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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 2009)
JANUARY 23, 2009 , 5 letters Flawed Decision administration. Does Portland really want to crawl than what Sam has displayed and to hold him ac man who regularly has sex with a partner 20 years To the E ditor :. back into the caves dank of deceit just because countable. And yet in the community 1 most of younger. After many years living in the closet The decision by Just Out to demand the resig many people think it’s cool to have a gay mayor? ten find myself—under 45, gay, male—I fear that because of prejudice and ignorance, 1 learned to nation of Sam Adams is flawed. There are very few Both of us have had the joy of working in the gay, I am standing by myself. There appears to be this lie when questioned. It is a natural response. Does among us who has not deceived someone by our lesbian, bisexual, trans civil rights movement here delusion that since all gay men are expected to that make me immoral? Is that violating the law? words and deeds. This includes trying to kx>k young in Oregon practically since its inception. The very have no sexual boundaries, there should be a pass 1 don’t think so. If 1 were asked about my personal er, saying we are a certain age, to dress to kxik hip, to essence of pride, as we know it, is the honesty of given to Sam; after all, he’s just doing what comes sex life in the public eye, 1 too would lie. It is sim color hair, to get cosrpetic surgery or to lie about our coming out of the closet, of being truthful about natural to gay men: lying and having sex inappro ply not open to discussion. sexual orientation or preferences in the hedrixim. the persons Gixl made us to be. There is no pride priately with whomever finds you attractive—the I believe the community expresses latent Deception in the animal kingdom is all around in Sam Adams’ attempts to conceal the truth, younger, the better. Some of my pals have argued homophobia by its reaction. Sam is being held us. It is part of survival. And Mr. Adams made and there is no pride in Portland’s first gay mayor. with me that Sam is the victim in this mayhem. up to a higher standard than the average person that political survival decision to lie. We don’t Sam Adams should resign, and allow our wonder This is very disturbing. because he is gay. Will we hold Obama to a higher hire saints to do public work. That is part of the ful city, like our country, the pride of returning to reason that we have a system of checks and bal a government of true transparency. ances, so that the natural occurrences of lying, So thank you for reassuring me that, at least standard because he is black ?The real issue here for in the greater GLBT community, 1 am not fully most critics is that same-sex relations are immoral. alone. Have we not evolved beyond the witch hunt? cheating and stealing can be discovered early and S usan M. “S usie ” S hepherd protect the public. K aite C hase H ank H arris hard-working public servant. His personal life has Portland Portland not hindered his fine work with the city. Sam Adams, like all of us, is human. We should Sam has proven himself as a strong, dedicated, be concerned when it affects his actions on his job, not his personal life. I hope the mayor stays in his Courageous Decision Portland Needs to Evolve B jorn O lson job and does the job he was elected to do. To the E ditor : To the E ditor : Portland Thank you for your courageous decision to call O tte B oersma for Sam’s resignation. Portland Portland needs to evolve from exclusive and intolerant values. Sam Adams did not violate the 1 have been absolutely sickened these last law. Sam had consensual sex with another adult. three days, not only with Sam’s wholly reprehen When questions regarding his personal sexual life Adams Should Resign sible conduct but, more painfully, the “I’m with are inappropriately asked, the answer should be, To the E ditor : Sam” mania that seems to be rampant in the “That is none of your business.” An exception One of the great joys of Jan. 20’s inauguration gay male community. I don’t understand at all would be if he had sex with a minor. Many have was the throwing off of the cloak of secrecy and why there’s question that we would demand our written that it is inappropriate to have sex with lies that wrapped itself around the Bush/Cheney leader to maintain a higher standard of integrity someone 20 years younger. I am a 58-year-old gay Rabbi Aryeh Hirschfield, 1943-2009 Rabbi Aryeh Hirschfield died in a drowning accident Jan. 6 in Mexico. He was 65. force for peace within the interfaith movement through March 19, 1943, and raised Orthodox in the Bronx, of Oregon and Rabbis for Human Rights. Hirschfield but he rejected Judaism at an early age. He moved actively engaged in conversation and dialogue with to San Francisco in the 1960s and followed other Christians, Muslims, Hindus and Native Americans. spiritual paths. But on Yom Kippur 1973, the day He and his congregation created a welcoming home to Egypt attacked Israel, he followed an impulse to fast, many in the sexual minorities community, and he was and found his way to Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach’s House an equal rights activist. Hirschfield is survived by his wife, Beth, and sons, Jonathan, Aviel and 7-year-old twins Dov and Elisha. Hirschfield was ordained as a rabbi in 1985 and A funeral was held Jan. 12 at Congregation went on to found two congregations, Havurah Shir Neveh Shalom in Portland. Donations to support Hadash in Ashland in 1985, then P’nai Or in Portland the continuity ot P’nai Or can be sent to 9750 S. in 1996, which he led until his death. W. Terwilliger Blvd., Portland, OR 97219. Checks 11 irschf ie Id’s influence reached we 11 beyond the borders of the Jewish community as he worked to build bridges CLICK ON THE READER SUBMISSIONS BUTTON. and cultural backgrounds. He was an active voice and numerous organizations, such as Ecumenical Ministries awakening. www.justout.com of understanding between communities of diverse faith Hirschfield, the son of a religious mother, was born of Love and Prayer, where he experienced a spiritual Submit your letters to the editor, commitment announcements, transitions or list your events online at should be made out to “P’nai Or of Portland” and specify “Reb Aryeh Legacy Fund." 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