. We must stand up for them by first standing up for ourselves. J enn B urleton TransActive Education & Advocacy Survey's Don't Lie To the E ditor : Regarding the recent story “Thom of the Rose,” I find it ironic that when Travel and Leisure maga zine released the 2007 results of its annual travel survey, Portland ranked as the third most gay friendly destination in the United States, ahead of larger cities like Seattle, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City [Nov. 16]. Only San Francisco and New Orleans ranked higher. Seems that there is a difference between the experiences of 60,000 Travel and Leisure respon dents and two travel writers who extrapolated their bad experience from one trip to represent an entire city. tion with apparently no chance of passing as long as enough Republicans remain in Congress to pre vent an override of a presidential veto. Yet this same senator threw his considerable political weight behind successful efforts to amend the Oregon Constitution to selectively deny basic civil protections to gay and lesbian families, appear ing (prominently and passionately) in campaign lit erature urging a “yes” vote on Measure 36. Thankfully, there are now excellent alternatives to Smith. We’ll soon get our chance to vote for someone with convictions who understands that all men and women deserve equality under the law. B ill G riesar Portland J erry J ancarik J r . CLARIFICATION Seattle Make a Conviction To the E ditor : Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith recently defended fellow Republican Trent Lott for making blatantly racist comments at Sen. Strom Thurmond’s retire ment in 2002. Yet Smith condemned Lott when he first made those comments, calling his behavior “offensive.” In 2002 Smith was “deeply dismayed,” but in 2007 Lott’s words were “misconstrued.” This is the clas sic pattern of a Republican senator without any core convictions, and it mirrors his flip-flops on equal rights for gays and lesbians. When trying to boost his image as a “moder ate,” Smith (and his defenders) tout his support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, legisla Jennie Greene Designs, a floral arrangement shop at 2234 N.W. Thurman St., is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday. 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