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VOL 1 No. 2
March 2012
TRANS
TRAILBLAZER
AMY INVISIBLE DEFUNKT’S SASHA
RAY QUEERS ‘FIRE ISLAND’ BUCHERT
Photo by Xilia Faye, pq monthly
SHY
GUY
ISAIAH TILLMAN
• March 2012
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erin rook
SPRING! SPRING! SPRING!
Photo by Xilia Faye, PQ Monthly
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Ah, glorious springtime in the Pacific Northwest. Blossoming trees, chicks hatching in our neighbors’ hand-built coops, the occasional snowfall
(?!?!), and queer newspapers shooting up seemingly out of nowhere.
PQ Monthly officially launched February 16 with our first print issue and a launch party at the Jupiter Hotel —not to mention our after-shindig
at Crush (which, come to think of it, might have been an appropriate name for the launch party; we were packed in like super sexy sardines!). The
excitement expressed by the community at the event was wonderful and overwhelming. It felt like a big family gathering, except with professional
photographers and way fewer alcohol-fueled arguments.
We are so grateful to all who attended — and to everyone who has provided feedback about our first issue on social media, our website (pqmonthly.
com), and via email. Keep the suggestions, critiques, and questions coming!
We at PQ Monthly are well aware that at times there will be disagreements over what we should cover, whose opinions should receive ink, and what
our role is as an advocate for the queer community and its institutions. We want to make it clear that we view it as our obligation to be a voice for the
community’s opinions and concerns — both majority and minority. Inclusion of a particular person’s or group’s viewpoint is not an indication that
PQ Monthly’s writers, owner, sales people, or other staff share that opinion.
Switching gears back to the subject of celebration, we just didn’t get enough of our beautiful people at the launch party. We want face time with y’all
on a regular basis, so we’ll be throwing a PQ Press Party the third Thursday of every month, which also happens to be the day you can get your hands
on freshly-printed copies of PQ Monthly. Our first PQ Press Party will be March 15, 5 p.m.-8 p.m., at the Local Lounge (3536 NE Martin Luther King Jr
Blvd, Portland). See our Facebook page (please “like” us if you haven’t already!) for details on this and all upcoming get-togethers. The locations will
rotate and some will be all-ages events.
We hope to see you there or somewhere outside on the occasional sunshiny day as we all begin to emerge from our caves.
lynda Wilkinson
The PQ Monthly Team
Staff Writer
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T. 503.228.3139 ext. 312
daniel borgen
Staff Writer
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nick mattos
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izzy ventura
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proudqueer.com
A SMATTERING OF WHAT YOU’LL FIND INSIDE:
Trans trailblazer Sasha Buchert..................................................................................................................... page 9
Samantha Swaim rides 545 miles for a cause............................................................................................. page 10
Love and marriage equality: Kelly and Sam’s story................................................................................... page 13
Business profile: As You Like It pleasure shop.............................................................................................. page 13
Invisible queers: We’re here and, yes, we’re queer.................................................................................... page 14
Dancer Isaiah Tillman’s demure off-stage demeanor................................................................................ page 20
Two innovative artists dish on being creative in the Rose City................................................................... page 27
Amy Ray on ‘Lung of Love’ and her Northwest ties..................................................................................... page 24
Jean Fogel Zee: idealist, struggler, dancer.................................................................................................. page 28
Columns: The Comeback Kid; Whiskey & Sympathy; The Lady Chronicles; Rain City; Eat, Drink, and Be Mary;
Cultivating Life; and Kathy Belge on Dinah Shore Weekend
Brilliant Media LLC, DBA El Hispanic NEws & PQ Monthly.
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Plus Query a Queer, Astroscopes with Miss Renee, This Month in Queer History, End Up Tales … and more!
March 2012 • NEWS BRIEFS
Family law for all families
Mark Johnson Roberts
Past president, National LGBT Bar
Association; founder/past president,
Oregon Gay and Lesbian Law
Association; past president,
Oregon State Bar
O R E G O N X S.W. WASHINGTON
503.227.1515 360.823.0410 GevurtzMenashe.com
• March 2012
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March 2012 • NEWS BRIEFS
NEWS BRIEFS
NEWS BRIEFS
BREVITY ROCKS! NEWS FROM NEAR AND FAR
LOCAL
trans issues and terminology, but people of all knowledge levels are welcome.
About 30 people held a candelight vigil under the Morrison Bridge on the eastside March 10 to raise awareness
about the plight of Portland’s homeless after two men were
shot while the slept in that spot last month, according to
the Portland Mercury. The men, Carter Hickman and Albert
Dean, both survived, though Hickman is still in the hospital and Dean’s whereabouts are unknown. The Willamette
Week reports that the two men, who usually stay at the Right
2 Dream Too shelter, are believed to be a couple.
Amy Ruiz, former communications director at City Hall
will be promoted to deputy
chief of staff to Mayor Sam
Adams effective March 19.
Replacing her will be former
culture and communications
policy advisor Caryn Brooks.
Brooks’s position will be filled
by Tomi Douglas Anderson,
the former marketing director
Amy Ruiz
at Seattle’s Experience Music
Project and one-time executive director for the New York
Gay Men’s Chorus.
Ernesto Domínguez
About 30 Latino high
school students learned
about LGBTQ issues March 9
at a seminar on “The Alphabet Soup of Sexual Minority Youth” at Western Oregon
University. Speakers included
Ariel Cerrud, Ernesto Domínquez, and Ismael Meda. It was
one of two-dozen seminars
offered as part of the 22nd
César Chávez Leadership
Conference.
The Queer Students of Color Conference begins at
Portland State University on April 13. The conference provides resources, leadership, training, and skill building
through workshops that address the unique issues affecting Queer Students of Color and their communities they
occupy. Allies are welcome. Registration is $10 and can
be completed at sites.google.com/site/qusocc/home. The
conference is also looking for performers for its variety
hour. Email [email protected] by March 26 if
you’re interested.
Healthcare providers and community members will
come together to discuss LGBTQ health issues March 30 at
the Meaningful Care Conference. Workshop topics include
primary care for rural Oregonians, social service needs for
transgender children and youth, LGBTQ and queer people
of color domestic violence survivors, and mental health
care for people with HIV/AIDS. Register online at oregonlgbtqhealth.com/mcc.
After the Meaningful Care Conference whets yours
whistle, learn more about trans health from Dean Spade,
April 6 at OHSU. The presentation, intended for health
care providers and advocates, will address trans healthcare needs, obstacles, and approaches to addressing
those obstacles. Spade is the founder of the Silvia Riveras Law Project and co-author of “Medical Therapy
and Health Maintenance for Transgender Men.” The
presentation assumes a basic level of awareness about
• March 2012
Lewis & Clark has opened a low-cost Community
Counseling Center dedicated to serving African American, Spanish-speaking, and LGBTQQI communities who
are experiencing mental health, addiction, and relationship issue. Services are provided by counselor and therapist trainees on a sliding scale from $10-$50 per sessions.
To schedule an appointment, call 503-768-6320.
The Oregon Coalition Against
Domestic And Sexual Violence
(OCADSV ) has named Vanessa
Timmons as its new executive
director. She had more than 20
years experience as an advocate
and writer and was most recently
employed as domestic violence
program development specialVanessa Timmons
ist for the Multnomah County
Domestic Violence Coordination
Office. Timmons is also a survivor and the author of “The
Way of the Heroine: A Women’s Healing Journal.”
La Gra nde Mayor Da niel
Pokorney apologized February 20 for the tone of anti-gay
remarks he made on Facebook
the previous week, according
to The Le Grande Observer. The
posts, which compared Washing ton State to Sodom a nd
Gomorrah and called samesex unions an “abomination,”
sparked Eastern Oregon UniverDaniel Pokorney
sity students to arrange a forum
with the mayor. In addition to apologizing for his “choice
of words,” he said that he doesn’t hate anyone.
Marriage equality supporters in Washington won a
battle to remove the phrase “redefine marriage” from Referendum 74, a ballot measure brought by opponents of
same-sex marriage. Opponents have until June 6 to collect
120,577 valid voter signatures to get the referendum on the
November ballots. In the meantime, Washington United
for Marriage is trying to get an equal (or greater) number
of pledges in support of marriage equality. Pledge online
at washingtonunitedformarriage.org.
Pride NW is hosting its first “annual” spring fundraiser
March 29: An Evening with the Portland Mayoral Candidates. While not intended to be a debate or forum, guests
will have the opportunity to chat the three of the candidates: Eileen Brady, Charlie Hales, and Jefferson Smith.
Tickets are available at pridenw.org.
Q Center will host a forum on May 1 called “Meet
the Candidates 2012 – The Search for Portland’s Next
Mayor.” The “casual and intimate forum is open to all
official candidates and will be moderated by Q Center
Executive Director Barbara McCullough-Jones. Community members are encouraged to send questions for
the candidates to [email protected] with the subject
“Candidate Forum.”
NATIONAL
Freedom to Work is putting pressure on President Barack
Obama to sign an executive order banning anti-LGBTQ
employment discrimination at companies that take fed-
eral contracts. According to the organization, 22 percent of
all jobs are supported by these contracts. Freedom to Work
has created a petition that has been signed by more than
100,000 people. Add your signature at Change.org.
The American Bar Association is seeking nominations
for its first-ever LGBT awards. The Stonewall Awards will
honor lawyers who have successfully championed LGBT
legal causes. Nominations are due by May 31 and can be
submitted via the ABA’s website, americanbar.org. The
ABA Commission on Sexual and Gender Identity will present the awards February 2013 at the ABA Midyear Meeting in Dallas.
Outgoing Human Rights
Campaign President Joe Solmonese has been tapped by
the Obama campaign to serve
as one of 35 national cochairs. Others include Senate
Assistant Majority Leader Dick
Durbin (D-Ill.), Sen. Jeanne
Shaheen (D-N.H.), Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Chicago Mayor Rahm
Emmanuel and actress Eva
Longoria. Replacing Solmonese at HRC will be 38-yearJoe Salmonese
old Chad Griffin. Griffin, who
founded the American Foundation for Equal Rights, is a
national communications and political strategist.
WORLD
The governor of St. Petersburg, Russia passed a law
in February banning the promotion of LGBTQ identities
among minors. Advocates are concerned that the law is an
effort to silence the queer community. Violation of the law
results in fines for individuals and business. According to
PinkNews, at least 100,000 people how vowed to boycott
the city in responses to the new law.
In preparation for the 2012 London Olympic Games, volunteers are undergoing diversity and inclusion training. As
part of that training, volunteers must take a quiz that asks how
they would handle situations involving gay couples and individuals whose gender they cannot identify. It also addresses
scenarios involving Muslims and people with disabilities.
Australian radio presenter Suzanna McGill has come
under fire for provider voiceover talent for an anti-gay television ad put out by Bob Katter of Katter’s Australian Party.
McGill will be off the air until the matter has been investigated by the station she works for, ABC. Meanwhile, Katter’s gay half-brother Karl has put out an ad of his own,
responding the homophobia in Bob’s attack on Liberal
National Party leader Campbell Newman.
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March 2012 • • March 2012
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NEWS
SASHA BUCHERT SURPRISED TO LEARN
SHE’S A TRANSGENDER TRAILBLAZER
Erin Rook
PQ Monthly
Sasha Buchert is one lucky lady. Not only
does she get paid to do work she is passionate about, she recently broke ground as the
first openly transgender person appointed
to a state advisory board.
She had initially applied for an appointment on the newly created Oregon Health
Authority Task Force. Buchert, 45, didn’t
make the cut, but her resume stayed on file.
When a vacancy opened up on the Oregon
State Hospital Advisory Board, she was recommended for the position, and ultimately
appointed by Gov. John Kitzhaber.
“It was definitely a little bit of a surprise,”
she says. “I feel honored, and it’s definitely
going to be a challenge.”
Buchert, who works as the communications manager for Basic Rights Oregon,
says she was unaware of her apparent trailblazing status until a member of the media
brought it up. And even then, she found it
hard to believe she was the first.
“It came to my attention because somebody from Willamette Week contacted me.
He asked me if I was the first transgender person [to be appointed]. I told him
I didn’t think so. I figured Laura Calvo or
somebody would have served on a board
at some point,” Buchert says. But a check
with the Governor’s office confirmed it. “It’s
an honor for sure if that’s true. But it’s kind
of sad that in 2012 I’m the first.”
The work of the committee — reviewing the laws and regulations that impact
safety, patient care, and security at the psychiatric hospital and making recommendations for improvements — sits at the inter-
Sasha Buchert is the first openly transgender person to be appointed to a state advisory board.
section of Buchert’s experiences, making
it a clear fit.
“It dovetails nicely with the advocacy
experience I have working at the hospital. I
care deeply about mental health and having
access to appropriate healthcare,” Buchert
says. “It also dovetails pretty nicely with the
advocacy work I’ve been doing with Basic
Rights Oregon’s trans justice working group,
working to remove healthcare exclusions
for trans Oregonians.”
Buchert graduated from Willamette University’s law school in 2005 and spent a year
working as an advocate for OSH patients
through the Oregon Advocacy Center.
Though not currently practicing law, she
sits on BRO’s legal advisory group and has
Photo by Xilia Faye, PQ Monthly
given presentations on the organization’s
Know Your Rights Guide.
“I think that [law] is something that’s
a lifetime career for me. Eventually I’d
like to branch off a little bit more and I
guess I’ll cross that bridge when I come
to it. I am really enjoying the work I’m
doing right now with BRO,” Buchert says,
adding that she would love to integrate
her communications and legal skills into
a profession.
She clearly has an iron in both those
fires.
In addition to her work with BRO and the
advisory board, Buchert volunteers with Q
Center as a liaison between Q Center and
Gender Queery, a monthly support group
open to anyone interested in talking about
gender-related issues, and is a member of
Q Patrol.
She also maintains Resources PDX
on the center’s website, which provides
health and other resources for transgender and gender non-conforming folk sand
hosts KBOO’s queer radio show “OUTLOUD.”
Through all of these community engagements, she has chosen to be out. But she
realizes not everyone can be.
“It’s two-pronged issue right? I do feel
like there’s a responsibility to be out. I’m
proud and I think being transgender is
beautiful,” Buchert says. “[But] even in the
People’s Republic of Portland, it can be a
very hostile situation, especially for children and students. I wouldn’t begrudge
anyone for not coming out.”
