OREGON S GAY/LESBIAN/BI/TRANS NEWSMAGAZINE
AUGUST 21 200 9
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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