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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (May 6, 2011)
M AY 6 .2 0 1 1 A Call for Help To the Editor: M att Insley is a dear friend, a remarkable, talented and award-winning musician, com poser and director. He has co-produced “Queer Q uistm as” two years in a row with Fannie Mae Darling. He is an as set to [the] Portland gay/lesbian comm u nity and has been [an] avid part in the com munity theater scene for many, many years. The night o f “Queer Q uistm as,” M att and his boyfriend were heavily drinking, like most around the holidays. He, unfortunately, drank too much and with those drinks he was taking bipolar medication. Bad news! [He] and his partner got into an altercation and M att was arrested and charged with four counts o f assault. He is not innocent, we all know that, but what he needs is help not prison. Please read this inform ation and help my dear friend and one o f Portland’s most treasured m usicians.... During this time he has been diagnosed with and successfully treated for bipolar disorder. At the first settlement conference, a young, inex perienced deputy district attorney [was] pursu ing his case as a purely criminal matter without regard that M att’s mental illness is [a] signifi cant, mitigating factor. Justice will not he served if M att is sent to prison. M att’s trial is immi nent, so we must act now. M att needs you to immediately email or fax the M ult nomah County D.A. to request [that] M att’s case be transferred to a deputy D.A. who has experience with mental health cases and that M att’s case he re ferred to the Mental Health Court. 5 .T G • The Mental Health Court is an appropri ate option in M att’s case; see mcda.us/mental_health_court.php. More than 200 o f you have sent letters of support to the public defender. M att needs the same level o f support again. Please imme diately email or fax the Multnomah County D.A. at the following: Michael D. Schrunk, District Attorney Email: DA@mcda.us Fax: 503-988-3643 Request that M att’s case he transferred to a deputy D.A. who has experience with mental health cases and that M att’s case he referred to the Mental Health Court. If you have any other avenues available to you that may help M att, please pursue those today. Thank you, Jeffrey Darling and Brett Asmann Portland Here is a summary o f the facts: • M att’s legal name is Norman M at thew Insley. • He had untreated bipolar disorder at the time o f the incident. Both M att and his boyfriend were highly intoxicated at the time o f the incident. At the time o f the incident, M att was taking medication that makes bipolar disorder worse. The judge at the settlement conference To the Editor: told M att that the deputy D.A. was inex Last week I received a Basic Rights Oregon perienced and clearly did not understand mailing for their new same-sex marriage cam the uniqueness of his case. paign [Vol. 28, No. 9, April 1, p. 12 , “Can4bcy The judge also said the deputy D.A. had We Do It?”]. I applaud their efforts and this other options available to her and that mailing campaign. As I was reading along fairly her current course of action would go impressed and in agreement, I came upon this badly for Matt. one simple sentence about marriage: “...it does Marriage and Family i------------------------------------------------------------- give couples who want to make a lifetime com mitment to each other and be a family the abil ity to do so.” Whoa! Read that again, please. At first it sounds like perfectly good rea soning, hut it sends the wrong message. It is not state-licensed marriages that hold the key to lifetime commitment and family. My little household of three (partner, son and myself) has formed a family that is committed to each other even without marriage. We want to have equal marriage for many reasons— but it is not a precursor for confirming our commitment to each other or our ability to be a family. Come on, BRO— stop muddying the wa ters. People make their own families and commitments— without the state’s help. M ar riage gives those families rights and responsi bilities. L et’s not confuse the issue. 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That one right there looks like a winner to me.