Still, she believes the community needs
more leaders like Janet Mock (the People.
com editor who recently publicly came
out as transgender). Or, one could easily
argue, like Buchert. Out LGBTQ people play
an important role in changing hearts and
minds, she says, by letting people know
“we are your family, your neighbors, [and]
your friends.”
“Doing this work has been extremely
empowering for me and it has enabled me
to transition a lot faster than I would haven
been able to without doing this work,”
Buchert says. “The more of this work I do,
the more confident and comfortable I have
felt about who I am, and proud of who I
am. [Seeing] my struggle as part of a larger
struggle — it’s a human rights struggle. It
helps forge understandings of other struggles.”
GEORGE FOX ALUMS SPEAK OUT AGAINST ANTI-LGBTQ POLICIES
By Erin Rook
PQ Monthly
A group of LGBT alumni and allies of
George Fox University are calling on administrators to re-examine the school’s policies
around homosexuality.
OneGeorgeFox, the alumni group, published an open letter March 1 calling for
greater support for LGBTQ students at the
Christian university.
The letter specifically calls on George
Fox administrators to change the policy
on “Sexual Purity,” which makes engaging
in sexual activity outside of heterosexual
marriage a punishable offense.
“Like heterosexual people, most of us
have a very basic human need for the emotional intimacy and physical affection that
comes from a committed relationship. Consequently, making acceptance of LGBTQ
pqmonthly.com
people within the George Fox community contingent on celibacy is not loving
or responsible,” the letter, which has been
signed by more than 200 alumni, states. “We
are not asking for permission to live ‘a promiscuous gay lifestyle.’ We want a spouse.
We want a family. We want romance! And
we deserve a community that accepts us
and will nurture our relationships and our
families.”
Paul Southwick, a gay 2005 graduate and
cofounder of OneGeorgeFox, says that he
and two other alums — Travis Shafer and
Appeals Court Judge Darleen Ortega — had
expressed their concerns to administrators
privately, but were spurred to action when
a suicidal gay student was referred to them
by faculty at the end of last year.
“We sensed an urgency that something
needed to be done to create a safer place
for students,” Southwick says.
The university responded online one
week later with a statement affirming its
commitment to treating everyone with dignity, apologizing for hurting anyone’s feelings, and reiterating its position that marriage is limited to heterosexual couples. The
statement did not address the university’s
policies for students or faculty.
Because professors could lose their jobs
for “supporting homosexuality,” Southwick
says, allied faculty members are hesitant to
sign the letter and are unable to make themselves known as a safe person for LGBTQ
student.
In addition to the letter (which has more
than 250 signatures), the OneGeorgeFox
website features alumni perspectives,
news, and resources. But that is just the soft
launch. The group’s big coming out party
was a March 14 event featuring recently out
Christian musician Jennifer Knapp and Gay
Christian Network director Justin Lee.
The event came out of an attempt to balance a speaker the university is hosting earlier that day — Christopher Yuan. Yuan is
an ex-gay minister who promotes the idea
of “holy sexuality” (as opposed to heteroor homo-), which essentially amounts to
marriage for straight folks and celibacy for
gays.
What make him an expert? According to
his blog, while Yuan attended dental school,
“he began living promiscuously as a homosexual and experimenting with illicit drugs.
Within a few years, he was expelled from
dental school, imprisoned for drug dealing,
and discovered that he was HIV positive.”
Yuan talks about how he transformed
from “what many would consider their
worst nightmare” to living a life of celibacy
and singleness.
george fox page 18
March 2012 • NEWS
SAMANTHA SWAIM RIDES 545 MILES FOR A CAUSE
Kristin Steele (left) and Samantha Swaim get some moral support on the trail.
Daniel Borgen
PQ Monthly
As the architect behind some of the city’s most
successful fundraisers, you probably recognize
her name. If you’ve had the pleasure of attending one of her perfectly executed events, you’ve
surely seen her face. Through all that organizing
and orchestrating, she mingles with guests, serving as any given function’s consummate host.
While providing vital services that keep many
of our city’s and state’s important non-profits up
and running, Samantha Swaim and her partner,
Kristin Steele — they also happen to be college
sweethearts — are cycling activists, leading the
Portland contingent of California-based AIDS
LifeCycle this June.
First, a little background: LifeCycle — which
raises money for HIV/AIDS services and awareness — is a grueling seven-day journey that takes
riders from San Francisco to Los Angeles, a 545mile trek. Yes, 545 miles — not your typical jaunt
from the eastside to your favorite downtown coffeehouse.
And, up until last year, Samantha had never
even been on a bike.
“For three years, one of my dear friends inspired
me with his journey to train, ride, and raise funds
for AIDS LifeCycle,” she explains. “Every year I
would watch from the sidelines as he did this
incredibly inspirational thing and became part
of this beautiful community that raised massive
amounts of money and awareness around an
issue I think has become far too quiet.”
Cycling in general is no breezy task, let alone
embarking on a hundreds-mile trek. Samantha
determined to channel her inspiration into participation.
“I was not an athlete, was obese, and couldn’t
imagine doing much more than donating,” she
recalls. “But as the ninth ride kicked off, I decided it
was time to change that and I registered to participate in the next ride, and Kristin jumped on board
to do it with me. I spent a year losing 70 pounds,
getting comfortable on a bike, and peddling lots of
miles with an amazing team of other riders. Every
day was a challenge, but at the end of each challenge I felt like I was part of something much bigger
10 • March 2012
than myself. I was on top of the world.”
And, for Samantha and Kristin, the personal
connection only grows. “For every mile I ride, I
receive another story from a friend who comes
out as positive, who shares their loss of so many
that they loved,” Samantha says. “So it is to these
people that I ride in tribute. Kristin and I ride
with the names of those we love who are positive
or who have been lost to this disease. It inspires
us to do more.”
Of course, these sorts of long-distance rides
don’t happen without an incredible amount of
effort — training, preparation, practice runs.
Presently, Samantha rides once a week with her
current team. Each Sunday, they embark on 4050 mile rides. As the big event approaches, those
practice rides get longer, ending with a century
ride up the side of Mt. Hood.
“By then, we’re ready for anything,” she says.
Let’s face it — most of us can’t fathom the idea
of such an intense physical challenge. We can
imagine what it might be like, boast an intellectual, fact-based understanding, but there’s nothing like first-hand experience.
“Every day begins early,” Samantha explains.
“Typically we wake up around 4 a.m. to get
dressed, have a large breakfast, and pack up our
gear. We are on our bikes and heading out by 6:30.
There is this incredible infrastructure of volunteers — Roadies — who mark the course, direct
traffic, feed you, support repairs, and service
every possible need you might have. It becomes
a moving city with rest stops every 20 miles, a
lunch stop, and a campground at the end of each
night. Every day you ride, you eat amazing food,
you drink lots of Powerade and water, and you
climb mountains. Big mountains!”
And on this hundreds-mile ride, attacked in 60100 miles increments, there are over 2,500 participants, boasting people from all walks of life.
“Every rider has been trained in the same
rules of the road and it’s a beautiful sense of community,” Samantha says. “If you ever need something, a gaggle of other riders helps repair, refuel,
or support you. Every hill climb has a crew of volunteers cheering you up. Community members
come from every small California town to serve
us cookies, ring cowbells, pass out fresh straw-
berries or licorice. There are drag queens everywhere — on bikes, at rest stops, on the entertainment stages at night. It is a big gay parade.”
There’s even a Red Dress tie-in. On the fifth
day of the ride, everyone dons their red best.
“The costumes are amazing,” Samantha
recalls. “The visual of 2,500 riders climbing the
hills of Central California in red dresses makes a
giant red ribbon around the hillsides.”
Throughout the ride, emotions run the
gamut.
“Each day, people are singing, laughing,
crying,” she says. “Lots of crying. Crying in celebration, crying for those we’ve lost, crying for
those who are climbing hills proudly wearing
their PosPeds jerseys. It’s a giant celebration..”
In many ways, aside from the big money
raised, it’s all about awareness — which begins
with training and continues throughout the ride,
every year.
Samantha recounts one specific instance: “You
know, 2,500 riders coming through a small town in
the ranch country of California can be a big awareness piece. In the small town of Bradley — with a
population of 120 — we cross the bridge into this
small main street with eight buildings and a little
mission church and we see kids waving flags. ...
Every pillar of the bridge, every fence post, every
car, every signpost is wrapped in red ribbons. The
schoolchildren have made t-shirts, buttons, and
postcards that they’re selling with amazing inspirational messages about riding on, being strong,
and changing the world.
“The same school kids greet us as we get off
our bikes and they serve us burgers,” she recalls.
“They move through the crowd talking to the
riders, taking pictures with them, and asking
each rider why they ride,” she recalls. They
received letters in camp from the children that
evening, each one different, thanking the riders
and calling them heroes.
“At dinner that night, the speaker read a letter
from a teacher in Bradley,” Samantha continues. “That teacher said, ‘Because of you, no kid
in Bradley will grow up to be homophobic. No
kid in Bradley will grow up unaware of AIDS. No
child in our community will be afraid to come
out. And for that Bradley is grateful.’”
But it isn’t just in California and during the ride
that participants raise awareness. Throughout
training, Portlanders ride all over the Gorge, wine
country, farm country, and through the city. Riders
wear their LifeCycle gear and have the opportunity to talk about what it is and why they ride.
Onlookers and questioners offer thanks, share
stories, and talk about personal journeys about
either being positive or losing loved ones.
“This disease affects so many,” Samantha says.
“When we ride, we open that door for people to
connect, talk, to get engaged. It’s powerful. We’ve
recruited new riders that way, we’ve raised money
in the most unexpected places, and we’ve shared in
a million amazing stories. If you haven’t signed up
yet …it’s a great ride, a great event, and training has
just begun. So it might be time to start pedaling.”
For more information about AIDS LifeCycle,
visit www.aidslifecycle.org. To donate to Portland’s team, click the “Donate” button and search
for Samantha Swain’s name. This year, Cascade
AIDS Project is joining the Seattle to Portland
ride and hosting RIDE4CAP. Read about that here:
http://cascadeaids.org/events/ride-4-cap.
THIS MONTH
IN QUEER
HISTORY
MARCH
1649 – Sarah White Norman is the
first known woman to be convicted
for lesbian behavior in North America. Her partner in the crime of “lewd
behaviour each with other upon a
bed,” is not prosecuted on account
of being under 16. [“Same-sex desire
in the English Renaissance: a sourcebook of texts,” via Wikipedia]
1656 – New Haven Colony
becomes the only English colony
to make sex between women punishable by death. [Gay and Lesbian
Archives of the Pacific NW]
1842 – Florida passes a law mandating execution for those convicted of sodomy. [GLAPN]
1895 – The Marquess of Queensberry is arrested on charges of
criminal libel for calling Oscar Wilde
a sodomite. The tables are eventually turned, and Wilde is convicted
of “gross indecency.” [queerhistory.
blogspot.com]
1969 – Jim Morrison (The Doors) is
arrested for allegedly mimicking fellatio and exposing himself on stage.
[queerhistory.blogspot.com]
1975 – The U.S. District Court in
Pennsylvania rules against spying
on individuals in public restrooms
without a warrant. [GLAPN]
1991 – Montana law bans using
a person’s HIV-status to initiate a
sodomy case. [GLAPN]
1996 – The California Supreme
Court rules that gay men who are
selectively prosecuted for solicitation
have a right to challenge that prosecution. [queerhistory.blogspot.com]
2004 – Oregon’s attorney general issues an opinion stating that
issuing marriage licenses to samesex couples violates state law, while
anticipating that the Oregon State
Supreme Court would rule against
those statutes. [about.com]
2008 – Homosexuality is legalized in Panama and in Nicaragua
(for the second time). [queerhistory.blogspot.com]
2009 – Denmark legalizes adoption by same-sex couples. [queerhistory.blogspot.com]
2009 – Argentina and The Phillipines end their bans on gays and
lesbians in the military. [queerhistory.blogspot.com]
2010 – Marriage equality takes
effect in Mexico City. [queerhistory.
blogspot.com]
2010 – Congress passes a law
making same-sex marriage legal
in the District of Columbia. [infoplease.com]
pqmonthly.com
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March 2012 • 11
FEATURES
12 • March 2012
pqmonthly.com
FEATURES
LOVE AND MARRIAGE EQUALITY: KELLY AND SAM
By Daniel Borgen
PQ Monthly
As same-sex marriage inches toward reality in Washington State, we’ll be checking in
with couples in Clark County to tell their stories. This is the first installment.
It’s hard to imagine any city without its
downtown, but that rule seems especially
true across the river in Vancouver. Without
its essential, bustling hub of artists, entrepreneurs, musicians, bartenders, and baristas, Clark County might be absorbed by the
miles of sprawl surrounding it.
Indeed, Vancouver boasts a diverse, loyal
— and growing — downtown community.
Two of the community’s integral cogs, artists Kelly Keigwin and Sam MacKenzie, who
met at an art gallery, embody the spirit and
vibe of downtown’s burgeoning scene.
They also want to get married.
Sam, a Vancouver native, dove into the
local art scene when she joined MOSAIC
Arts Alliance, a non-profit arts collective,
back in 2003. She’d eventually go on to serve
on MOSIAC’s board of directors and then as
president. In those positions, she organized
art shows and events at Sixth Street.
Presently, Sam is on a break from gallery work, focusing instead on making and
selling crafts throughout Portland and Vancouver.
Kelly moved to Vancouver from Southern California in 1996. Her first installation,
a mixed-media research presentation about
the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, was at
North Bank Artists’ Gallery. Later she earned
“best in show” for her installation “Stephanie and Sophia,” which addressed the subject of marriage equality during the dark
years of the Bush administration. Kelly has
shown her work at Angst, North Bank, Sixth
Street Gallery, and Gallery 360 in Vancouver
— in addition to runs in Portland, Seattle,
Sam MacKenzie (left) and Kelly Keigwin want to get married — for love and for practical reasons.
and New York.
Both Kelly and Sam currently teach courses
at OCAC — and collaborate together.
“We met when I stopped by Angst Gallery to discuss my upcoming show,” Kelly
says. “Sam happened to be at the gallery.
We saw each other again at the show and
our friendship grew over the next couple
of months. We saw each other at various
local events and went out on Worldwide
Pinhole Photography Day, shooting photos
together. Eventually we ended up going on
our first date — dinner at a food cart and
watching ‘The Fantastic Mr. Fox’ at the Laurelhurst Theater. By the end of the night we
were holding hands and I knew I had found
the person I had been waiting for.”
