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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 2009)
OREGON S GAY/LESBIAN/BI/TRANS NEWSMAGAZINE AUGUST 21 200 9 5 fé Submit your letters to the editor, commitment announcements transitions or list your events online, at www justout.com CLICK ON THE READER SUBMISSIONS BUTTON TRANSITIONS Paul Scott Tucker. 1967-2009 Paul Scott Tucker was born O ctober 13, 1967 in Phoenix, Arizona, the youngest o f three children. A t 17, Scott— as he was known to everyone—joined the Navy and served for about three years before being “outed” and asked to leave. H e traveled throughout Europe, working on luxury yachts in the M editerranean and France. He learned to speak French fluently and loved nothing more than to explore. W hen in his twenties, Tucker went back to school, attending college in Flagstaff, Arizona. But soon the travel bug struck again and he headed to Oregon to try his luck at culinary school. That never panned out, but Tucker did meet good friends and became close with his first roommate, John Bunn. Bunn was not “ou t,” so they remained close friends for a few years while Tucker went through a variety o f different jobs and homes in and around Portland. Eventually, they became partners and moved in to gether in a little house in N orth Portland, and later, in Forest Heights. Tucker was diagnosed with renal cancer in winter 2008, and he and Bunn focused their energies on trying to save him. They traveled whenever Tucker was able, squeez ing in as much joy together as they could between doctors’visits and hospital stays. Tucker’s treatm ent failed, and he was sent home in July. His partner cared for him until the end, and he died July 20, just three days after their 12th anniversary. He is survived by Bunn, parents Bonnie and Ken Tucker, as well as his sister Ronale Rhodes and brother Kevin Tucker. His business, Super Realty Group (www.superrealtygroup.com), continues on w ithout him, determined to live up to his principles and love o f this city that became his home. He will be missed, every day. A memorial service was held July 24 at M eriw ether’s; donations can be made in his name directly to O H SU hospital. Paul Scott Tucker (center), with governors Barbara Roberts and Ted Kulongoski. in 2006 LETTERS Smoking ot G ay Pride, Continued “What we have here is a basic failure to communicate. ” There’s been some snarky exchanges in Just Out's last two issues regarding the pros and cons of the decision to ban smoking at the 2009 outdoor Gay Pride Festival [on] Naito Parkway. 1 need to weigh in. I am not a cigarette smoker. I am an occa sional pipe smoker. Indeed, I heartily endorsed the city’s recent legal ban of smoking in bars and pubs. That change has made going out to join friends for drinks and conversation-or even cruising (gasp!)-into a real pleasure now that my eyes and sinuses don’t burn and my clothes don’t reek. But, this issue and the way it has been de cried in the past two Just Out Letters section has gotten out-of-hand. First off, I know the original letter writer, Jaime LaFleur, and he’s neither an addict nor a cigarette smoker as in correctly and rudely stated by Marvin Moore. Mr. LaFleur is a cigar smoker, and admits that his love of cigars is a fetish. So, what is happening here? Has it come down to more unmitigated Political Correct ness that has us banning smoking outdoors at a public event in a public park? Since I wasn’t carrying my pipe at the Pride festivities, I didn’t notice any posted “no smoking” signs nor did I pay any attention to segregated “smoking ar eas.” Given the vast amount of open space and fresh air at the fest and its wide-open riverside park, the imposing of a smoking ban was both unnecessary and unjust to all smokers, whether they came with cigarettes, pipes or cigars. I am deeply concerned that this issue rep resents undercurrents o f intolerance in our supposedly inclusive community. I worry that political correctness is as capable of becoming totalitarian as the systems and older social traditions which have supposedly been altered for the better. If we ban outdoor smoking at a public outdoor event like Portland Pride, even if it was fenced and gated, what is next-ban ning leather fetish wear because vegan and animal rights activists might object to the use o f animal skins as clothing? Shall we ban the sales o f beer and wine because it’s physically best to drink Bull Run water? Shall we ban those without tattoos because being inked is obviously more culturally hip? Can you see where I’m going with this rhetoric? If anything, Mr. Moore might have reined- in his anger at “addicts and cigarette smokers” and put his criticism of Mr. LaFleur into proper perspective without maligning someone he clearly doesn’t personally know. And the or ganizers o f our annual Gay Pride outdoor Gay Pride and/or the City of Portland had better reconsider the physical setting and my words here a bit more carefully next year to prevent this sort of compounded misunderstanding in 2010 and beyond. If I or others are not allowed to smoke my pipe at large on the entire fair grounds at a Pride outdoor event in future, I won’t go to the Pride Festival, for it’s clearly not an inclusive event. I will stand in solidarity with smokers of any other substance or style. K evin B unker North Portland In Response: O ur official policy is to designate a smok ing area within the festival and to encourage its usage. I can verify that, yes, the city does charge us for cleaning up the park, including cigarette butts (same goes for balloons in the trees, which is why we discourage helium balloons). It is not our intent to discriminate against anyone and the decision to create a designated area was based on years o f complaints and input from festival goers, as well as clean-up costs. It is the compromise that we came to around this subject, and is the information shared with anyone who has contacted us on this subject. It’s a beautiful thing. D ebra P orta Pride Northwest
