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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (March 21, 2008)
24ijustiout MARCH 21, 2008 Did you know that hearing aids are a tax write-off? • Hearing Tests • Hearing Aids • Custom Ear Plugs and more! pacificaudiologyclinic 5010 NE 33rd Avenue Portland, OR 97211 503-284-1906 www.pacoregon.com where the queers go to hear! THE ESSENCE ACCLAIMED AUTHOR BELIEVES WE POSSESS THE ABILIT TO LEAD SOCIETY’S NEXT PHASE OF CULTURAL REVOLUTION BY GEORGE WINBORN cclaimed writer, photogra pher and former Advocate Soul: “Gay men...need to awaken to the freedom yourself and others, and by catching your projec of their inner world as much as the outer. For I tions...grab them before they hurt someone else. editor Mark Thompson believe [we] possess the ability to lead society’s Take them back and examine them and acknowl edge them as part of the shadow of your wound. month to discuss his trav eling exhibition of photographs, Fellow Travelers, next phase of cultural revolution—liberating of the soul—if only [we] realize that potential.” He also believes, “The gay spiritual movement is the As Thompson writes, our wound is an initia which is on display at Q Center. He accompanied most healthy way to go forward.” came to Portland this tion, a gift. It is meant to temper us and make us stronger. It’s the call to action to work on our his longtime partner, spiritual writer and former Episcopalian priest Malcolm Boyd, who read from his latest satirical story collection, Samuel Joseph for President. 2539 Southeast Madsion. Portland. OR 97214 503 239 4846 www dharma-rain org THE GAY WOUND selves from the inside out. Everyone carries scars from traumatic past “The work of gay liberation,” says Thompson, experiences. How we react to these experiences “has to be an inside-out job. All these things are Thompson has written or edited three books on gay spirituality: Gay Spirit, Gay Soul and Gay forms much of our personalities and views on life. going on inside us...liberation of self, self-aware What Thompson points out is that there’s a spe ness... having the capacity for self-love, to accept Body. During a recent interview, he said: “It’s cific wound that all gay men share. “We’ve been oneself...to say, Tm going to not just survive, but been my life work to try to figure out [the es sential characteristics] of being a gay man. There deeply damaged; we’ve been cut off from our fam thrive.’ ” In other words, it’s our duty to transform ilies, from being healthy,” he says. “We’ve been our wound into self-love. are some unifying cultural roles that we seem to do...which led me to the archetypal.” cared for, but often emotionally abandoned.” Through impressive, probing interviews with DHARMA RAIN ZEN CENTER Don’t fling it on someone else.” . REFLECTING NARCISSUS Why are gay men rejected? Around age 4 or 5, during the Oedipal phase, where straight boys The myth of Narcissus tells the story of a man » leading gay poets, activists, psychologists, histori ans and artists as well as a candid account of his transfer the love for the mother to another femi who rebuffs offers of love from his many admirers nine source, “Where does ours go?” asks Thomp and instead falls in love with his own image in a own life story, Thompson has uncovered the ar son. “To the masculine source.” The straight pool. Stricken with grief that he could not reach chetypes, myths and stories that form the essence father, often subconsciously, sees this aberration the depths of love for his own image, he falls into of gay spirituality. (For the record, Thompson has and rejects his son. Sometimes this leads to the the pool and drowns. only worked on uncovering the archetypes of gay mother becoming more nurturing and supportive of her son; other times it leads to the mother emo We see the Narcissus story enacted among us when the haughty queen prepares for a public men. He says he doesn’t feel qualified, as a gay POSITIVE LIVING appearance, creating “some idealized person...an £ image of someone else,” Thompson writes in Gay Body. Or in our own need to primp in front of the mirror to “bolster and rearrange a flawed self image by will.” We re-enact the dilemma of Nar cissus whenever we “attempt to possess the self through a reflection of self.” Thompson goes on to show how gay men, “who’ve been deficiently mirrored by parents and society in their youthful years, have nothing but AID their own reflection to confirm existence.” When A SEVEN WEEK we’re cut off by neglect, or homophobia, our “au WORKSHOP FOR PEOPLE thentic self is not affirmed,” so whoever’s inside us LIVING WITH HIV must not really exist. To attempt to retrieve our true selves means having to accept the damage C ontact J ulia at OHSU/P artnership P roject 503-230-1202 for more and despair of the past. It’s a tough place to be. INFORMATION ON UPCOMING WORKSHOPS According to Thompson, “Gay men live Narcis sus’ myth each time we try to cover up our own intrinsic insecurity with behavior that’s contemp tuous of others.” OdRHEY KOINONIA CATHOLIC COMMUNITY Mark Thompson (right) celebrates the release of partner Malcolm Boyd's latest satirical story collection, Samuel Joseph for President, during a reception March 3 at the Heathman Hotel. The couple will be honored with lifetime achievement awards from Lambda Literary Foundation on May 29 in Los Angeles. man, to tell the stories of our lesbian sisters.) tionally distancing herself from her son. The effects of Narcissus spread beyond this, too. A lifetime of being devalued can lead to feel ing hopeless, unworthy of love or, once it arrives, suspicious of love; to being unable to accept a compliment for accomplishments; to needing to Either way, this withdrawal of love and sup be the center of attention—all are signs of Nar F aith • J ustice • C ommunity As Thompson writes, myths are the way the psyche speaks to itself. Unlike the stories and port from one or both parents leads to low self- | All arc welcome at our table: parables of the Bible or other texts, myths exist esteem in gay boys. When compounded by rejec cissus’ presence in our lives. Thompson adds, “Covering up the pain, and the rage bom of it, is outside of any time or place. Myths tell the es tion from peers, this low self-esteem can morph Narcissus’ biggest talent of all.” Once again, only sential truths of the human experience. So when into active self-loathing. This wound can take when we learn to own the dark sides of our souls you uncover the relevant symbolic significance of years to overcome. While it’s being overcome, it’s a myth, you can enact its wisdom in your everyday the source of many sad stories within our commu life. Once you find your story in the lives of the nity, from bitchy repartee to suicide. can we know the true love of self. From their expertise in all things Narcissus, many gay men excel in helping others create and * E aster V igil Sat., Mar. 22nd at 8pm 1432 SW Clay • Portland www.joumey-catholic.org archetypes, you can use them as your guide to un derstand, and ultimately rearrange, your thoughts This wound, though, doesn’t have to end as project their own image. From fashion designers a sad story. Thompson says: “You go through the to hair stylists, graphic designers and PR mavens, and behaviors. wound, you acknowledge it, and you keep on go where there’s an allure of idealized perception, ing. By self-examination, by being honest with there you will find a son of Narcissus. Thompson says in the introduction to Gay