For both Sam and Kelly, the issue of marriage equality isn’t only about showing and
demonstrating love.
“When Measure 36 was up for vote in
Oregon, there was this horrible commercial
Photo by Shelley Pearson
that featured a gay couple speaking against
gay marriage,” Sam recalls. “The basic point
of the commercial was that they had been
able to hire a lawyer to draw up all the legal
documents they needed, so gay marriage
was unnecessary.”
Contracts, Sam continues, can be voided
by state legislation, and, additionally, many
LGBTQ folks simply can’t afford the costs
associated with acquiring and maintaining legal counsel.
“Love is great and getting married as a
societal symbol of a couple’s love and commitment is great, but the reality is that marriage is about more than love,” Sam says. “I
think focusing on love almost makes it less
urgent. The rights that come with a marriage are more than just symbolic ideals
about societal approval. There are tax
breaks, the right to not testify against each
other in court, spousal benefits, hospital
visitation, and so on and so on.”
The couples’ two-pronged approach to
love and practicality admittedly stems from
a terrifying ordeal they faced last summer
when Kelly has hit by a drunk driver and her
car was totaled.
“I still feel sick when I think about what
would have happened if she had been
injured worse and taken to the hospital
unconscious,” Sam says. “How long until I
would have found out? Would I have been
able to see her?”
Facing very real what-ifs, their perspective grew.
“It is about the benefits that come with
being married and the reality that many
couples, like us, can’t afford a lawyer to
ensure we will be covered legally,” Kelly
points out. “Even if we do retain the right
to marry in Washington, we’re not fully protected throughout the country, not until
marriage equality becomes federally recognized. We deserve to be equally recognized and I am hopeful that the majority of
people in this country will open their hearts
and minds and see we do not pose a risk to
them or their families. We are a family. We
are the same as everyone else that wants
and deserves the right to be married.”
Like so many queers, Kelly and Sam grew
up watching people they love — family
members, friends — be part of an institution that has always excluded them.
“When I was a young queer, gay couples
were starting to have commitment ceremonies,” Sam explains. “While I appreciate
these symbolic gestures and am happy for
those who want to have them, I am more
practical than sentimental. I decided a long
time ago that if I was going to get married,
it would only be when it was legal.”
Stay with PQMonthly.com for more with
Sam and Kelly — and other couples as we
profile them. We’ll also stay abreast of developments in Washington State.
PLEASURE SHOP PEDDLES GENDER-INCLUSIVE, ECO-FRIENDLY PRODUCTS
By Erin Rook
PQ Monthly
Two of Portland’s greatest claims to fame
— its sex positivity and fondness for all
things green — come together in its newest
“pleasure shop,” As You
Like It.
The company, which
launched online in January and has plans for
a brick-and-mortar
store in the coming
year, is the brainchild
of local queer activist
Kim Marks.
“We take our name
Kim Marks
literally,” Marks says.
“We’re tr ying to create a space where
people can get their sexual needs met
on their terms, instead of on the terms of
an industry that has largely ignored the
pqmonthly.com
health side of their products.”
That means AYLI is committed to only
selling products that are toxin-free, environmentally friendly, and supportive of a wide
range of sexualities and gender identities.
Marks’ concern with the ingredients in
sex toys and sensuality products is both
personal and political. As a cancer survivor
with 17 years of experience as an environmental and social justice activist, including
a nearly 5-year stint on the board of the Civil
Liberties Defense Center, Marks is acutely
aware of the impact common toxins have
on the planet and on people.
“I have always been careful about what
I put into my system. I also knew to watch
out for phthalates in my sex toys and toxic
ingredients in the body care products I
used. Cancer is on the rise. Almost everyone I know knows at least one person who
has been impacted by cancer in some way,”
says Marks, 36, who was diagnosed with
thyroid cancer in 2003. “As an environmental activist, I was more worried about what
these products did to our fresh water ecosystems than to my own body.”
But Marks knows that, despite their better
intentions, many people don’t have the time
and resources to determine whether their
sex toys are safe for their bodies and environment.
“We’re committed to doing the dirty
work for our customers,” Marks says. “We
research all the toys, lubricants, and other
products that we carry to make sure that
we don’t stock any that have toxic materials or chemicals. We also prioritize local
products so that we minimize our carbon
footprint by not shipping things from all
over the world.”
Among the toxins AYLI avoids are phthalates (used in jelly toys), petrochemicals
(including mineral oil), and synthetic fragrances (often labeled simply “fragrance”
despite containing up to 200 unnamed
ingredients).
“We’re also focused on being completely
gender inclusive, and not just to cis women
and men. We’re going to be one of the first
shops to carry products for both trans
women and men,” Marks says. “We also
are trying to eliminate the gender essentialist language from our copy on the website
and won’t tolerate any of it in our eventual
brick-and-mortar [store]. People shouldn’t
feel like they’re buying ‘the wrong toy’ just
because their body isn’t what the manufacturers had in mind when they created
the product.”
Marks is assisted in this endeavor by AYLI
media manager Adisson Simon, a former
photo curator for Genderfork and sole moderator of TransQueersXXX, a submissionbased porn blog focused on inclusive trans
sexuality.
as you like it page 26
March 2012 • 13
FEATURES
WE’RE HERE AND, YES, WE’RE QUEER
Beth Mattson (left) and Chris Weyl have to remind people that though they may be a heterosexual couple with a baby, they’re still queer.
By Erin Rook
is a touch sensitive, and the boy child sometimes wears pink. But this is Portland.
PQ Monthly
If a queer stands on a crowded bus and
nobody sees them, are they still there?
It may seem a silly question, but for
LGBTQ folks whose queerness is less visible, it reflects a legitimate concern. There
are many factors that contribute to queer
invisibility in the LGBTQ community as
well as the world at large — gender presentation and roles, the gender of one’s
partner(s), and public (un)awareness are
but a few.
Coming out may be a universal experience for LGBTQ folks, but some find they
have to do it more often than others. Even
the keenest gaydar is not always enough to
alert “family” to the fact that they belong.
As a result, they find creative ways to say,
“I am here.”
Beth Mattson, 31, and Chris Weyl, 35, get
it. From the outside, they look like any other
hetero family. Sure, mom has short hair, dad
Married but not mainstream
That both Mattson and Weyl are queer
is something that often gets overlooked. In
fact, before meeting each other, both were
almost exclusively gay. So this newfound
invisibility means coming out again. And
again. And again.
“It’s a couple levels of coming out,” Weyl
says. “Not only do you have to perhaps
introduce your friends to the concept of
dating someone of the opposite biological
organs, but you have to figure out how to
establish to straight people that you’re not
necessarily straight. I’ve had to be lot more
obvious about this.”
To illustrate, Weyl pulls out his messenger bag, which has a wide rainbow running
down the middle. It’s an intentional signal,
and one that has come in handy recently.
“PLOP [Parenting Lesbians of Portland]
Cameron Kude doesn’t always feel seen as a bisexual.
had no idea what to do with us,” Weyl
says.
Apparently not sure if they were dealing
with a lost straight couple, the organizer
asked, — “thoughtfully, nicely,” Mattson
points out — “Why are you here?”
They were there because Portland has no
queer parenting group that isn’t divided by
gender. It was either PLOP or Daddies and
Papas. Either way, they were bound to raise
a few eyebrows.
As they were leaving, Weyl says he realized he forgot his bag and went back in
for it. One of the organizers asked him to
describe it and he said, “It’s the gayest bag
ever.” Just as she was about to be offended,
Weyl grabbed his bag and finally saw the
look of recognition in her eyes.
“You’d think a shared vocabulary would
get it going,” Mattson says. “I can make as
many Amy Ray jokes as I want to, but I still
have to come out as queer. Coming out is
a lifelong process. It’s just a lengthier sentence know.”
Silencing assumptions
Heidi Seekins, 32, can relate. Like Mattson and Weyl, she and her husband Andrew
Wiley are queer. Seekins also identifies as
genderqueer, while Wiley considers himself
bisexual (“for lack of a better word”).
“I definitely feel like my queerness has
been more invisible since I got into a ‘heterosexual’ relationship and especially since I got
married,” Seekins says. “I think that many
people assume that, a) you are the gender
that you appear to be, and b) if you’re in a
hetero relationship, then you are straight.”
Now that she’s married to a man, she says
it’s harder to casually mention a female ex
than it was, say, in her days as a student at
Smith College.
“For some reason now, it’s difficult for
me to say ‘my ex-girlfriend’ without it seeming like this big heavy thing I’m dropping,”
Seekins says.
Strangers often feel justified in making
unseen page 26
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14 • March 2012
pqmonthly.com
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March 2012 • 15
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GETTING OUT,
GOING BACK
By Andrew Edwards
PQ Monthly
I cram the last box labeled “Books/Miscellaneous” into my mother’s navy blue
minivan and heave the sliding door shut.
As we take to the road and leave Portland,
rain slicks across the windshield. Eleven
hours later, atop the Bay Bridge, I roll down
the passenger-side window. The San Francisco Bay yawns below us, and the saltwater air carries with it goose bumps, and the
mordant smell of freeway.
Roaming the flesh-laden sidewalks of
Folsom Street Fair in a borrowed harness
and cutoffs is a confusing kick-off to my
new life. A few of my close friends roadtripped down for the festivities, among
them the six-foot-three drink of water with
curly hair and a Virginia drawl I met not a
month before leaving Portland.
“This is your life now!” Adam muses, his
voice barely audible over the electro music
thumping from a nearby loudspeaker.
“Maybe,” I shout back, “but I didn’t move
to San Francisco for leather and sidewalk
sex!”
“Then why the hell did you?” he only
half jokes. But his question gives me pause.
As debauchery splashes onto my shoes, a
dubious voice in my head asks: Is this what
I signed up for?
My friends return home and my focus
shifts to finding a place to live. I shack
up with an ex-boyfriend who’s generous
enough to let me stay in the interim. We play
nice for a while, but old wounds haven’t yet
healed. It may have been naïve to imagine
the scenario working out, but I had to touch
the stove to see if it was hot. After a month, I
land a flat in the Mission district; I pack up
my things, bandage my burned finger, and
look forward to normalcy.
What comes instead is a full-fledged long
distance relationship (the irony is not lost
on me). Every day sees Adam’s increasing
presence on my mind and my phone bill.
Flights between our two cities are now a
monthly expense; I think I love him. With
each video chat, the disquieting whisper
inside my head grows more difficult to tune
out: Why am I here?
My stomach is unsettled; a phone call
home will cure what ails me. My mom’s
voice over the phone is medicinal. I tell her
about my nagging uncertainty, and I expect
a quick fix. Instead, I hear an echo: “Well,
why are you?”
My mind travels back two years. I’m
waiting tables and drinking too much in
Portland, while my journalism degree sits
in a drawer collecting dust. I feel fantastically uninspired. Shirking responsibility,
I blame my chagrin on my environment.
Portland is too soggy, too tedious. I call
upon rudimentary logic to illuminate a
solution, and a light bulb flickers: If I leave
Portland, then I’ll be cured of my boredom and general sense of uselessness. A
brighter flicker: If I move to San Francisco,
then I’ll find the inspiration to be creative.
Now a steady glow: If I’m creative, then I’ll
get published. If I get published, then I’ll
be happy with myself as a contributing
member of society. According to logic, if
I change my station, then my problems
will be solved.
But I’m still waiting tables, still drinking too much. And as much as I admire the
handsome faces on Castro, savor the dim
sum in Chinatown, seize the winter afternoons spent sunbathing in Dolores Park,
I feel fundamentally the same. Because,
at least where making life-altering decisions was concerned, my rudimentary logic
assigned too much value to the predicate —
whether to relocate or stay put — in determining the consequent — finding contentment. It left no room for variables — tall
men with southern accents, for example
— and allowed no possibility of alternate
outcomes. An expensive epiphany, but a
valuable one.
Station, then, is inconsequential; at best
it’s an opportunity, at worst, a surmountable affliction. “Where I was born and
where and how I have lived is unimportant,” said Georgia O’Keeffe. “It is what I have
done with where I have been that should
be of interest.”
Another light bulb — “If I return to Portland…” — flickers on, and illuminates an
inestimable array of possibilities.
I’m biking through Golden Gate Park on
a summer day in early March, one of the last
like it I’ll spend before moving back. Behind
me lies the city, before me the ocean. I feel
goose bumps, and am reminded of driving over the Bay Bridge those months ago.
There it is again, the saltwater air — this
time accompanied by the scent of things
blooming.
By the time you read this, Andrew will once again be a Rose City resident.
If you have questions or opinions, then you should email him at
[email protected].
16 • March 2012
pqmonthly.com
PERSPECTIVES
VOTING WITH OUR DOLLARS
Two perspectives on socially responsible spending decisions
By Nick Mattos
PQ Monthly
Organized efforts to “vote with the
dollar” have been part of the queer community’s sensibility for at least as long as
the Stonewall riots. However, these wellintentioned efforts sometimes don’t yield
the intended result of proving our community’s economic and social power.
One historical example is the gay community’s boycott of Coors beer back in
the 1970’s, an effort initially promoted by
Harvey Milk to garner support from labor
unions that were already pushing a Coors
boycott and were previously not supportive
of the battle for equal rights. The outcome
of this boycott resulted in both labor unions
and Coors themselves taking big strides to
support the community — a positive outcome for all involved, despite the action
originating from a coalition with groups
that initially weren’t particularly focused
on the rights of queer people.
Another more recent example is the boycott of Target, which many activists called
for after the superstore donated $150,000
to support an anti-gay Republican politician. While Target did increase their sponsorship of Pride celebrations in response to
the controversy, the boycott did nothing in
regards to hurting the organization’s bottom
line; Reuters reports that during the boycott
Target’s profit actually went up from $522
million to $671 million, putting into question the efficacy of the action.
When considering spending, many questions emerge: How can queer people make
spending decisions that are truly socially
responsible? Where can the community
get the best information on what organizations to support or oppose to further their
political intent? Most importantly, does the
queer community have a higher degree of
responsibility to “vote with their dollars”
than other communities?
As part of this ongoing conversation, two
community members offer their (sometimes controversial) perspectives on how
and why members of the queer community
can be socially responsible with their spending. However, this conversation is far from
over — and needs you to contribute your
thoughts and your voice. Please make your
opinions heard at www.pqmonthly.com.
