living out
BY SALLY SHEKLOW
letters
TO THE EDITOR
REPAIR MAKES SENSE
Comic Consciousness
Queer is the new normal
R
emember when “queer” was an insult? I
guess you can still use it if you’re feeling
particularly retro, but in general most
people are kinda over it. All those years of
outing ourselves and parading through town
chanting “We’re here, we’re queer, get used
to it!” pretty much worked.
Oh sure, rabid homophobes are still out
there committing hate crimes. But let’s not
dwell on the backward thinkers who continue
to rail against equality. For just a few minutes,
could we please ignore the bigotry-denying
power-suited patriots who condone as “hijinks”
brutal assaults on gay kids? Other than our
potential president and those other persistent pockets
of prejudice, most folks have moved on.
Thanks to the legions of brave souls who’ve risked it all to reveal who they
are, when someone you know (or idolize) comes out queer it isn’t all that
shocking any more. Queer is the new normal.
Well, not exactly normal. Not under the law, at least, for one teensy
weensy example. But the wheels turning toward full equality are in motion.
We’re getting there. Meanwhile, queerness is everywhere and getting more
normal every day.
Look around. LGBTQ people are participating in every normal institution
— the media, the military, education, religion and, despite all-out bans in 31 of
our 50 not-quite-United States, marriage. Queer couples are getting married
all the time, even though our marriages have yet to be federally recognized.
But with the recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that The Defense
of Marriage Act, aka marriage discrimination, is unconstitutional, even those
walls are a’tumbling down.
We are moving forward fast. Latest news is queers are now offi cially
normal enough to be represented in mainstream comic books. Yes, folks,
when we say “We are everywhere,” we do mean everywhere. Everywhere, I
am thrilled but not surprised to learn, now includes Archie comics, bastion
of normal American life. Yep, now we’re here, queer and used to it in good
old Riverdale, home to those über-wholesome archetypes: Archie, Jughead,
Betty and Veronica. Can you get more normal than that?
In Life with Archie, issue #16, the popular and out gay character, Kevin
Keller, marries his boyfriend Clay. Their interracial military wedding is a gaga
gay gala presented as, you guessed it, utterly — if not fabulously — normal.
Looks like the doomsday America’s gay-fearing zealots have been warning
us about has arrived. Chicken Little’s sky has fallen. Children are learning
that, horror of horrors, queer people are a normal part of our communities
— real-life or illustrated. Naturally, the anti-gay One Million Moms group has
called for a boycott, but that only makes Archie readers clamor for more.
No sooner was the boycott announced than Kevin and Clay’s wedding issue
sold out.
“Kevin will always be a major part of Riverdale, and we’re overjoyed,
honored and humbled by the response to this issue,” says Jon Goldwater, co-
CEO of Archie comics. “Our fans have come out full force to support Kevin.
He is, without a doubt, the most important new character in Archie history.
He’s here to stay.”
We can’t be stopped now.
Award-winning writer Sally Sheklow has been here, queer and getting Eugene Weekly readers used to it
since 1999.
The kids, groceries, potting soil…
Take it all with you.
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Child seats, cargo bags, electric assist.
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4
AUGUST 2, 2012
EUGENE WEEKLY
We moved to Eugene in November
of 2007 because of its arts, culture and
outdoors. We also liked the philosophy of
“reduce, reuse, recycle.”
I read with interest Mark Gillem’s
article [7/19] on 4J school consolidations.
It seems that not only does it make sense
to refurbish existing schools instead of
demolishing (sending to the landfi ll) and
starting all over, but it is actually $100
million cheaper. HELLO.
As we searched for a home here in
Eugene, it struck me that there was a lot
of “deferred maintenance” throughout the
city. Indeed, the house we ended up buying
turned out to be one of these “opportunities”
— so it doesn’t surprise me that the schools
face the same situation.
The Eugene Chamber held one of
its Business After Hours events at the
Northwest Youth Corp building last year.
Architects were there to show us around
and explain the before and after of the
building. It was extremely well done —
beautiful and functional.
