Year End 2002-- QUEER WINDOW

[December 31st, 2002] 2002 has been a mixed fag bag. Think about it. Not only did we see the return of pop diva Kylie Minogue , but we also bore witness to the birth of a pop divo: flamboyant designer Bobby Trendy . Alongside the stellar Todd Haynes homo film Far From Heaven, we got the sophomorically gay-baiting Jackass the Movie . And who could forget the horrific glee of Liza Minnelli's wedding to David Gest, as well as my own soap opera surrounding the Damon Woodcock case? Like I said, it's been a weird year. Here's just some of the stuff that got my nipples in a knot.

The Advocate magazine reported that more men are having sex with other men . Up a whopping 2 percent from '88, it's a sign that gay recruitment has finally caught on in the suburbs.

Rosie O'Donnell finally came out, quit her job and then ended her career by going crazy. Jeez, who could have predicted that? Well, at least when she outed herself in her March interview with Diane Sawyer, she introduced the world to the Lofton-Croteau family, who live in Portland. Fighting a good fight in the arena of gay adoptive rights, Steven Lofton and Roger Croteau have become role models for gays and non-gays alike.

In September, The New York Times gave the go-ahead to running same-sex commitment ceremonies on its Styles page. Only three months later, we now have the incredible honor of paying for a local queer "wedding" announcement in The Oregonian . I guess real progress comes with a price tag.

A queer man co-hosted Oregon's most controversial gubernatorial debate, "Jabbin' at the Aladdin ." That queer man was me. Now you know why this state is in so much trouble.

The queer movement lost one of its pioneers when Harry Hay , one of the major architects of the modern gay-rights movement and the genius behind the first successful gay-rights organization, the Los Angeles-based Mattachine Society, died peacefully in his sleep on Oct. 24 at the age of 90.

Talk about incredible timing. At the end of August, President Bush got to spend the night at Portland's Hilton Hotel with more than 2,000 bat-wielding homos who were in town for the Gay Softball World Series. Have you noticed he's been walking funny ever since?

In a political first, U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith courted the queer vote with a heartstring-plucking television campaign featuring the mother of hate-crime victim Matthew Shepard. Although it looked like he was rallying behind us, the fact is Mr. Smith--who stated, "One needn't agree with all of the goals of the gay community to help it achieve fair treatment in our society"--failed to give us the courtesy of a reach-around. Go figure.

W magazine ended a fluff piece on P-town by "outing" our dear Mayor Vera as a dyke. Too bad nobody told her she was a big lesbo. Just imagine all the cute outfits she could have bought for her Weight Watcher-sponsored coming-out potlucks.

Oregon vs. Ciancanelli stripped strippers from showing their private parts. Porn lovers everywhere are weeping into their PBR.

And last, but not least, Catholic priests. The pope and Catholic bishops were forced to acknowledge what folks have been whispering about for years--certain parish priests can't break the habit of kneeling down at the altar of boys. The year culminated with the resignation of Boston archbishop Cardinal Bernard Law, the highest-ranking U.S. church official to be swept up in this nasty mess. Yikes!