Rebekah Katherine Brewis
— Editor, TransLiberalPrism.com
I make socially responsible decisions,
when it comes to my spending and finances,
based on complex political, moral, ethical,
philosophical, and economic factors. Those
factors are predicated on being a liberal
with Buddhist/Indian philosophical beliefs,
being a transgender female, and living in a
politically solidifying queer community.
pqmonthly.com
Rebekah Katherine Brewis (left) and Marc Delphine
Having historically been under economic and political assault by right wing
politics and acts of oppression, it is my
goal to counteract such harmful processes
through education and selective shopping.
I do vote with my dollar, as an informed
queer community consumer.
Smaller businesses have the added
capability of being socially innovative, to
meet the tailored needs of any given population. It’s important to foster a personal,
culturally sensitive, and competent service
to customers, and small businesses have
the ability to do so. When we mean small
business, it means customer centered, not
company centered. To me, that is the difference between fostering and curtailing
human rights. When that business is queerowned or friendly, their business practices
are more likely to be aligned to my beliefs,
so I know I am making financial decisions
based on integrity within myself, as well
as for the integrity of the queer community at large.
In my beliefs and practices, “No man is
an island, unto himself,” and I extend my
awareness to those whom I distantly rely
on, through my actions and efforts. In this
way, I am not wasting the positive energy
and good karma of supporting our queer
community, for the ultimate sake of establishing greater equality. In this way, I am
part of the community, and the community is part of me.
To make random purchases, and to be
ignorant of their origins, is tantamount
to selling my vote for convenience. One
who bases their life merely on convenience
alone, is not living a life of integrity and
value, but of shallowness and impulse,
resulting in loss of potential influence to
improve the quality of life for others in the
community.
Being well aware of the impact my
spending habits and patronage has on the
queer community and culture, I also rely
frequently on Portland’s LGBTQ Community Yellow Pages, PDXGYP, which is a business directory published by the Portland
Area Business Association (PABA). I am
interested in investing in a business that
invests in me as a person. Small businesses
are more able to respond to a changing consumer demand than corporations can or
do, historically.
I feel that we, as queer persons, most
definitely have a social responsibility to
reinvest in our community. It is a thousand streams that make a mighty river, not
a few dozen. To direct a movement as efficiently as needed to create change, there is
no better way than to unite our economic
power to create a more concentrated political force, than through the power of both
boycotting, as well as the power of brand
loyalty.
Marc Delphine — Financial Advisor,
Complete Financial Group
Milton Friedman once said, “The social
responsibility of a business is to make a
profit,” but it is my social responsibility to
determine which businesses I wish to see
profitable. Based on the hiring practices,
the worthy product(s) and/or service(s)
it offers, and the vision of its management, I spend my money with businesses
where I want to see growth occur.[with the
intent of] providing opportunity for growth
and development for my team, and I am
building an investment that focuses on
gay-friendly companies with the vision of
“humane capitalism.” When all considerations are equal, I will purchase goods and
services from companies that are either
gay-owned and/or friendly.
Those purposes and causes that I want
to advance are where I choose place my
money. I believe in buying local because the
dollar circulates more in a local economy
and that means a direct benefit to me and
the people I’m around. I cannot think globally unless I act locally because if my immediate needs and environment are unmet
and unsafe, how can I do anything to better
the world I cannot directly affect? So I buy
local when I can.
I also do my best to support gay-owned
businesses through my patronage and investment dollars. If the gay-owned business is
local, see Rule #1; if the business is either gayowned, or in the case of publicly-traded companies, I follow the Human Rights Campaign
(HRC) “Buying for Equality Guide.” This guide
is based on criteria established by HRC each
year and suggests that if all things were basically equal, purchase from those companies
that practice equality.
Each year, more and more companies
reach a perfect score (100) on the list. This
is promising because I’ve often made purchase decisions from the Buying for Equality list that may have been more expensive
in order to support the community. If I can
both support and save money ... win-win!
[As to whether queer people need to be
more socially responsible with their spending decisions than others need to be, the
answer is] no. “Need to be” implies that
someone “ought to” and who determines
who “needs to be” or “ought to” but someone aside from the individual? I am first
an individual and I think for myself. I don’t
think as a “group” or a “collective” and I certainly don’t think for “society.”
People who identify as queer (and I’m
not too comfortable with that term) are
still individuals. What values the individual supports will be reflected in the masses
of buying decisions made. If those in the
queer community are interested in the
same buying habits that I have — such as
supporting local, gay-owned/friendly businesses and investing in gay-friendly public
corporations — then being more educated
on what is, in fact “gay-friendly” might be
the objective. That definition is up to the
individual, but I suggest that more people
who have never run a business for themselves begin to understand the difficulties
of the business world.
Most businesses fail and Oregon is no
exception. What, with all the red-tape, regulations, and rigmarole, Oregon could be a
good example [as to] why businesses fail. But
government aside, people need more business acumen and serving a loyal customer
base must be a priority if we are to grow.
By recognizing that not only is it very difficult to run a business as it is, the challenges
(even today, still) of being gay and running
a business may be greater than that of the
hetero-community. But who knows, really?
I think when your back is against the wall
that you, the individual will find a method
of survival. It should then be no mystery
why gay-owned/friendly businesses often
are more profitable than their peers.
March 2012 • 17
PERSPECTIVES
WHISKEY & SYMPATHY
george fox Continued from page Dear Sophia and Gula:
My boyfriend and I have been together for almost a year. A couple of months ago, we moved in together. Since, my boyfriend has broached
the subject of “opening” our relationship. Our sex life has been great so far — or so I thought — but he’s pretty insistent we give it a try. I’m
not so sure. It feels like I’d be giving up my “happy ever after.” What should I do? Take one for the team or stand my ground?
—Nervous in Northwest
Sophia St. James
Dear Nervous in Northwest:
I can understand your fear. It’s difficult to give up on that dream
of having the perfect family with the perfect relationship. It’s even
more difficult to share the one you love with someone else. My first
question to you is: have you asked your boyfriend why he wants to
open the relationship? Ask about his previous history with open relationships and how being open either added or took away from them.
Find out what he hopes to gain. Discover if he’s missing something or
just wants to add a little spice to the mix. It is really important to have
good communication about things like this, especially before bringing anyone else into the relationship.
I would also suggest asking yourself some important questions. In
any situation, I always take a look at the worst possible scenario that
could happen. Most likely that scenario never happens, but if you prepare yourself for the worst you can handle most issues that may arise.
It also doesn’t help that there are so many myths floating around about
open relationships. One of these myths: your intimate relationship isn’t
strong, hence a desire to include others. Another is the presence of commitment issues. The assumption underlying these myths is that true
intimacy can only be achieved between two people practicing monogamy. Though many people enjoy long-lasting, monogamous relationships, there are just as many who enjoy long-lasting open relationships
as well. The most important thing is to decide what is best for you and
to be completely honest with yourself and your partner.
If you do decide that you want to give it a try, both of you should
understand that having an open relationship is going to take work.
The pieces won’t fall into place right away. It may get rocky at times.
This is where communication and honesty come into play. Some couples have “arrangements.” These are the basic “dos” and “don’ts” of the
open relationship. If this is something that you feel would help you and
your boyfriend keep boundaries, be reasonable in your requests.
Lastly, having an open relationship can be fun. It is an experience
full of possibilities and sexual adventures. Maybe you have always
wanted to do some naughty kink or role-playing and your boyfriend
was never up for that. Now, you have the ability to find that kinky little
sub person who will submit to your cane. Either way, the best thing to
do is to be honest with your feelings and your boyfriend.
Best of luck!
—Sophia St. James
Gula Delgatto
Dear NINny:
Thanks for being the one to pop my column cherry! I’m so excited
to get in bed with you, your boyfriend, and your problem. Speaking
of your problem — boo hoo! Listen to you. You have a live-in boyfriend who wants to add MORE sex up in your lives. Save some for
the rest of us. If that ain’t First World troubles, I don’t know what is.
I think, though, this topic might open a can of sexy, writhing, hermaphroditic worms. From the suburban gay to the Radical Fairie,
the gay community has strong opinions about monogamy and nonmonogamy.
Give me your hand — let’s break down your letter:
You and your boif moved in together after only six-ish months. Has
being in a relationship for under a year been enough to establish a
strong foundation to build upon? Do you communicate well? Do you
poop in front of each other? You or your man must be quick movers
or very young — older queens know not to shack up so early.
When you talk about your sex life you sound satisfied. Are you
really? Never rely on great or you will find a big-lipped drag queen
throwing down in bed with ya’ll to inject a little spice. If he is so insistent he could have someone already in mind for the third — or he has
a hotter libido than you! The answer to this is a serious chat.
I want you to ask yourself: “What is my happily ever after?” Does
this mean you’re not happy with the idea of opening the relationship?
Standing your ground implies you don’t want to do it. Taking one for
the ream implies negativity about openness as well. If you stop and
read your letter, I think you’ve given yourself some answers. To me, it
sounds too soon, although you don’t get jaded until you make huge
mistakes!
I am single and I find my life easier to sleep with who I want, when
I want. When it comes to a relationship, I personally can keep “it” in
my pants and pantyhose. I am a bit old-fashioned and somewhat of
a romantic. I realize that in a relationship there are two people with
self-esteems and old romance war wounds can be easily opened.
Some couples I know have thirds and they seem to have it worked
out. They go through boys like they’re cum rags. I think it’s the communication that gets them through.
If you decide to invite a third to share your bed you might find a
fourth is even more fun, so be sure to give me a call.
—Gula Delgatto
Need some advice from Sophia and Gula? Send your query — with “Queen and Saint” in the subject line — to [email protected].
Sophia St. James has been an erotic entertainer since 1996. She has traveled performing and educating the public on self confidence, self worth, and
the art of sensuality no matter their outer appearance. Working as a sex and
sensuality educator, sex toy/product reviewer, adult film director/producer,
model, and erotic visual performer, Sophia is a well rounded woman with
drive and determination. Sophia is also a mother and healthcare professional
who takes pride in being a body positive and sex positive fierce femme.
18 • March 2012
Gula Delgatto’s life began in a small rural farming town in Romaina. She
was scouted singing in a rocky field picking potatoes by a producer of a
“Mickey Mouse Club” type ensemble. While touring the Americas the group
fell apart due to jealousies and drugs. She later transitioned from Vaudeville
to starring on the big screen to woman’s prison, and eventually advised the
Dali Lama on fashion n-stuff. Currently she’s taking her life knowledge and
giving back in an advice column for PQ.
When Southwick learned Yuan
was coming to campus, he asked
administrators if they would be
open to hosting a gay-affirming
speaker to balance the perspectives. Administrators declined,
going so far as to tell OneGeorgeFox
it couldn’t rent a room on campus
for that purpose.
It’s not surprising, given the policies in the Student Handbook. Not
only is homosexual activity forbidden, knowing about a violation and
not taking the required measures is
itself a violation. Therefore, no gayaffirming speakers are allowed at
this time, Southwick says. Administrators have tentatively agreed to a
panel with diverse perspectives on
homosexuality in the fall.
So instead of bringing Knapp
and Lee to campus, OneGeorgeFox
hosted its event March 14 — the
same day Yuan came to campus —
at the Chehalem Cultural Center.
The event was put on in collaboration with the nascent LGBTQ student group, Common Ground.
“Common Ground is proud to
be part of this vibrant community at George Fox University,” the
group said March 1 on its newlycreated Facebook page. “We exist
to support and serve the LGBTQ
students on campus, and to create
safe spaces for dialogue to be had.
All of us have a strong passion for
social justice and we look forward
to being a part of positive change
in the institution.”
The student group is not currently an official campus group.
According to Southwick, in order
for the group to exist under the current guideline, it would have to be a
“support group,” and could not be
construed as “advocating” samesex relationships.
Ideally, Southwick would like to
see the university allow a student
group to form member could be
safe, talk about faith, affirm their
identities, and develop a healthy
sexual ethic. He’d also like faculty to able to openly and publicly
support students without fear of
losing their jobs, for the university
to allow speakers with a wide range
of perspectives, and for the counseling center to adopt the guidelines of the American Psychological Association and stop referring
students to the “reparative therapy” program at Portland’s Northwest Fellowship.
“It’s not that we want stamp of
approval for promiscuous gay sex,”
Southwick says.
“We want students to know they
can have relationships and families
and still be a Christian and still be
a person of faith.”
To learn more about OneGeorgeFox, visit onegeorgefox.org.
pqmonthly.com
GUEST OPINION:
A plea for Pride
As a community-led 501c3 nonprofit
organization, Pride Northwest prioritizes
transparency and accessibility-in all the
ways that can be defined. We need and
value the community’s
input, feedback, and
support.
That last piece —
support — is something
that we haven’t been
very good at asking for.
Although Pride Northwest has several programs and community
Debra Porta
support priorities, it
is the annual Portland Pride Festival and
Parade for which we are most well-known.
That is what I want to talk about here.
In contrast to comparable Pride celebrations, corporate sponsorship only makes up
about 20 percent of our revenue. In recent
years, the Portland Pride celebration has
become significantly more expensive (over
$200,000), at the same time that gate donations and beverage sales have declined. To
be clear, that is NOT because there are fewer
people attending the festival and parade.
Despite the impact of weather, attendance
and participation continue to climb. Last
year’s parade was over three hours long and
Portland Police estimate 25,000 people on
the streets cheered it on. The lines to get into
the festival grow more and more each year.
Portland’s Pride Festival has been a worldclass, large-scale Pride event for some time,
and will only become more so. Community expectations continue to grow, and we
deserve a celebration worthy of us.
Pride Northwest is deeply committed to
ensuring that Pride continues to be accessible to everyone, regardless of ability to pay.
Though counter to our organizational culture and community vision, we have looked
at a mandatory gate fee. The problem —
aside from excluding community members
— is that a mandatory gate fee will TRIPLE
the fees and charges that we pay for the use
of Waterfront Park. City ordinances and park
policies govern these things. For us, a mandatory entry fee is a lose-lose proposition.
So, what to do? How do we increase organizational revenue in order to keep the festival accessible for all, and happening at all?
We are decreasing costs wherever possible, while maintaining the quality of the celebration. Internally, we have built a brand
new website and streamlined processes
—things that might typically have cost us
in excess of $10,000. We are building fantastic partnerships with fellow organizations to bring value to Portland’s Pride celebration with little to no additional cost,
at the Waterfront and around the city. We
have added avenues for revenue to the Pride
Guide and our website, as well as opportunities for smaller businesses and organizations to gain visibility. Sponsorship dollars
pqmonthly.com
are — and will continue to be — a delicate
balance of revenue and retaining that local,
Portland community feel.
