Q+A
David Menez Cantu
WHAT DO YOU DO FOR A LIVING?
I am an esthetician, and I work and own The Spa
at Esther Short Park. I am also an ASL (Ameri-
can Sign Language) Interpreter for the Deaf.
I work for Clark College part time, and for the
Archdiocese of Portland interpreting a Spanish
Catholic Mass once a month.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN PORT-
LAND? WHAT DO YOU LOVE/HATE
ABOUT IT?
I’ve lived in the Portland metro area for the bet-
ter part of 25 years. My parents brought us here
when we were kids and I’ve stayed in the area. I
love the season changes, and the plethora of ac-
tivities available to us as Northwesterners. The
beach is close, there are mountains to climb, hike
and snowboard, rivers to swim, boat, wakeboard
or jetski and tan (by using an appropriate SPF of
course).
HAVE YOU EVER EXPERIENCED DISCRIM-
INATION FOR BEING LGBT?
I was an Infantryman in the U.S. Army, and I
experienced discrimination on a daily basis. I
wasn’t worried about it, however, because I had
fellow soldiers, brothers-in-arms, who supported
me no matter what. I also know that if the people
who were discriminating against me would take
the time to get to know me, they’d end up being
my friend and supporting me as well. This always
seems to be the case, thank God, and I have al-
ways been blessed to have the opportunity to let
them see me as a person in addition to a member
of the LGBT community.
Photo by Horace Long
WHAT WAS THE BEST PART ABOUT COM-
ING OUT FOR YOU?
The best part of coming out for me was being
true to myself and letting my family know who
I am and not hiding anything from them in fear
of what they might say. I am fortunate enough
to still have their unconditional love regardless
of their thoughts about me coming out. More
importantly, I have my families love and their
respect for being who I am and not hiding it. I
also have the love and support of all of my close
friends who are also my family and that’s a price-
less blessing.§
February 2013
JustOut.com
39