From Just Out Publisher Marty Davis:
Effective December 26, 2011, Just Out newsmagazine, serving Portland’s LGBTQ community since 1983, is no longer in business.
Three years of recession have taken their toll.
Please direct all inquiries to Marty Davis at marty@justout.com. Thank you for your many years of readership and support.
The Clark County (Washington) Chamber of Commerce is facing criticism this week over emails sent out Wednesday asking members not to post listings pertaining to the LGBTQ community.
According to a petition posted at Change.org by La Center resident Richard Hartwell, the emails were not intended to go out to “general membership.” Regardless of the intended recipient(s), the message is the same: LGBTQ businesses are not welcome at the Clark County Chamber of Commerce.
Here’s the series of emails posted with the petition (emphasis added):
From: Clark County Chamber of Commerce
Date: Wed, Dec 21, 2011 at 7:25 PM
Subject: Member Update
To: (Name removed at recipients request)Dear (Name removed at recipients request)
In order to help maintain the integrity of our website, we ask that all members refrain from posting any listings that reference or involve the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community. We feel that that these businesses and listings have no place in Clark County.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: Clark County Chamber of Commerce
Date: Wed, Dec 21, 2011 at 7:30 PM
Subject: Member Update
To: (Name removed at recipients request)Dear (Name removed at recipients request)
In order to ensure the integrity of our website, we ask that all members refrain from listing any businesses that reference or involve the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community. We feel the website would be better if such immoral businesses stayed out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They then sent the following email:From: Clark County Chamber of Commerce
Date: Wed, Dec 21, 2011 at 8:21 PM
Subject: Member Update – correction
To: (Name removed at recipients request)
Dear (Name removed at recipients request)Our apologies, please disregard the earlier email and it was send to general membership in error.
Happy holidays,
Clark County Chamber of Commerce
The petition’s author requests an apology to the LGBTQ community, the Chamber’s membership and the general public. You can sign the petition here. Or contact the Chamber directly. Just Out will follow up on this story as it develops.
Ed. note: In the current issue of Just Out, contributor Alex Bryce conducts a Q&A with Charlie Hales, in the first in a three-part series with Portland’s mayoral candidates. The complete transcript follows. Pick up the January 13 issue for our interview with Jefferson Smith. In-depth endorsement interviews will follow February’s introduction to Eileen Brady.
As Portland’s 2012 mayoral race heats up, Just Out asked the three main candidates to introduce themselves to the LGBTQ community. First up is Charlie Hales, 55, a Portland citizen for more than 30 years and electee to the Portland City Council in 1992. After nearly a decade, he left public office to promote streetcars throughout the nation and was the first to announce his candidacy in the mayoral election. –Alex Bryce
Charlie Hales. Photo credit: Marty Davis
Just Out: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Charlie Hales: After graduating from the University of Virginia more than 30 years ago, I moved to Portland because I had heard about a beautiful, friendly city in the far-off Northwest.
Portland is a place where one person can make a difference. I quickly joined the Hayhurst Neighborhood Association. From there I was elected to three terms as a Portland City Commissioner, helping to steer Portland’s growth successfully by building partnerships, trust and a common vision for all Portlanders.
As a city commissioner, I took on difficult and sometimes controversial tasks like fighting for a new training program in the Portland Fire Bureau, ensuring that underrepresented communities had the same opportunities as any other potential firefighter. I worked to create a more livable Portland and thousands of family wage jobs through projects like the Portland Streetcar and the revitalization of the Pearl District and North Portland.
And as a senior vice president with HDR Engineering, I took Portland’s best ideas for neighborhood livability and introduced them to the rest of the country. At the same time I was able to see what good things cities throughout the nation have done so that I could bring them back to Portland.
I am a regular volunteer with Friends of Trees and the Portland Parks Foundation, a father, and the husband of a remarkable partner whom I had the privilege to marry —a privilege and a right I hope to see extended to all committed couples within my term as mayor.
JO: Why do you want to become mayor of Portland?
CH: I love Portland. This city is a beacon of openness and acceptance. We have put real thought into how to grow as a city and as an economy while maintaining our small-city feel, our focus on livability, and a genuine shared sense of community.
Our city needs experienced, passionate leadership now. I am the person who can bring people together and get things done.
JO: How would you define the role?
CH: Unlike in other cities, the mayor in Portland is a team player. As a former city commissioner, I understand this form of government—it’s had a lot to do with how Portland became the incredible city it is. However our city works best when we elect the right kinds of people to the council, including the mayor.