We are implementing a multi-layered
fundraising strategy. Our first ever ticketed
fundraising event is in March (which we
are also using as an opportunity to spotlight the contributions being made by this
region’s LGBT community). We are developing a sustaining donor program and valueadded packages for festival attendees wishing to purchase them. Those will be rolling
out soon. We are working to increase Portland’s Pride celebration as a destination
for people from around the entire Pacific
Northwest, and beyond.
While our new funding efforts will help to
cover the costs of what we do — and continue
to allow us to support community efforts —
Pride is by no means immune to economic
realities. We need our community’s support.
In order to maintain and improve the quality
of the Pride experience for current and future
generations, it will take all of us; it will take
community-wide financial support.
You may ask, “Why should I care about
Pride or contribute to its continued success?” While I could cite many reasons,
there is one in particular that I want to focus
on. Pride has an undeniable economic and
social impact on Portland and our LGBT
businesses and organizations; the visibility
that small businesses and other nonprofit
organizations receive by participating in the
Pride Festival and parade is tremendous. At
the same time, LGBT businesses and community organizations — which bring dollars into our community, which give us our
voice and provide our services and safety
nets — have been hit especially hard by
the economy, and periodically struggle to
take advantage of Pride’s visibility and connection.
My point is this: if everyone who attends
Pride were to contribute, not only could we
minimize the dollars needed from community and nonprofit organizations — for providing space at the festival and in the parade
— we could come close to eliminating them
altogether.
Think about the message that would
send — to know that the entire LGBT community not only supports their own visibility and celebration, but that we also support
and stand behind our businesses and community organizations, that we celebrate and
confirm our commitment to their (and our)
success. That $7 donation at the gate is the
heart and soul of how YOU can ensure that
we are able to continue to present one of
the largest Pride celebrations on the West
Coast — and is an investment in our entire
community.
Thank you,
Debra Porta
President, Pride Northwest, Inc.
pridenw.org
March 2012 • 19
ARTS & CULTURE
OFF-STAGE, DANCER ISAIAH TILLMAN
IS TALL, DEMURE, AND HUMBLE
Photos Xilia Faye, PQ Monthly
Isaiah Tillman uses dance to explore than many facets of his identity.
By Erin Rook
PQ Monthly
On stage, Isaiah Tillman exudes a quiet
confidence. Even without the 6’5” frame
and muscular physique, he would still be
statuesque. But behind the façade — which
is alternately sensual, emotive, and grooving — lies a shy guy with an aversion to the
spotlight.
“I’m over-the-top confident on stage,”
Tillman says, “but that’s not who you are
going to sit down and have coffee with
later.” (The coffee-shop Tillman is humble,
sincere, and easy-going.)
Still, each of the 26-year-old’s many
dance projects speaks to a part of who he
is. Burlesquire — the boylesque group he
is best known for in the queer community
— may not be his “neutral,” but that doesn’t
mean it isn’t authentic.
“Burlesquire is definitely a far out there
part of me,” Tillman says. “It’s been really
empowering for me to take on my sensuality and my sexuality and my body. … Burlesquire allows me to be most confident
comfortable version of myself.”
While Burlesquire helps Tillman make
peace with his body, his work with the contemporary dance company Polaris Dance
Theatre allows him to connect with his
heart.
“[Polaris is] really emotive,” Tillman says.
20 • March 2012
“There’s so much heart and emotion and
thought; it’s like a whole other planet for
me.”
Polaris’ contemporary style is new to
Tillman as well. Though it’s hard to believe,
Tillman has no formal dance training. He
was first exposed to choreography as a high
school sophomore on the Parkrose dance
team. His education in contemporary didn’t
come until he was rehearsing to fill in for
a show with Polaris, where he had been
teaching hip-hop classes.
“My gift, I guess, is being able to execute
what I see, if I can feel it. If I feel it, my body
just naturally has the ability to do it,” Tillman says. If not, he can still learn the choreography; it just takes longer. “I’m a feeler
not a thinker when it comes to dancing.”
That Midas touch has created a wealth
of dance opportunities for Tillman, who
admits he hasn’t been terribly proactive
about seeking them out.
“I’ve been kind of lazy when it comes to
trying to do a whole bunch with my dancing,” Tillman says. “I’ve done what’s come
organically. Thank god that’s been some
really cool things.”
In addition to performing with Polaris
and Burlesquire, Tillman recently began a
dance collaboration with figure skater Lee
Graham called Echo.
“[Graham and I] have a very similar aesthetic and a similar presence or prowess, a
similar concept about sexuality and identity. We are on the same page,” Tillman says.
“I’ve rarely been as excited about a partnership the beginning of something. It just
works.”
Tillman is also performing with The
Detail later this month in its show Around
the World Through the Movement of Detail,
a professional showcase of diverse dance
styles directed by Durante Lambert.
In addition to performing, Tillman is the
staff choreographer and creative director
for the Portland State University Steps of
Rhythm dance group and just wrapped a
nine-year gig teaching choreography to the
Parkrose Dance Team (which won the state
championships in 2011 and 2011). He has
also taught dance teams at 12 other area
high schools.
For as much time as he spends on stage
— he recently had five performances over
one weekend — Tillman is actually averse
to attention.
“I’ve always hated people looking at me,”
he says. “I’m fine if nobody notices me.”
But he clearly loves to dance, so he
psyches himself up for the spotlight. He
imagines himself telling the crowd, “You’re
not ready for this.” With his first movement,
he is transformed.
“Once the music is on all of my insecurities, all of my flaws, either don’t exist,
don’t matter, or are now a good thing,” Till-
man says. “Afterward, I’m right back to quiet
me.”
He has felt music’s pull since childhood.
As a boy, Tillman was painfully shy and,
because he stuttered so badly, only spoke
to or through his grandmother.
“She would interpret for me,” he recalls.
(Tillman doesn’t stutter now.)
Dance, on the other hand, provided Tillman both a means of expression and an
escape from the trials of growing up different.
“[It’s] is an outlet for me. It’s the only
thing that gets me out of my head,” Tillman
says. “I felt alive; I felt special in a good way.
It was the first positive response I got for
being different.”
Tillman, who identifies as queer, came
out when he was 12 and got teased for his
stutter, his big butt and lips, and the way
he dressed.
After seeing Janet Jackson’s Velvet Rope
Tour, dance also became the dream. While
he’s still open to dancing back-up for Janet,
Tillman wants his own studio or company, where he can share his approach to
dance.
“You dance because it’s a gift,” Tillman
says. “You’re fortunate to be able to do it
and receive those things.”
For more on Tillman’s upcoming performance with The Detail, visit thedetaildance.com.
pqmonthly.com
CALENDAR
GET OUT!
Ongoing: Now through
April 1
Saturday, March 17 &
Sunday, March 18
Want the full scoop? Head over to pqmonthly.com to check
out the full calendar of events, submit your own events, and
look through photos from parties around town!
Genderf**king Takeover and
SALT presents The MADONNA
Party! Hosted by Carla Rossi, with
Triangle Productions presents
The Young Person’s Guide to performances by Asia Ho Jackson
“The Irish Curse,” Martin Castel- the Gay Men’s Chorus, a multi- and Saturn; with prizes for best
la’s play about the inadequacies media extravaganza, features local Madonna! 9 p.m., Red Cap Garage,
and “short comings” of men. 7:30 teen actors performing on video 1035 SW Stark, 21+
p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. with the PGMC. Showcasing the
The Imperial Sovereign Rose
Sundays, The Sanctuary@Sandy most memorable works of gay
Plaza, 1785 NE Sandy, $15-35, choruses, the songs will serve as Court crowns the next generatripro.org
the soundtrack to a PGMC-orig- tion of the drag monarchy with
inal “sitcom.” 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 the 36th Annual Rosebud and
p.m. Sunday, Kaul Auditorium, Thorn Pageant. 10 p.m., The
Ongoing: March 23
Reed College, 3203 SE Woodstock Escape Nightclub, 333 SW Park,
rosecourt.org
Blvd., $16-30, pdxgmc.org
through April 28
defunkt theatre presents “Fire
Island,” a play by Chuck Mee about Sunday, March 18
Sunday, March 25
the need to be loved regardless of
Looking for a girl who will make
Beefcake Walk 2012. Spend a
age, race, gender, or sexual ori- Sunday afternoon with the Oregon you laugh? Dana Goldberg brings
entation. 8 p.m. Thursdays-Sun- Bears and their non-traditional the funny to town with a night of
days, Back Door Theater, 4319 SE “cake walk.” 6 p.m., The Eagle comedy, with performances by
Hawthorne, $15-20, defunkthe- Portland, 835 N Lombard, 21+
drag king Landon Cider and local
atre.com
Tranz Guyz Discussion Group funnylady Belinda Carroll! 7 p.m.,
pqmonthly.com/calendar
forming Arts, One Eugene Center,
Eugene, $25 adults, $15 students,
iscee.org
C.A.L.I. Records Benefit! Featuring live performances by Old
Wars, Slutty Hearts, and the Happening. 8 p.m., Record Room, 8 NE
Killingsworth, 21+, $5-10, calirecordspdx.com
Sugar Town … celebrating the
ladies of vintage soul and R&B
with one of the finest LGBTQueer
soul dance parties in town. This
month, DJ Action Slacks welcomes Oakland’s DJ Wam Bam
Ashleyanne. 9 p.m., The Foggy
Notion, 3416 N Lombard, 21+, $5
Sunday, April 1
The Fighting Fillies vs. the
Shockwave. Portland’s two womaddresses topics like coming out, Star Theater, 13 NW 6th, 21+, $20, en’s full-contact football teams
battle out a grudge match three
hormones, “passing,” dating and hotflashdances.com
Friday, March 16
years in the making. 1 p.m., HillDarcelle Happy Hour Show! relationships, family issues, and
sboro Stadium, 4450 NW 229th
Proceeds will benefit The Living sex. 6 p.m., Q Center, 4115 N Mis- Thursday, March 29
Ave., Hillsboro, $10 adults, $5 stusissippi,
pdxqcenter.org
Room, a safe haven for GLBTQQ
Pride Northwest presents An dents
youth in Clackamas County. 6
Evening With the Portland Mayp.m., Darcelle XV, 208 NW 3rd, Monday, March 19
oral Candidates, a unique opporJoin Planned Parenthood
$20, 21+
Gay Skate for SMYRC! Skate it tunity for the candidates to meet Columbia Willamette for a Trivia
out while benefiting the Sexual with the LGBTQ community and
Pants-Off Productions pres- Minority Youth Resource Center. discuss our issues and priorities Night Fundraiser for the Equal
ents Magical Gadgets, an all- 7 p.m., Oaks Park Roller Skating through one-on-one conversa- Access Fund. 6:30 p.m., Dig a Pony,
ages musical evening featuring Rink, 7805 SE Oaks Park Way, $6. tions. 5 p.m.-8 p.m., Jupiter Hotel, 736 SE Grand, 21+, $5-10 suggested donation.
Lynx, Tender Forever, and Glit800 E Burnside, $75 or $100 for
terfruit! 8 p.m., Agnes Flanagan
two, pridenw.org
Chapel, Lewis & Clark College, Thursday, March 22
Tuesday, April 3
Free! Magical Gadgets is part of
Gay & Grey Happy Hour Social
T he Border Riders Motorthe 31st Annual Lewis & Clark for LGBTQ seniors and allies. 4 Friday, March 30
cycle Club holds a meet-andSNAP! ‘90s Dance Party! Res- greet for gay men interested in
Gender Symposium. For more p.m.-6 p.m., Crush Bar, 1400 SE
ident DJs Doc Adam and Colin recreational motorcycle tourinformation, visit go.lclark.edu/ Belmont, 21+
Jones welcome AC Lewis and ing. 7 p.m.-9 p.m., The Eagle
gendsymp/.
Same DNA to town. 9 p.m., Holo- Portland, 835 N. Lombard, 21+,
cene, 1001 SE Morrison, 21+
Peep Show’s got March Mad- Friday, March 23
borderriders.com
The Oregon Bears migrate to
ness, thanks to the return of Sally
the
Eagle
for
the
Double
X
Dance,
Ingus Wilder and co-host Little
Wednesday, April 4
Tommy Bang Bang. With too the scruffiest night in town! 9 p.m., Saturday, March 31
Ani Difranco’s songs have
Kiss Kill, a local queer-fronted
many performers to name! 10:00 C.C. Slaughter’s, 219 NW 3rd Ave.,
been part of almost every les- pop-punk quartet, performs their
p.m., Red Cap Garage, 1035 SW 21+.
bian’s history, and now’s your “intense, honest rock tunes” live.
Stark, 21+, No cover!
chance to “get nostalgic” and see 8 p.m., Crush, 1412 SE Morrison,
Saturday, March 24
her live, featuring songs from her
Inferno turns up the heat, with new album “¿Which Side Are You 21+, $4
Saturday, March 17
Need a Gaycation? Guest DJ SoCal’s finest Drag King, Landon On?” (and maybe a few classics).
Katie Stelmanis of Austra spins, Cider, and DJs Bomb Shel and 8 p.m., Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Friday, April 6
with a performance by La Pump! WildFire! Did it just get hot in Milwaukie, 21+, $35
Homomentum: Science/Fic9 p.m., Holocene, 1001 SE Morri- here? 6 p.m., DIRTY Nightclub, 35
tion. It’s queer cabaret goodness,
NW 3rd, $8 cover, 21+, infernodson, 21+, $5 cover
The Imperial Sovereign Court with glitter and ridiculousness at
ances.com
of the Emerald Empire presents every turn. 8 p.m., Fez Ballroom,
Queerlandia presents Last
Damsels, Divas & Dames: Lucky 316 SW 11th Ave., 21+, $5-10 slidBlow Pony. It’s the best place to Thirteen. Enter ta i ners f rom ing scale
Year, Best Year: Part 2. They say
the world is going to end in 2012. be seen, packing in the queer folks around the state will be rockin’
Go out with a bang, with live per- to the rafters for a night of sweaty, the house, with Diva Simone,
DEEP CUTS: a queer dance
formances by Sistafist and Jeau dance-ey fun. 9 p.m., Branx/ Karress Ann Slaughter, Adri- party for the music enthusiast.
