PSU Magazine Fall 1993

O' Brien's stuJy showed. Those who re li ed o n alco ho l we re mo re likely to put off the J c ision to practice safe r ·ex. The fac t that O'Brien ga the r and distributes thi s kind of info rma tion in a public way ra the r than publishing onl y in academic journ als has made her a famili ar face in Portland 's gay male community. Her photograph is on the Po rtl and Men 's S tudy brochures that h ave been wid ely di tributed, and she is recognized even in grocery check-o ut lines. O' Brien says the fac t he is a woman may have h elped in ge tting an enthu – siasti c respo nse, given the homophobi a some men have toward gay . "If I we re a h ete rosexual man, gay and bi ex ual men might rightly que - tion wh y I was do ing thi and might be reluctant to pa rtic ipa te," she ·ays. "On the o the r hand , I think it is hel pful ju t be ing a pe rson with a good ea r. " O' Brien fir t became in volved in th e study of gay men and the AID c risis in 1983 before HIV was identified. It wa a time when the ri k fo r contracting AIDS were no t clea rly known , and fo r many in the academic community, th e me re study of rhe gay male culture was roo conrrove r·ia l. ome culleagues re isred he r work, hut nor eno ugh to keep it from go ing fo rwa rd . The fac t tha t O' Brien chose to teach a t P U is as much due ro he r own roots as it is the fac t th a t Po rtland provides rhe kind of urban la boratory tha t she needs in ·tud ying gay culture, which itse lf i · predominantl y urban . She grew up in t. Lo uis, whe re h er fa ther earned a Ph.D. in psychology from an urban schoo l- t. Lo uis Unive rsity. O' Brien ventured west afte r high schoo l to a ttend th e Uni versity of O regon. It was th e re she became inte r– ested in humani sti c psycho logy, but eve ntuall y rece ived he r bac helo r's degree at U nive rsity of Ca lifo rnia a t Santa C ruz. She spent a yea r in an Fra ncisco fo ll owing graduation , then went no rth to study at the U n iver ·ity of Mi chigan 's Research Cente r fo r Group Dyn amics. There she received he r maste r's degree in 1983 and he r doctorate in 1987. She ays she came to PSU because it is a place where he r resea rch could make both a pract ica l contri but ion to the community, and an impo rta nt theore tica l contri bution to th e c ien – tifi c literature. "It's not onl y th a t it's an urban uni ve rsity, but it's not a place like Boston whe re you have 20 oth er unive rsities in the ame c ity. W e have severa l fin e uni ve r ities and co lleges in Portland , but we have plenty of room ava il able fo r a resea rcher to use the community as a laboratory. It' no t too crowdeJ our there," he say . O' Brien hopes to continue with th e tud y to t rack the ch anges among the gay and bi ex ual male popula tio n . G iven the fac t that the ra te of inc rease in the spread of AIDS in the United rates is slowing, any informa tion she ca n get-and give back- wi ll h elp. D (John Kirkland, a Portland freelance writer, is a regular con tribuwr ta PS U Magazine. Paul DahlqLtist shows his work at Phowgraphic Image Gallery in Portland and Benham Studio Gallery in Seattle.)