OREGON S GAY/LESBIAN/BI/TRANS NEWSMAGAZINE
OCTOBER 16. 2009
PAGE 3 by
[just out
M a r t/ Davis
That's a W rap
VOL. 26 NO. 24
A challenging year of publishing comes to a
close os Volume 27 looks bright
hank you for picking up and read
ing the October 16, 2009 issue of
Ju st Out. I appreciate each and ev
ery reader of this publication.
There are a couple of points to be made
about this issue. First, a reminder that Ju st
Out publishes, in print,'on the first and
third Friday of each month. October is a
month with five Fridays, so we won’t ap
pear in print again until the first Friday
next month, November 6. For the most
part, the Ju st Out staff will be on vacation
the week of October 19. Daily news up
dates will still be posted at w w w .ju stou t.
com.
Ju st Out is sponsoring two community
events to be held before we next appear
in print, so I want to take a moment to
invite you to them. Monday, October 19
is our monthly Gay Skate night, held at
Oaks Park Roller Rink. October is Hal
loween month and Gay Skate will be the
kick-off event for all your festivities. We’ll
be judging costumes, with separate prizes
for adults and children. Gay skate is fam
ily-friendly and everyone is welcome.
Admission is only $6 per person; that
amount gets you a pair of roller skates and
an evening of fun and exercise. Bring us
your Halloween best.
Gay Skaters are a generous group and
we fill several boxes monthly with do
nated canned foods for Esther’s Pantry.
W ith the onset of colder, wetter weather
the need for food assistance becomes even
greater. These are not the best of financial
times for many; food bank donations can
be gentle on your wallet while still allow
ing you to make a valuable contribution
to someone in need. I’d love to see Port
land’s GLBT community work together
to make many more of our events into
collection points for food donations. If
you are an event promoter or sponsor or
perhaps a business owner who would like
to work with Ju st Out and Esther’s Pantry
on becoming a donation point, please get
in touch with me. We’ll partner together
to get the word out about your event
and the opportunity for folks to bring
food donations. Thanks to the women of
Motherlode for making their November
14 concert available for food donations.
Please contact me if you’d like your event
to be next.
The second event is the return of
T
Women Seeking Women Bunco Night,
or as we call it at Ju st Out, “All The Single
Ladies, All The Single Ladies.” Bunco
was a popular event for many months un
til suddenly, no one was single any more-
—now what was up with that? Ah, time
passes, relationships, um, alter, and new
single ladies are now looking for Bunco
again. So Bunco it will be. W e’ll meet at
the new Q_Center at 6 p.m. on Sunday,
October 24. This is a definite “the more
the merrier” event, so if you’re single,
looking to meet new friends and have
some fun, join us for an evening of laugh
ter and whatever. Admission is a mere $5
plus, you guessed it, a donation of canned
food for Esther’s Pantry. No prior Bunco
experience is required; all the single ladies
are encouraged to attend.
hat’s the second item of inter
est about this issue? Well this
almost escaped my attention,
but this issue is Volume 26, issue Number
24 of Ju st Out. W hat does that mean? It
means that with this issue Ju st Out has
completed our 26th year of publishing,
and with the next, we will begin our
27th.
Exactly one year ago we were sending
out invitations for the Ju st Out 25th an
niversary party, hosted and organized by
Ron Mitchell of Red Cap and Boxes, a
man to whom I shall be eternally grateful
for his kindness, generosity and incred
ible organizing skills. One year ago, as
we were planning what turned out to be
the best anniversary party ever, I already
sensed that the wolf was knocking at the
door. I optimistically thought we’d scare
him away with hard work and good in
tentions. The wolf, however, had different
plans. I don’t think I need to recap‘what
happened to America financially in the
last quarter of last year. Things got rough.
Really rough.
Following a tough year’s end, in Janu
ary 2009, newly elected and openly gay
Portland Mayor Sam Adams held a press
conference and announced that he’d not
been forthcoming with voters when ques
tioned about a personal relationship. Ju st
Out issued a call for the mayor’s resigna
tion. All hell then broke loose.The follow
ing months brought a nonstop barrage of
threats, intimidation, vandalism and plain
old nastiness from those with a differing
point of view.
In March the damn wolf nearly took
down the door. Advertising income dried
up completely. The business community
drew its purse strings tightly shut. Stress
levels in the office were high and unman
ageable. Daily articles heralding the death
of America’s newspaper industry added to
the pressure. When I thought it couldn’t
get worse, it did. On March 1 3 ,1 arrived
at work to discover that the editorial staff
had quit during the night.
This, finally, was too much. I gave up. 1
W
1M
was done. Portland no longer had a news
paper serving the gay, lesbian, bi and trans
community. I had been beat.
My self-pity lasted about an hour.
Then I got up, kicked myself in the
butt, along with a few others, and went
back to work. I put out the'call for help.
Help arrived, some unexpected, all appre
ciated. Ju st Out did not mis& an issue.
Experienced new staff was hired.
Creative, enthusiastic, passionate new
energy and ideas flowed into the pages.
Late spring brought ad income trickling
back in. Dear readers, if you think your
job is difficult, try selling newspaper ads
in a recession. It’s not easy; it’s not fun.
Thank you, Larry, Justin and Lynda for
doing nearly the impossible; you kept this
paper going.
ow, at the close of our 26th year
of publishing, the future looks
most definitely brighter. In re
sponse to the quality of Ju st O ut’s content,
new advertisers are entrusting us with
their ad dollars. I ask you, our readers, to
please spend what you can with Ju st Out
advertisers. Seriously, they’re the nicest
people around. Please, please, support our
advertisers.
In short, our 26th year kinda sucked. I
can tell you, though, the new year is look
ing marvelously better already. We start
our 27th year as we have the previous 26,
by being here. By being here every month,
every week, and every day. By telling your
stories, honoring your achievements, ar
chiving our history and supporting events
and community. Not now and then, not
once a year, not just at Pride. Ju st Out, every
day, every week, every month, every year,
for 26 years, and many more to come.
N
OCTOBER 16. 2009
INSIDE»
» FEATURE
16 TRACKS STARS
Sound O ff on the Fun, Frustration and
Future o f the Local Dance Scene •
» NEWS
5 LETTERS
6 NORTHWEST BRIEFS
14 FOCUSING ON THE FAMILY
Three October Q C enter Events Foster
Community and Family Building
» PROFILES
13 KOIN-ING AN IDENTITY
It’s Sunny Skies for Openly Gay
Meteorologist Tim Joyce
29 GENDERF**K. YEAH!
New Organization. Elects to Help Those in
Need o f Gender-Related Surgeries
» ARTS 8 CULTURE
23 OUT 8 ABOUT
30 REANIMATING REBELLION
The Wonderful World o f Abby Densons
Dolltopia
31 STRAIGHTLACED
A New Documentary Explores How
Gender’s Got Us A ll Tied Up
34 OUT OF A COMA
Surging Indie Trio Girl in a Coma Rocks
Portland
36 THE SUM OF ITS PARTS
Dancemakers Explore Surrealist Concepts
in “Exquisite Corpse”
There is no shame in deserved self-pro
motion. Ju st Out is a damn fine paper pro
duced by a dedicated, excellent staff. We
are justifiably proud of the work we db.
Thanks for
26 /cars.
Portland.
Here's to us
all for making
it through the
last /ear.
» COLUMNISTS
28
37
38
44
LIVING OUT LOUD
LADY ABOUT TOWN
REMEMBER TO BREATHE
MS. BEHAVIOR
» PHOTOS
32 PEACOCK AFTER DARK
46 AIDS WALK PORTLAND 09
47 BRO DINNER