Breedlove! 9 p.m., Red Cap Garage, Rotture, 315 SW 3rd, 21+, $10, enne Alexander, and many more. With DJs Bruice LaBruiser, Kasio
blowpony.com
1035 SW Stark, 21+, No cover!
7 p.m., Hult Center for the Per- Smashio, and very special guest
pqmonthly.com
DJ Chelsea Starr. 9:30 p.m., Rotture, 315 SE 3rd, 21+, $5
Tuesday, April 10
Break out the shoulder pads and
the neon spandex, it’s... NEVER
ENOUGH: ‘80s Dance Night! 9
p.m., Red Cap Garage, 1035 SW
Stark, 21+, No cover!
Friday, April 13
The Q Center Concert Series
presents God-Des and She, LIVE
at SMYRC! Join the Q Center as
they open the doors to the new
SMYRC space with a concert from
our favorite hip-hop/pop/soul
hotties. 6 p.m., 2406 NE Sandy,
Suite 100, $5-15 sliding scale,
pdxqcenter.org
Saturday, April 14
Storytime with Maria. Youth
Librarian Maria Lowe reads stories sings songs and engages the
children of LGBTQ families with
activities for every age. 9:30 a.m.10:30 a.m., Q Center, 4115 N, Mississippi Ave., Free!
Red Dress 2012: REDemption...
End of Days. Don’t even think of
showing up in anything other
than a red dress. 8 p.m. VIP admission, 9 p.m. general admission,
1415 NW 12th Ave., $50-150. This
party will sell out; buy tickets at
reddresspdx.com
Bearracuda growls into Red
Cap, with dancing and DJs in
one room, underwear party in
the other ... what door will you
choose? 9 p.m., Red Cap Garage,
1035 SW Stark, 21+, $5.
Sunday, April 15
Ecosex Nature Hike! Join Annie
Sprinkle for an ecosexy hike and
find your “e-spot” by exploring
the sensual side of nature, including the secret sexy life of plants.
10:30 a.m., Meet at Grocery Outlet,
4420 NE Hancock, $35 advance,
email [email protected]
for more information.
Thursday, April 19
Join hosts Sunny and Miss
Tammy Whynot at TRANS-IT, a
place to get down to the bootyshakin’ jamz of DJ Bender. 7:00
p.m., Crush Bar, 1400 SE Morrison, 21+, $3.
March 2012 • 21
22 • March 2012
pqmonthly.com
ARTS & CULTURE
INSPIRE, INCITE, IGNITE
Two innovative artists dish on the glories and challenges of being creative in the Rose City
Photos by Xilia Faye, PQ Monthly; art images courtesy of Nadia Buyse (upper) and painter Michael Riddle (lower)
By Nick Mattos
PQ Staff Writer
Portland is full of art — so much so that
it can be rather overwhelming. With the
endless cycle of art walks, festivals, gallery
shows, renegade installations, and student
exhibitions, artsy queers could be occupied
with the arts from First Thursday to Last
Thursday solid. To cut through the creative
din and spotlight a couple of the city’s most
interesting up-and-comers, we invited two
of our favorites — multimedia performer
Nadia Buyse and painter Michael Riddle
— to answer a few questions and tell PQ
Monthly readers about their work, the ways
that their sexuality informs them as artists, and the ways that the queer community can support the creative process (hint:
think money).
Nadia Buyse
PQ: Tell us a little about yourself and
your work.
NB: I live in Portland Oregon with my
roommates Lisa, Brett, and Fiona, and our
cats Taniwha and Fifi. I am also in my last
year of candidacy in the MFA Visual Studies
Program at PNCA. Currently I am in three
bands: Ghost Mom, Tombstalker/Bloodbraid, and as of most recently Adrian Piper
Cover Band.
I have considered myself an artist since
the first time I put on tap shoes at the age of
4 and since then my work has taken many
forms, from the highly sophisticated paintpqmonthly.com
ings of mermaids and their stamp collections by 6-year-old Nadia to the less sophisticated “MOVIE PARTY” video series (20052010) by Nadia in her 20s.
Currently I am working on a mixed
media conceptual cover band called Adrian
Piper Cover Band. I want to identify this as
mixed media because along with multimedia aspects of the project (i.e. video,
sound) there are also other aesthetical strategies like sculpture, painting, and character acting.
Adrian Piper has been a huge influence
on me. For those who know her work you
might think it’s odd that I am covering a
conceptual artist. For those of you who
do not know her work — no, she is not a
musician. I am in the process of taking transcripts from her installation piece “Cornered” and turning them into pop songs
that emphasize certain phrases that stick
out to me.
PQ: How did you arrive at your medium
of choice?
NB: I consider my working style to be
trans-disciplinary, which means that I utilize a multitude of disciplines simultaneously. If I had to choose a medium that
stood out above the rest it would be performing — it was my gateway drug. I have
always been a performer. I have been considering myself a performance artist since I
worked as a phone sex operator when I was
20 to help save money to go to the Evergreen
State College to study video art and queer
experimental theater.
PQ: How does queerness inform your
work?
NB: The word “queer” operates like the
word “trans-disciplinary” — it suggests
openness or a hybridity of being. … And it
sounds a lot less 90’s trashy then the word
“bisexual!” Conventional hetero-normative
life developments like reproduction and
babies have never been on my radar. But
I also date men more often than I’ve dated
women. My point with indulging this personal information is to illuminate that as far
as labels go this is a label I can get behind
because there is wiggle room. It is this hypothetical “wiggle room” that informs me.
PQ: What role do you see art playing in
the queer community?
NB: I think that the queer community
of Portland, and most towns, offers alternative platforms for people to show work.
It also offers new conversations and ways
of looking than what you might get in an
art institution.
PQ: How can the queer community
better support you as an artist?
NB: I am more interested in asking what
our town can do to better support artists in
our queer community. How many specialized grants or opportunities are there for
queer artists in Portland? But then again,
how many grants or opportunities are there
for regular artists? Not many.
PQ: Do you feel like your queerness
defines you in the larger art community?
NB: No, actually I think that most queer
people think I am straight (and that most
straight people just think I am a lesbian). I
also think that my work doesn’t outwardly
talk about my personal sexuality as much
as it talks about the psychosis of identity
in general, whether that identity is queer,
white, black, straight, or alien.
PQ: How does living in Portland inform
your work?
NB: I think that living in Portland informs
the parameters in which I’m working. For
instance, in 2010 when I was still working on
the “MOVIE PARTY” series I had the opportunity to collaborate with people like Blake
Cedric (aka DJ Trans Fat). If I wasn’t in Portland I wouldn’t have gotten to work with
him … and I might have not been able to
find anyone who would have the instinct to
dress up like a shitty ninja turtle and skateboard into a wall while eating pizza.
PQ: What challenges do you see artists
in Portland facing?
NB: The same challenge everyone has:
money!
PQ: We live in a city so full of art and artists — how do you differentiate yourself?
NB: Mostly the hair, the flair, the savoirfaire. … Nah I don’t really differentiate
myself as much as I see myself having a
unique place in our community of artists.
That being said, everyone knows me as the
loud brown one.
inspire, incite, ignite page 25
March 2012 • 23
ARTS & CULTURE
AMY RAY ON ‘LUNG OF LOVE,’ GETTING
OLDER, AND HER NORTHWEST TIES
By Kathy Belge
there. It’s like a second home for me. I have
lots of friends in Portland. I love everything
about the Northwest. I love the people. I
love the environment is stunningly beautiful. I even love the rain.
PQ Monthly
Of course there’s a bit of Indigo Girl in Amy
Ray, but as she sings on her sixth solo album,
“Lung of Love,” there’s a bit of Joe Strummer in
her DNA too. The more rocking member of the
famous lesbian folk duo returns to Portland
for a Doug Fir show March 27, accompanied
by all three original members of the Butchies,
including Portland’s own Kaia Wilson. I had
the chance to talk with Amy Ray on the phone
the day after album dropped about song writing, getting older, and staying inspired after
25 years as a professional musician.
PQ: Tell us little bit about where the
album title “Lung of Love” comes from and
what that means.
Amy Ray: It’s kind of hard to articulate. It
came from the song “Lung of Love,” which
is sort of about conflict between your physical body and your limitations and your
spirit and your heart. Wanting to be in three
places at one time, wanting to see and do
more things than you have time for. Wanting to be more present in your relationship than you can be because of your job.
We all breathe the same air and when I sing
I become free of all those things and the
“lung of love” is like the statement, like this
is what I have to give.
PQ: Listening to this album for me,
versus your other albums, it seems maybe
a little less angst-ridden. I’m wondering if
that reflects a place in your life, where you’re
at right now, or if you would even agree with
that statement.
AR: I don’t know if the songs lyrically
have less angst in them, but I’m addressing
things in a different way — from a perspective that’s like, it’s not all about my struggle.
It’s all about OUR struggle. Musically, I think
there’s a different picture going on than the
other records. It has a little more fun in it
Amy Ray will perform at the Doug Fir Lounge in Portland March 27.
and a little more vibe and so that takes away
a little bit from the angst.
PQ: Was that deliberate?
AR: No, it wasn’t actually. I think when
we got together to work on the arrangements, we didn’t really talk about how the
lyrics related to the music or anything like
that. We definitely had a musical intention,
which was a groovier feel and try to make
things really tight and danceable.
PQ: That will be fun for the live shows.
AR: That’s for sure, for sure. We went out
in December to experiment and the new
material has a certain danceability to it.
PQ: You’re definitely in different place
than you were 25 years ago and when you
started as a musician. I wonder about
the aging process as a woman in our culture, and is that reflected at all in how you
approach your music?
AR: Probably. I think there’s references to
it lyrically sometimes. In “Little Revolution”
I refer to that a little bit. But it’s not specific
to being a woman in that song; although,
women have a specific thing that happens
to them in the eyes of society, which is you
Photo by John David Raper
become very disposable. … I don’t struggle
with it so much specifically to being a woman
as much as I struggle with it specific to being
human and feeling age and not wanting to
run out of time and all those kinds of things.
PQ: You’ve got a couple of Northwest gals
who are playing with you on your album;
are they going with you on tour?
AR: Kaia Wilson is touring with me.
Melissa York is playing drums. Julie Wolfe
couldn’t do the tour so, my keyboard player
is a woman named Jen Stone. The last tour
she was on was Ke$ha actually. Alison Martlew from the Butchies is playing with me,
so I’ll have all three original members of the
Butchies on tour with me.
PQ: Do you try to make it a point to hire
women and queer musicians?
AR: No, not really. I know it looks that
way, but these are just the people I play
with. I definitely love playing with guys just
as much. There’s no intention there. It’s just
my world that I’m in.
PQ: You’re a Southern girl, but is there a
bit of Northwest in Amy Ray?
AR: Yeah, for sure. My girlfriend of nine
years is from Seattle. So I spend a lot of time
PQ: Talk about the song “The Rock is
my Foundation” and your history with the
church.
AR: I definitely have a history with the
church. I grew up Methodist and for a lot of
years I probably went to church three days a
week. Youth meetings, and Wednesday night
suppers, and church in the morning and Bible
school. I loved it. It was my community. There
were a lot of good things I got out of it. But the
church was pretty conservative and I started
questioning things and looking at that.
I know what that system has done to us as
women and gay people and people of color.
So I think it’s one of those complexities. I want
to own it because it’s my culture that I grew
up with. There’s a lot of bad things attached
to it, but there’s a lot of good things attached
to it to. I’m going to take it back from the conservative Christian movement.
PQ: There’s an insert that’s in your CD
with a beautiful piece of prose. Are you
doing writing other than songs?
AR: I’m not a good writer. It’s painful.
I read a lot. I don’t consider myself to be
that kind of writer. I have so much respect
for that craft. I’ll do a little story like the
one I did in the record but I probably can’t
do more than that. Unless it’s a children’s
book. I’ve always kind of thought it would
be fun to try to explain hard things to kids,
like death. But when I read some great book
by Sara Waters or something and I read her
writing I just think I don’t know how somebody does this. Or like a Flannery O’Conner
short story. It’s mind blowing to me.
See Amy Ray with Lindsay Fuller March
27 at The Doug Fir. Doors at 8 p.m.; show at
9 p.m. Tickets are $15. dougfirlounge.com
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24 • March 2012
pqmonthly.com
jeffrey
horvitz
portraits
inspire, incite, ignite: “Those who have suffered, understand
suffering, and therefore hold out their hands.”
Continued from page 23
Michael Riddle
PQ: Tell us a little about
yourself and your work.
M R : I’m a n O r e g on
nat ive, bor n i n Sa lem,
grew up in a little tow n
called Chiloquin and later
lived in Eugene. I moved
to San Francisco in 1990,
a nd t hen 20 yea rs later
ended up in Portland. I’m
a self-taught painter, with
no formal education. My
therapist once called me an
“autodidactic iconoclast,”
and I love her for that. I like
narrative, figurative art.
I’m interested in mythology, symbolism, color, line,
and attitude. I’m inspired
by religious iconography,
illuminated manuscripts,
self-portraits, and sci-fi
artwork. My subjects tend
to be drag queens, whores
and rent-boys, junkies and
thieves, rebel angels and
reluctant warriors. I make
art because it’s fun. I really
enjoy it. I am called to do
it, and who am I to refuse?
I feel lucky to be able to
create an emotional space
conta ined w it hin a f lat
piece of ca rdboa rd cut
from an Ikea box. It’s such
a cool thing to pull a feeling
from the collective unconscious, and somehow with
color and a brush manifest
it in real time. Sometimes it
even gets me laid!
PQ: How did you arrive
at your medium of choice?
MR : Econom ics, i n itially. When I was teaching myself to paint around
1987, I worked at Genesis
Juice Co-op in Eugene and
was pretty broke. I had to
use cheap or free art supplies, which were mainly
watercolors, guache, pastels, and craft paints. I’ve
come to love these mediums. They all have a soft
matte quality, which can
pqmonthly.com
hold a lot of depth and light.
Also, they are extremely
por table, a nd probably
won’t kill me when I roll a
cigarette without washing
my hands.
queer art scene here is very
strong. I’m really looking
forward to getting my work
out there in our community
and to working with other
queer artists on projects.
PQ: How does queerness
inform your work?
MR: Well, I’m a big fag.
I love the male body. My
pieces tend to be of boys
or men in romantic attitudes, sad warriors, fierce
lovers. Being queer gives
me a whole lot more imagery and material to work
with, and a much broader
a nd r icher la ng uage to
play with. I make queer art
because I’m a queer artist.