It makes sense to refurbish these
schools, adding “repair” to the popular
moniker above.
Kim Kelly
Eugene
WASTE NOT
If any of your readers usually has just
one garbage pick-up monthly, they may
be interested in this: If their neighborhood
has a choice between Sanipac, Lane Apex
and/or Royal Refuse, then this may be their
order of preference. For close to a decade
we’ve used Sanipac. I can’t remember ever
having a problem, so good job, noble waste
workers!
However, our neighborhood (City View
area) can choose among any of those three
haulers, so I gave everyone a call about
price.
It turns out only Sanipac is willing to
pick up our garbage on a once-a-month
basis. (If we have any extra garbage that
month, we can call them.) Lane Apex
minimum is every other week. Royal
requires paying for weekly pick-up. So if
you have a small household that lowers
your waste stream enough, the price
differences can be more than triple.
Let’s go deeper on recycling. As
everyone should know, you can’t
commingle certain things (e.g., bottle
caps). But Master Recycler Dale Kegley
escorted me to the Glenwood Receiving
Station to show me where to put fl otsam
and jetsam. It’s a neat place to visit. For
example, a diabetic family member has
to dispose needles, and the friendly folks
there showed us which free laundry soap
containers work perfectly for that medical
waste.
Thanks to everyone who understands
that environmental devastation mandates
an unprecedented response.
David W. Oaks
Eugene
thought the OVE presenters were extremely
patient and thoughtful, the crowd not so
much. There was an appalling amount of
fear of the homeless, and prejudice against
them, expressed at the meeting. People were
often rude and belligerent, interrupting and
heckling speakers. I wondered if this is
now considered acceptable public meeting
behavior among the middle class.
I also wondered why they think
homeless people are dangerous, and if they
have any idea how scary it is to be homeless,
especially for women, families, the old
and disabled. Recently I talked to a middle-
aged homeless man, disabled with the use
of only one arm and leg. Last month he was
attacked on the street by men who took all
of his belongings, including his wheelchair.
Housing is a human right, and Eugene
has to provide it to the homeless. If every
neighborhood in Eugene says “not in my
backyard,” there will be no place to put
OVE. That’s not acceptable.
Lynn Porter
Eugene
COAL TRAIN HYPE
All the hype about coal trains passing
through Eugene is a distraction from
more important issues and has become a
bandwagon cause. I really like the photo
(twice-used) of the UO Climate Justice
League-kids standing by the Autzen
footbridge on Union Pacifi c’s tracks
wearing capes, with their hands on their
hips like they’re Superman about to stop a
speeding train.
What the young students have failed
to realize is that no coal will be rolling
anywhere near campus because coal
comes from Wyoming, not California or
Arizona, and so will be coming via the
Columbia River Gorge and Portland, not
from Oakridge, Springfi eld and the east
side of Eugene. Coal trains will enter
Eugene’s train yard (known as a toxic place
already) along the Northwest Expressway,
take a sharp curve on the way before
even crossing underneath Chambers, and
roll west from there through an already
heavily industrialized west Eugene, never
stalling cars for hours in the Whiteaker
like everyone thinks, or making all the kids
on campus cover their faces whenever the
wind blows and fear the very solidity of the
ground they walk on.
The new route to Coos Bay could
actually have some short-term positive
effects, like help to upgrade those tracks
and therefore stimulate the local economy
around here and in Florence and Coos Bay
(Amtrak to the Coast anyone?). Perhaps
a better angle of attack for the No Coal!-
trendsters would be the dredging of Coos
Bay and how that will affect the ecosystem,
or how the water quality at Fern Ridge may
be impacted. But in light of everything else
already out there happening, this whole
coal thing is just a drop in the bucket;
personally, I can’t wait for the coal train to
arrive.
Aaron Dactyl
Eugene
FEAR OF THE HOMELESS
I attended the July 24 public meeting at
Cesar Chavez School on the Opportunity
Village Eugene (OVE) proposed for the
empty fi eld north of 14th near the school. I
DON’T CONFINE GOATS
I’m all for the local food movement,
having been a small part of the local
farming community for the last 12 years.
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