OREGON'S LGBTO NEWSMAGAZINE
SEPTEMBER 16,2011
3
just out
BUMPER STICKER POLITICS
VOL. 28, NO. 20
With summer over, the show’s about to begin
SEPT. 16. 20 V
I N S I D E
If you’re a gay or lesbian in search o f
equality in Oregon, your wait is almost up.
Yup, equality comes to Oregon early in the
morning o f September 23, with the arrival
o f the autumnal equinox. On this day there
is an equal amount o f daylight and dark­
ness— 12 hours each. From this point on,
daylight hours dwindle until we reach the
winter solstice on December 22, the day
with the least amount o f daylight in the
Pacific Northwest.
If you’re looking for any other kind o f
equality— oh, say marriage equality— I’m
afraid that I can’t offer you quite such a
specific forecast. As you’ll read in NW News
on p. 6, Basic Rights Oregon, by way o f an
advisory group and its board o f directors, will
very soon decide if 2012 will be the year to
once again place marriage equality before
Oregon voters. This is not a choice that will
he made lightly. Sometime between the equi­
nox and the solstice a very major decision
will be made.
The choice to do this will be based on many
factors. Reaching majority support o f Oregon
voters is high on the list, but other factors
must be considered also. To contemplate a
marriage equality ballot measure in Oregon
in 2012, one has to look well beyond the
state boundaries. President Obama and his
fortunes, or lack thereof, need to be a consid­
eration— to my mind at least. If 2012 turns
out to be as bloody a battle as is indicated,
it simply might not be the most opportune
time to place this initiative before an angry,
broke, bitter, hate-speech and rhetoric-fueled
voter base. People find empowerment in the
secrecy o f the ballot. If they can’t vote out
their frustrations over high unemployment
and lowered economic lifestyles, they’ll more
likely stamp a “N O !” on ballot measures at­
tempting any change in the status quo. This
type o f anger-based punitive voting is not
going to show up in polling data yet must
be considered a factor in the voting outcome,
albeit unpredictable and unmeasurable. The
fortunes or lack thereof when it comes to the
current presidential administration have a
strong likelihood o f bringing new meaning
to “trickle-down policies” in state and local
elections. Voters feeling personal powerless­
ness pounce on opportunities to take any
power away from others.
2012 is already shaping up to be an unfor­
gettable election year. As o f mid-September
three “credible” candidates have entered the
race for the Portland mayoral seat currently
held by Sam Adams: Eileen Brady, Charlie
Hales and Jefferson Smith. Each o f these
candidates— well, two o f them at least— will
come before the LGBTQ_population with a
carefully prepared portfolio o f interests and
background in working and advocating for
full civil rights for the gays .Just Out will be
spending a lot o f time— reading, watching,
listening and speaking— with these candi­
dates. All this background will be shared with
you, so that we can all make an informed and
educated decision as to who is best qualified
to next lead our city. Our goal is to determine
which candidate has the best qualifications
to lead all o f Portland, not the one who most
convincingly spews out all the politically ex­
pedient “I support the gays” rhetoric.
Oregon’s late-starting fire season had a
little flare-up this week, not from lightning
or human error, but from clashing opinions
over wording changes in the platform o f the
Oregon GOP. Supporters, or wannabe sup­
porters, o f the Republican Party would have
had us dancing in the streets over the sup­
posed removal o f anti-gay wording from the
party platform.The positive is that the party’s
disapproval and contempt for gays was “soft­
ened.” Deleted from the platform were the
words, “We do not consider ‘same-sex mar­
riage’ to be marriage nor ‘civil unions’ to have
any equivalency nor right to legal standing.
Nor do we believe ‘same-sex marriage’or ‘civil
unions’ worthy oflegal standing for adoption
or parenting purposes.” Nice, huh?
In a begrudging gesture, the above phras­
ing was removed. W hat still remains, how­
ever, is this: “We concur with the Oregon
Constitution that marriage is between one
man and one woman.’’This is bumper sticker
politics, folks. To say that the Oregon Re­
publican Party has become more welcoming
or receptive toward gays is like decreasing the
amount o f mayo on a Burger King Double
Whopper and calling it a “healthy choice op­
tion.” Don’t huy it.
Have you ever made a kinda dumb mis­
take? Well I have, and today I discovered
a doozey o f one. One o f my not-too-com-
plicated duties as publisher is to check the
main Just Out email box, justout#justout.
com. For some reason on June 1 7 ,1 stopped
doing this. Between then and today, when
the box started rejecting incoming emails,
prompting a phone call, 14,000+ emails had
been sent to that box. I know a lot o f these
were spam, but one o f them might also have
been from you. Unfortunately, the box is now
broken so I can’t go back and check. I f you
sent an email to justout<®justout.com in the
last three months, I apologize deeply for the
lack of response. Yes, I have learned a lesson
from this: I will now check daily.
September is one o f those glorious five
Friday months. This means Just Out staff take
a week off in preparation for an anticipated
and needed hearty holiday season. We will
be closed the week o f September 19, return­
ing on the 26th to start work on our October
7 print issue. You’ll still find me at Just Out's
Gay Skate, 7 p.m. September 19 at Oaks
Park. I’ll be raffling off tickets to the Erasure
concert on October 5, with all proceeds go­
ing to Esther’s Pantry. Bring canned food,
bring cash, come skate into the autumnal
equinox, or at least until 9 p.m. « !•]
» FEATURE
18 WALK THE WALK
AIDS Walk Portland 2011 puts the “act” in
activism
» NEWS & COMMUNITY
5 LETTERS
6 NORTHWEST NEWS IN BRIEF
12 AT THEIR SERVICE
Portland equality groups recognize DADT
repeal with day of events
13 THEY CAME FROM MARS
(SEATTLE, ACTUALLY.)
Mega-church’s arrival stirs LGBTQ_
community
16 TRANS 101
Because some of us still need it
» CULTURE & LIFESTYLE
23 OUT & ABOUT
30 SCREEN AND HEARD
Portland Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
marks 15th year with first-rate lineup of
diverse film fare
34 PLUSH PLUMAGE
Peacock After Dark flies with a talented Hock
36 OK GO!
New production marks costumed history
tor Portland Center Stage’s Jeff Cone
38 WHEN YOU START TO BREAK IT
ALL DOWN
Erasure still bringing beats and boldness
after 25 years
» COLUMNISTS
17
THE SASSY GARDENER
28
PETLANDIA
29
LADY ABOUT TOWN
35
PANDA SAY WHAT?!
39
REMEMBER TO BREATHE
'm m
e n( o re
condos on tfie park
Life th a t fits your style
Life in the Pearl is good. Life at the Encore is better. No lawn mowers,
no traffic jams. Everything you need, just steps or a streetcar ride away.
And, only at the Encore, the city's largest planned park at your doorstep.
Livability has a new home. Maybe you should too.
LO FTS 3248.000+
1 B E D + FLE X $350 0 0 0 +
TOURS DAILY. SCHEDULE A PERSONAL TOUR TODAY 503.227.2000
1130 NW 10th at Northrup • M-F 10-6; S-S 11-5 liveintheencore.com
2 B E D + D E N $61 7.000+ 1 TO W N H O M E S . L IV E / W O R K & P E N T H O U S E S $934 0 0 0 +
ft
CCS • I /0 /S 1
© HOYT.
1 Ptahnum
P V ih m itti
LECD
Nvn/*xj*hood
■
■
■
■
•