But I am also Native American artist, and a self- taught
outsider artist, and just
a guy who grew up really
poor in a small town. The
queerness comes through
i n t ra n sg ression, sex iness, boldness, and irreverence.
PQ: Do you feel like your
queerness defines you in the
larger art community?
MR: I’m not sure if people
are saying, “ You know
Riddle, the queer artist?”
God, at least I hope not!
I’d rather they were saying,
“You know Riddle, that guy
who paints in cafes? His
shit’s fucked up!”
PQ: What role do you
see art playing in the queer
community?
MR: Art tends to be the
medium we queers use to
speak to each other, and to
the world at large. It’s our
role in society to inspire,
incite, and ignite the heart.
We as queers laugh at the
past, violate traditions, and
are not bound to the mundane. We are free to run with
our own narratives. I think
of a quote from Patti Smith:
“Those who have suffered,
understand suffering, and
therefore hold out their
hands.” As queers, that is
our job.
Art also serves an initiatory role — a symbolic
stripping down, until we
are naked and proclaiming to our peers “this is me,
this is my body, this is my
story!” It’s here, in this creative nakedness, that we
find our commonality and
create community.
PQ: How does the queer
community support you
as an artist? How can they
better support you?
MR: I’m still infiltrating
the queer community here
in Portland. I can be a bit of
a loner. I find the folks here
very supportive of each
other’s endeavors, and the
PQ: How does living
in Portland inform your
work?
MR: This is such a beautiful city, with its heavy urban
industry, contrasted by the
spectacular nature surrounding us. Not to mention the ridiculous amount
of beautiful boys to be
inspired by! Over the last
year, I’ve been doing most of
my artwork in public. I have
my little kit, and my headphones, and I will sit in various cafes in the southeast
working. It’s great to talk to
folks about what I’m doing,
and have met many friends
and encountered so much
inspiration this way.
PQ: What challenges do
you see artists in Portland
facing?
MR: Money! There ain’t
no money here, and there
are lots of artists competing
for that nonexistent money.
I also really don’t like to get
caught up in having to sell
my work to survive; for
me, so far at least, a “working artist” is one with a day
job. I mean, sure, it would
be great to have folks clamoring for my work — and I
would certainly never refuse
a patron (charming wink!)
— but as soon as economic
factors come into my work
and I start thinking about
what will sell, I get a little
derailed. I’m more satisfied
and productive if I think of
it as a spiritual practice than
if I think of it as a job.
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Buyse’s performance
project Adrian Piper Cover
Band is opening for Hunx
and his Punx and Heavy
Cream on March 22 at
Dante’s (350 West Burnside
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8 p.m.; show starts at 9 p.m.;
tickets are $10 advance from
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PQ: We live in a city so full
of art and artists — how do
you differentiate yourself?
MR: By being myself. My
work has emotional gravity
precisely because it’s personal. I just want to make
you feel something!
Riddle will be hosting an
opening of his new show on
March 29 from 7 p.m. to 10
p.m. at Sound Grounds Café
(3711 SE Belmont St., Portland). The show continues through the month of
April.
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March 2012 • 25
PERSPECTIVES
RAIN CITY
SEARCHING FOR
THE GHOSTS
by Nick Mattos
PQ Monthly
Saturday night — Ashes is packed, but Natalie sits at the bar facing away from the crowd,
running her finger along the rim of her whiskey
glass. She slides the sleeve of her green hoodie
up to her elbow, looks at her watch, 9:30 p.m.
“Where the hell is my girlfriend?” she thinks,
conscious to keep facing forward. From somewhere behind her, Natalie hears the haughty
laughter of a whole league of lesbians she’d
rather not see — an ex dancing with a girl Natalie once hired and subsequently fired, a random
enemy hitting on an old housemate.
“Goddamn, this town is tiny,” she thinks,
taking a sip of her whiskey, resting the heel of
her boot against the leg of the barstool.
Out of the corner of her eye Natalie sees Leni,
the patron saint of disenfranchised queers, an
unlit cigarette in one hand and a long-stemmed
glass in another.
“Honey!” Leni shouts with her New York
Jewish accent at some twink, sloshing her martini out of the glass, the corners of her eyes wrinkled from smiling. “You’re gorgeous, but take my
advice: never get old! The ghosts become too
much to deal with!”
This is already too much for Natalie to deal
with. “I’m 30,” she thinks as she looks down
at her legs in vintage jeans. “How many more
ghosts can I get?”
She giggles at this in context: Ashes is notorious for being the Rain City gay bar most full
of ghosts, from the spirits of famous deceased
drag queens to mid-Eighties HIV patients. There
was even a story circulating recently that some
of the cooks recently ran into a ghost horse in
the building’s basement, right near the space
that connected it to the infamous Shanghai Tunnels.
She sits bolt upright on her barstool, struck
with a rush of inspiration and bravery. “If I’m
going to be haunted,” she thinks, setting a
napkin atop her whiskey glass in the universal
don’t-you-dare-touch-this-barback signal, “they
might as well be real ghosts.”
Natalie walks quickly past the stage, pushes
quietly through the double doors — she looks
back as she goes through, sees the bartenders
scowling with focus as they pour drinks, not
noticing her. She finds herself in a room full of
lockers, an old wooden staircase leading down to
a door, and before she thinks about it she hears
the creaking of the stairs as she descends.
Dressing Room, a sign tacked on the door
below reads. She pushes it open; the sharp,
chalky scents of powder, dust, and industrial
cleanser hit her violently. “Clean Up Your Shit,
Girls!” proclaims the
chalkboard, a red lipstick kiss beneath it.
Mirrors ever y where
have photos of drag
queens, pages of
ma keup tips ripped
from magazines, beefcake photos taped onto
them. The pipes right
above Natalie’s head
make a faint rushing
sound, water shooting through. She runs the
tips of her left fingers over the metal surface of
lockers until she touches the warm wood of a
door. Is it unlocked? she wonders, reaching for
the handle. Yes!
She slips through the door, finds herself in
a pitch-dark room full of the sound of water
dripping, the scent of mildew. The basement!
She slides her phone out of her pocket — “just
got here, where R U?” a text from her girlfriend
reads. Natalie turns on her phone’s flashlight,
shines it around the basement — the light
shines off puddles, illuminating mysterious
boxes and objects without revealing their identities.
Quietly, slowly, she descends one step, then
another, sets her feet down on the basement
floor. She inhales the musty air deeply and
turns off her cell phone. There is darkness. She
waits.
Here, beneath the bar-goers and the drag
queens, the whiskey shots and the Saturdaynight city, down at the root of everything there
is darkness, full of ghosts, things from the past
that live on without bodies. Natalie holds her
hands up in front of her face, but sees only the
blackness; she is without a body here too, given
form only by the rhythm of water falling to the
floor, cold radiating off the basement floor, her
thoughts.
She closes her eyes and is met with the same
darkness, listening to the lively hum of the bar
above, the silence below. “I expected stillness,”
she thinks. “I expected to find the dead, but I
was wrong. Everything here, below the Rain
City, is alive.”
Natalie’s heart races with the thrill of being
in a forbidden place, the shock of the past intersecting with the present.
Amidst the dripping, there is a happy sigh.
Natalie feels her hands rest upon her heart. She
turns, carefully lifts her foot up to the first step,
the second, ascending the stairs up to the door.
It opens; there is sound and light, heat, life, the
present. She slips through the door, smiling, off
to kiss her girlfriend, to drink her whiskey and
dance amidst the people she never wants to see,
to carry the basement and the ghosts she found
there off into the land of the living.
Behind her, the door slowly closes, the sliver
of light from above shrinking along the wet basement floor. Then, there is only darkness.
Nick Mattos doesn’t believe in ghosts, but agrees that they tend to make a great
story — and is glad that he heard this one. Reach him at [email protected].
26 • March 2012
unseen: “I’ve felt invisible in my queerness
since before I could even name it.” Continued from page 14
Heidi Seekins (left) says its harder to come out now that she’s married to Andrew Wiley.
assumptions about a person’s identity
if they know the gender of that individual’s partner. But this not only renders invisible the queerness of folks
in apparently heterosexual relationships, it also erases the identity of any
bisexual in a monogamous relationship.
“I feel invisible as a bisexual any
time I go out to a bar,” says Cameron
Kude, 25, who is bisexual and currently in a relationship with a man. “If
I’m at a gay bar, I’m assumed to be gay.
If I’m at a straight bar, I’m assumed to
be straight. I love the idea of a bi bar,
where one could feel free to talk to or
flirt with anybody before assuming
their sexual preference.”
Visibility matters
For Sossity Chiricuzio, 41, the visibility-by-association she gets as the
partner of a masculine-gendered queer
is no replacement for the real thing.
“For anyone still wondering: standing next to a masculine-gendered
queer and finally being visible does
not count as a magic trick,” she says.
“In fact, it makes that singular pleasure
into another form of rejection, somehow, which is doubly frustrating.”
See, Chircuzio is a femme who,
despite her involvement in the LGBTQ
community, fierce style, and visible
tattoos, often feels her queerness is
invisible. She recalls how that invisibility has marked her queer life since
the beginning.
“I’ve felt invisible in my queerness since before I could even name
it,” Chiricuzio says. “I’ve always been
most comfortable in long hair and
as you like it
Continued from page 13
AYLI also sells a variety of gender
expression supplies — packers, gaffs,
breast forms, shaping underwear, dilators, STPs, harnesses for all bodies,
and, eventually, binders — as well as
massage products, gifts, and dance
wear such as pasties and appliqués.
“We’re about romance as well
as sex,” Marks says. “And part of
skirts. It’s my natural state of being,
and even now often leaves me feeling invisible to both queers and nonqueers alike.”
As a result, she’s had to actively
assert her queerness. At age 19, that
meant informing her college support
group that her lipstick didn’t negate
her sexual identity. In her 20s, she
found herself assuring “old-school
dykes” at the lesbian bar she wasn’t
lost, she didn’t have a boyfriend waiting in the car, and that she had “already
been turned out, thank you.”
These days, though, she puts less
energy into giving signals and instead
holds out hope that people will start
taking more responsibility for their
assumptions and make an effort to
really see one another.
“I think the key is doing what
comes hard to everyone in this fastpaced world we’ve created: taking
the time to thoughtfully engage with
or observe other people,” Chiricuzio
says. “I frequently see other queers
on the bus that might, if they actually
looked at me for a moment, [take] in
the various visual cues in my appearance and notice my direct gaze that is
seeing them, and in return, see me.”
Because however queers accomplish it, there’s no denying that visibility matters.
“ Visibility is also important
because when others see you, they
feel more comfortable being visible
themselves,” Seekins says. “Being
open and visible with our identities
will encourage others to introspect
about their own identities and/or to
be open with identities that they have
previously kept to themselves.”
romance is feeling comfortable with
yourself. So that’s kind of how it all
ties together.”
Once AYLI finds a physical home,
Marks says she hopes the shop will
become a resource for all things “ecosexy.” In the meantime, she and her
network have been hosting events
and tabling at popular events such
as Dirty Queer and Blow Pony.
You can find As Your Like It at
www.asyoulikeitpdx.com.
pqmonthly.com
ARTS & CULTURE
ON DEFUNKT’S ‘FIRE ISLAND,’
SPRINGTIME IS HOT AGAIN
Exp. 3/15/12
(Left) Angela Fair and McKenna Twedt; (right) Matthew Kern, McKenna Twedt, Tom Mounsey, and Jason King.
By Daniel Borgen
PQ Monthly
Fire Island has a rather notorious,
sordid history in our collective pop
culture psyche — long referenced as
a big gay refuge, its heritage isn’t all
queer. Writers like Joan Didion have
also used it as a point of reference.
We’ve seen it name-dropped on sitcoms from “Will and Grace” to “30
Rock” — the whole of those references were certainly quite gay. Donna
Summer has performed there, Rufus
Wainwright has crooned about it —
The Village People even named a song
“Fire Island.” So it’s fitting that notoriously gender-bending, queer-friendly
defunkt theatre company’s next production is just that: “Fire Island.”
defunkt’s co-artistic director, Matthew Kern, promises theater-goers
that their newest production “contains the most explicitly gay material we have yet tackled.” This inching
into the queer realm didn’t happen
overnight. Kern, who co-helms artistic direction with Grace Carter — the
director of “Fire” — talked a little about
the company’s history and intent: “In
2010, we produced ‘4.48 Psychosis’ by
Sarah Kane, who was a lesbian, and
while the focus of that play is not her
sexual orientation, it’s definitely an
element and something we tried to
explore and mine.”
Additionally, defunkt tackles and
challenges notions of traditional
gender roles, of masculinity and femininity — but “Fire Island” seems to
be taking that culmination to entirely
new levels.
“It is about all kinds of relationships, both gay and straight, and
between older people and those just
starting out in life,” Kern explained.
“I didn’t come to defunkt with the
specific agenda of ‘gaying’ it up, but
it’s part of who I am so I am sure it
always inf luences how I approach
pqmonthly.com
materia l, what interests me. I’m
drawn to material that illuminates
the common ground between people
who are seemingly different, and
sexual orientation is one of those differences.”
The material in “Fire Island,”
created by playwright Chuck Mee,
appealed to defunkt for a variety of
reasons, among them successful past
experiences with Mee’s plays.
“defunkt did a Chuck Mee show in
their first season,” Kern said. “So we’ve
been aware of his work for a long time.
I think we felt it was a good time to
return to our roots, in a sense. We were
drawn to ‘Fire Island’ because it’s very
romantic — hopefully in a totally nonsappy way — and that really appealed
to us.
“Also, Chuck is incredibly generous
in allowing you to change and shape
his material and make it your own.
This play is kind of like a collage; it’s
a series of scenes following different
characters. Some of the material is
taken from his other plays; some was
written specifically for ‘Fire Island.’
Together it’s a beautiful and funny
exploration of love and passion in all
its forms.”
In “Fire,” a cast of seven actors play
36 different characters. Some of the
characters are seen only once and
others return. Couples meet for the
first time — others have been together
for years and are at a crisis point.
“Love is explored from all angles,”
Kern said. “I think what drives the evening is this sense of indestructibility of
the desire for that kind of connection
in one’s life, no matter what the challenges, and no matter how much life
and breakups and failed relationships
threaten to beat it out of us. Some part
of us is always hoping to walk around
the corner and meet the love of our
life, or find a way to make it work with
whoever we are with at the time.”
