EDITOR’S NOTE
by alley Hector
just out
TM
October 2012
PUBLISHERS
Jonathan Kipp
Eddie Glenn
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Alley Hector
ART DIRECTOR
Horace Long
Qpdx
My Political Life
My FIRST INTRODUCTION TO THE ADULT WORLD OF vOTING IN PRESI-
DENTIAL ELECTIONS WAS A BLEAK ONE. AND THOUGH My ENTIRE COL-
LEGE DORM SAT HUDDLED IN FRONT OF THE COMMON ROOM Tv WELL
INTO THE WEE HOURS, WE STILL DIDN’T HAvE AN ANSWER. AND THAT
WAS AS GOOD AS THE 2000 ELECTION WAS GOING TO GET.
In the following days exasperations turned to fear then horror as we saw our voting
system break down. voters were intimidated and turned away from the polls, votes were
discarded or miscounted, and the electoral college reared its ugly head overturning the
popular vote for the first time in our young lives, electing George W. Bush over our Al
Gore hopes.
It’s not surprising, then, that I became fairly cynical about politics, and have not really
been an activist in my post undergraduate life. But four years ago that feeling of hope
returned as President Obama handily defeated challenger John McCain to become our
first black president, and a perfect symbol of his simple yet effective mantra, “yes we
can.”
Now we are on a precipice. We are still high off the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and in-
creasing gay acceptance within the Democratic party. But we are also under the shadow
of a war on women by a party that touts individual freedom but aims to take it away from
half of our own citizens. Politics may or may not be one’s dinner topic of choice but we
are all affected by it, which is why I encourage us all to participate in it. I only wish I was
being a drama queen when I say that our very lives depend on it.
It’s not all doom and gloom either. We are lucky to live in a city progressive enough that
no matter who wins our upcoming mayoral election, they will have the interests of the
gay community at the forefront of their platform. We have openly gay Tina Kotek fight-
ing for our rights in Salem and a very gay-friendly, bicycle-riding, bowtie-wearing Earl
Blumenauer in DC.
We also have openly bisexual Secretary of State Kate Brown, currently running for her
second term in office. As Oregon has no Lieutenant Governor, she is second in line to
run the state. And though she may scoff at political writer Leo Schuman’s question later
in these pages, she does call to mind our own Pacific Northwest version of Hillary Clin-
ton. And she’s in a tight race this year against Bend’s Knute Beuhler.
So while I may have started off my political life on the wrong foot, I came to a place that
puts people in office who share my values, and even occasionally, my sexuality. It is im-
portant that I take time to appreciate that, but even more important that I, with the help
of my communities, continue to support those politicians, those allies, those people who
help make this such a great place to live. So I’ll see you at the ballot box. g
Just Out's Editor-In-Chief alley Hector writes QPdX. Reach her at alley@JustOut.com.
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October 2012