Ours is a government of coalition in which all members must work towards consensus. It is up to the mayor, as first among equals, to set the tone that will allow for the city council to productively work together. The mayor is also the city’s chief advocate, and can use the public nature of this position to bring awareness to issues ranging from AIDS testing to the need for improved public services in East Portland. In this way, the mayor can bring us together as a people, to act in our best interest as a community. So, the mayor has to be both visionary and a consensus-builder, and has to have the leadership and experience to make it happen.
JO: What key skills will you bring to the role?
CH: Leadership and experience. I am the only candidate who has both public and private experience. I worked as a Portland City Commissioner for nearly 10 years, building our first streetcar, improving our parks, and supporting the arts and public education, so I know how to succeed in our unique style of governance.
I have also managed a business for nearly 10 years, and worked in other successful cities. From Phoenix to Minneapolis, I’ve studied what works and doesn’t work, and am ready to bring those lessons back to Portland to move us forward. One of my mantras is “have a vision and make the speech, but then go get it done.” I have a lifetime of experience in doing just that.
One of Portland’s leading real estate developers, and the CEO of Astor Pacific, is still managing to climb up the civic ladder. Robert Ball was recently promoted from Reserve Captain in the Portland Police Bureau to Reserve Commander, the highest rank a reserve officer can achieve. Ball was promoted during a ceremony last night at the Portland Building.
Ball, who has previously been awarded the Police Medal and was one of the founding donors for Q Center, has volunteered with PPB for the past 16 years.
“It means a great deal to me that Chief [Mike] Reese and the rest of the bureau’s management have confidence in me and my abilities,” says Ball. “I am deeply grateful.”
Among Ball’s accomplishments within the bureau over the past year was his leadership of a workgroup to spearhead an effort to change state law so that “reserve officer” would be included in the definition of a “peace officer.” After establishing a statewide coalition to support the change, HB 3153 passed unanimously through the Legislature and was signed into law by Governor John Kitzhaber in July. Because of this change, 1,300 reserve officers statewide now have the same protections under law as full-time officers.
Ball says he is looking forward to growing the bureau’s newly established Portland Police Reserve Officer’s Foundation—a nonprofit that raises money to support reserve officers by reimbursing them for uniforms, equipment, training, recognition and awards, and other costs associated with providing free police services to the City of Portland.
Ball also hopes that his continued leadership will help pave a way for other LGBTQ citizens to feel welcomed by the law enforcement community.
“I hope the entire LGBTQ community knows the police bureau is a welcoming and accepting place for our community,” says Ball. “I [also] hope that other gay and lesbian community members consider a career in law enforcement with the bureau.”
Over the last year, CAUSA—Oregon’s Immigrant Rights Coalition—has stepped up its alliance work with the LGBT community. To highlight those efforts, CAUSA is hosting a Coming Out Party Thursday, December 8 at The Slate (2001 NW 19th Ave. #104) from 6 to 8 p.m. The party will showcase the importance and history behind creating alliances and conversations between the LGBT and Latino communities.
CAUSA’s work to integrate LGBT issues into its agenda has included bringing queer DREAM Act activist Yahaira Carillo to speak at its annual membership assembly, as well as organizing equality assemblies where LGBT Latinos gave personal testimony on discriminatory experiences. CAUSA has also partnered with Basic Rights Oregon to build support for the freedom to marry in Oregon.
“We have a long-standing relationship with LGBT organizations such as Basic Rights Oregon and [the] Rural Organizing Project, because it made sense strategically and politically,” says Aeryca Steinbauer, special projects coordinator for CAUSA. “Immigrant and LGBT communities have both faced attacks on our basic rights at the ballot in Oregon, and we needed to come together to protect our communities.”
The party will include live music by Xavier y Su Banda Clasica, as well as jazz and Broadway tunes from David Hastings. Emcees are El Hispanic News publisher Melanie Davis, and Star Empress 34 FabuLanzaa. Wine, beer, non-alcoholic beverages and hors d’ouevres will also be served.
Steinbauer is positive that the event will serve as a testament to CAUSA’s committed work ethic, and the reinforcement of bridges built with the LGBTQ community.
“Even though we’ve taken action in support of LGBT equality for years, we feel this year was our ‘Coming Out’ year because we started our work for LGBT equality in a more integrated, public way,” says Steinbauer. “The Coming Out Party will be a fun time to celebrate this work and recognize the leadership and contributions of LGBT Latinos and Latinas.”
Tickets to the Coming Out Party are $15 in advance, and $25 at the door. Advance tickets are available by visiting causaoregon.org.