Kern, who also acts in the play, grew
Photos by Andrew Klause
NEWS
up on the East Coast, keenly aware
of Fire Island and all its gay ramifications. While helping helm this production, he came across many people
who didn’t know about the location’s
special meaning to the queer community.
“We actually upped the gay content
a bit,” he said. “One of the characters I
play in a number of scenes was written
as a woman and we changed it to be
a man. There’s a hilarious monologue
that was originally written as a woman
but played by a man, telling a wannabe cowboy off. There’s a female couple
we see more than once. The show is
about romantic love — and sensuality is a component of that, so it was
important to us that the characters
have a real heat between them.”
Enough to entice you yet? “Fire
Island” offers insight into relationships, sensuality, sexuality, genderbending; it also offers a rare opportunity to see a handful of actors playing
over 30 roles.
You still need more? Try this: The
play’s run will benefit Cascade AIDS
Project; defunkt will donate a portion
of door proceeds to the non-profit.
“We were lucky enough to receive
a couple of grants to work on ‘Fire
Island,’” Kern said. “That funding
allowed us to give something back
to the community with the proceeds
from the show. Given the subject
matter, CAP seemed a really good fit.
It’s a great way for us to do something
for the community and also to help
us reach new audience members who
may be familiar with CAP and Pivot
but new to defunkt theatre.”
“Fire Island” runs March 23 through
April 28. defunkt performs at The Back
Door Theater, 4319 SE Hawthorne. For
ticket information, visit defunktheatre.com. Be sure to stay with PQ’s blog
for more on this production — including an interview with the director of
“Fire,” Grace Carter.
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www.PravdaHairSalon.com [email protected]
March 2012 • 27
ARTS & CULTURE
THE AUTHENTIC JEAN FOGEL ZEE:
IDEALIST, STRUGGLER, DANCER
By Nick Mattos
PQ Monthly
Jean Fogel Zee wants us all to dance the
way we were born to. After a celebrated and
innovative career in the world of professional dance, Zee brought together her love
of movement with a hunger for self-actualization when she
discovered Authentic Movement — a
method of effortless
movement and witnessing that emerged
from the framework
of Jungian analysis.
W h i le Aut hentic Movement is primarily utilized as a
means of self-exploration and healing,
the practice informs
t he work of ma ny
notable local dancers, including KajA n ne Pepp er a nd
Ta h n i Holt . A f t er
20 years of practice
and teaching during
which she beca me
one of t he world’s
most celebrated
Authentic Movement
facilitators, Zee took
a hiatus from publicly offering the work;
however, she recently chose to come out
of retirement and offer a free Introduction to Authentic Movement workshop
on April 1.
In advance of the public workshop,
Zee sat down with PQ Monthly in her SE
Portland studio to talk about her work as
a facilitator, the healing power of “seeing
and being seen as we are,” and the way that
radical acceptance can transform our lives
and the queer community.
PQ Monthly: First off, who are you?
Jean Fogel Zee: I am a passionate idealist who has learned how to navigate in
a very imperfect world. I am a struggler.
I like to pay attention to detail, all detail,
good or bad.
PQ: What led to dance, and to Authentic Movement?
JFZ: I think I was born a dancer, really.
My first experience of dancing was with
my father, dancing soft-shoe in the morning. He taught me all the couples dances
that were popular at the time, and in Texas
where we lived you could take children into
the bars. He’d take me out on the weekends,
fill the jukebox with quarters, and we’d cut
a rug. Some of my first memories are very
28 • March 2012
much like a Degas painting, the dark wood
of the dance studio, the light shining off the
floor, the smell of leather ballet shoes.
I studied dance professionally in many
different cities under many teachers, and
after a long process I wound up in Eugene
as a member of the Mary Oslund+ Dance
Company. However, during this time I
sometimes felt overwhelmed by the
façade and the artifice
of the field. As for what
led me to Authentic
Movement, a student
of mine went off to
study it, and when she
returned she shared
with me the ver y
simple technique that
she learned. It saved
m e, a n d d e ra i l e d
my plans to end my
dance career. I found
Authentic Movement
just when I needed
it.
PQ: For those who
may not be familiar
with the technique,
what is Authentic
Movement?
JFZ: It is is a very
Photo by Xilia Faye, PQ Monthly s i m p l e p r a c t i c e
between two or more people in which
there are two roles: the mover and witness.
One is invited to move their body, to dance,
to breathe, to express without any sort of
effort. That process is observed by a witness, who simply witnesses the movements
as they unfold. Each of these roles begin
from a very simple and supportive place.
Through practice and through the exchange
of experiencing both of these roles, there
is an exponential progress and growth that
happens for oneself. It certainly happened
for me and I’ve witnessed it happen for hundreds of people.
PQ: What did you find when you started
practicing Authentic Movement?
JFZ: I found… a place that I could go any
time I wanted that always surprised me,
where I didn’t always find what I was looking for or what I expected it to be, but was
always a safe space, always dependable and
full of information.
PQ: What made you decide to bring
others to that place?
JFZ: People asked it of me, and it was
difficult. I really struggled to teach it,
and found it very challenging… partially
because I had so much technical training
from so many teachers. It’s said that what
we want to learn, we need to teach, and I
was somewhat damaged by the training that
I internalized; in order to learn authenticity,
I needed to unlearn some of the training.
PQ: Can you speak a little more about
“undoing the training?” Does that process
applies equally to, say, dancers undoing
their technical training as it does for nondancers who are undoing the sort of “training” we get from living in this society?
JFZ: Mary Whitehouse, the woman who
crafted Authentic Movement, was a dancer
all her life and later became a Jungian analyst; she always said that her most difficult
students were dancers. When we learn different techniques, we learn to layer and
apply, take something else on that’s not
ours. What Whitehouse discovered was
that, in the authenticity of movement and
of being, we return to the state of the body
when we are young. When we move when
we are young, we don’t think about it — we
just move. We do as much learning as we
need to do and then the body naturally takes
over. When a child looks up to the sky, their
whole body looks up to the sky; when he
or she looks down, their whole body looks.
The unlearning brings us
closer to the body, which
brings us closer to this
innate state. The dancer
has the learned movements of the dance;
the non-dancer has the
learned movements of
their world, where they
grew up, what they’ve
observed, the different
stories inside them, the
hurts and joys. Psychologically speaking, there
is a lot that the body
holds, especially that
which is left unseen or
unsaid. We are all walking maps of our history,
and “unlearning” is how
we go beneath the map
to the person we actually are.
the work that comes from moving and being
witnessed moving — there’s an opening that
happens. In the beginning, it’s not easy, the
same way that it’s not easy to come out and
say to the world “I’m gay.” The idea of setting this aside and simply being seen as we
are allows for that identity to be included,
but at the same time we can develop that
internal witnessing of ourselves, in which
we’re not dependent upon the labels. It’s
a matter of developing this slow, gentle
inquiry into what happens when we allow
ourselves to be seen.
PQ: Dancing, whether it’s on the stage or
in the clubs, figures so heavily in the queer
community. What role do you see movement and dance playing for queer people?
JFZ: I really think the role of movement
and dance serves as the actualization of
a person coming into themselves. Dance
itself is pure free expression. I mean, may
we all dance! May the whole world dance!
May we all die dancing!
PQ : You ta lk about how “the body
holds what is unseen.” Do you believe
jean fogel zee page 30
PQ: What sor t of
promise does Authentic Movement hold for
queer people and the
queer community?
JFZ: I think any space
that is safe and invites
being seen as we are is a
step towards awareness,
towards knowing oneself. At the same time,
there’s something expoPhoto by Xilia Faye, PQ Monthly
nential that happens in Jean Fogel Zee is among the world’s most celebrated Authentic Movement facilitators.
pqmonthly.com
pqmonthly.com
March 2012 • 29
PERSPECTIVES
The Lady Chronicles
HOW WILL I KNOW?
By Daniel Borgen
PQ Monthly
Of t he countless dating scenarios I’ve embarked
upon (a commentar y on my age more
than my romantic aptitude), there’s a version I’ve not encountered until now —
the one with the affixed expiration date.
It’s like this: boy meets boy, boys share
first date drinks and sloppy games of pool
at my preferred first-date haunt, Hobo’s
(dim lights, enough anonymity), boys
imbibe a bit too much (blame the venue’s generous pours), boys go face down
in chili cheese fries at the Roxy before
saying their goodbyes.
The second date (already unfamiliar territory): two days later we’re sipping coffee —
during daylight hours, no less—at a café on
the eastside. There, during more hours-long
socializing, boy informs me of his imminent
departure. He’s moving in two months. And,
all at once, it’s head vs. heart. I’m analyzing signs, signals, and what-ifs faster than
I pour vodka down my throat any given
Saturday. Despite his unfortunate declaration, our second go-around, to my continued surprise, fares better than the first.
I even traipsed over to the eastside during
morning hours — in lieu of heading home
the other direction during habitual saunters of shame.
Conversation is relentless — movies,
music, all the shit that boasts the makings
of a Cameron Crowe movie — although
decidedly more “Say Anything” than “Elizabethtown.” Because effortless connections remain so elusive, our eastside coffee
adventure ends with a noon-time adult rendezvous back at his apartment, an encounter that somehow isn’t thwarted by an unexpected roommate and her unwelcoming
canine. And before we even really notice,
we’re seeing each other regularly, shirking
definitions.
Since I’m unable to make decisions
of a ny sor t w it hout bomba rding my
friends with every bit of minutiae, I turn
to a handful of usual suspects, ones I codependently refer to as my collective conscience.
The first, Ryan, who boasts Patrick
Bateman-like emotional detachment (he
calls it “informed observing”), offers his
customary lecture about my “lesbianlike tendencies.” “W hy do you have to
call it anything? Why can’t you just let
it be? Stop trying to make things what
they’re not.”
The next, Andrew, entangled in his own
long-distance predicament, regales me with
tales of heart conquering intellect. “Do it;
you’ll regret it if you don’t.”
Ingrid, a confidante since elementary
school, functions as my therapist. “I’m
sure you like him, but you realize you’re
only into this because you have a builtin out.”
I absorb all of it, yammering on incessantly about hopes, fears — then realization sets in. Accompanying my pressing
desire to cut and run before our end date
comes is the certainty that I’m beholden to
my trajectory. Besides, steeling my heart has
never really been my forte. Like the subject
of some overly emotional Whitney Houston anthem, pessimism is pushed aside
for the grandiose — and I’m keenly aware
this situation isn’t doing much to dispel
long-loathed but sneaky, creeping notions
about romantic comedy-inspired happily
ever afters. I am, as Ryan so often declares,
a “sappy lezzie.”
With that, I wonder: despite a mountain
of failures, am I actually built for a lasting
plus one? Our sleepovers are effortless; we
muster and plan to conquer a half-joking,
half-serious “movie to-do” list. We trade
library books; we make meals (clarification: he makes dinner, I can’t cook). We
try our hand at outings that aren’t completely bar-centric. When we do tackle
queer nights, there aren’t any heated arguments about how much time is spent talking to whom; no one’s worried other manon-man conversations will result in hand
jobs in the bathroom. I wait for lingering, jealous stares; they never come. (But
I steal my own.)
While I’m showering and getting ready
for work, he’s making my bed and doing
my dishes. We watch “Jeopardy” on the
phone together. He endures big, loud gay
brunches I know he’d rather avoid. I pet his
roommate’s dog even though I’m allergic.
Throughout, I’m still awed by the fact that
no one’s running for the hills when dawn
breaks, as has been my standard practice
for innumerable months.
I revisit Ingrid’s words — I’m in this
because I can see the end. The usual issues
don’t come up; things don’t get ugly because
there’s no need; I’m forgiving and agreeable in shorter bursts. No one’s running
because no one has to — separation is
already scheduled, assured, just delayed a
little. I’m convinced of this: it’s hardest to
channel Buddha when you’re examining
your own romantic entanglements. So, for
now, I won’t.
And despite a rather constant, nagging
assurance I’d resort to all my comfortable
sabotages if indefinite were a real possibility, I’ll find a measure of comfort in temporary normalcy. And maybe even make it
something Buddha can build on.
jean fogel zee: “the body holds what is unseen.” Continued from page 28
this happens only on a personal level,
or does it also happen on a larger level
— say, in the body of a group, a community, or a nation?
JFZ: Absolutely! Through the sciences
we’ve learned so much about the nature of
the body, and it’s fascinating that so many
of the findings observe that the body is the
microcosm of the world… we have our own
cycles and rhythms personally as well as
societally. More fundamentally, we aren’t
“like” nature, or amongst nature — we are,
ourselves, nature. It’s a wonderful thing,
that we are just a smaller expression of our
communities.
PQ: What do you think the queer community can do to be a safe container for
those within it?
JFZ: That’s a difficult one, because it’s
such a constantly moving, shape-shifting
aspect of culture. The image I get is like a
root system, or mushrooms — a mycelium
web that is part of and beneath everything.
We are everywhere. The closest I can get
to an answer is that we need to allow ourselves to see each other as we are, to give
the acceptance that each of us needs to
each other, even to those who can’t give it
to us. We just need to carry on, being seen
and available and loving, doing the next
right thing.
PQ: Finally, to follow-up on the very first
question: who are we?
JFZ: I think we are life. We hear things
like “we are one,” all these sayings about
us all being one world, but the reality is
that the world is like that, and constantly
becoming more so. We are closer to our
own unseen parts than we have ever been
before. When the world was smaller, and
everything was farther apart communication-wise, we could overlook it; it’d take a
long time before you heard about events.
Now, this contraction is happening, and
it’s not going to stop. What’s it going to be
like in another 30 years? Energetically, we
are moving towards each other, constantly;
there’s no way to get away from one another,
from seeing each other and being seen. This
is a wonderful thing.
Jean Fogel Zee will be offering a free Introduction to Authentic Movement workshop
on April 1. For more information about the
workshop and Jean Fogel Zee’s work, go to
www.jeanfogelzee.com.
This whole scenario might even be reason enough for a Grindr hiatus. Formerly
Lady about Town, Daniel now pens TLC. Email him at [email protected].
30 • March 2012
pqmonthly.com
DAMON BOUCHER AND GUESTS
By Nick Mattos
PQ Monthly
Let’s face it: we’re all dirty
queers sometimes. If your
taste currently runs towards
the filthy-gorgeous side,
you’d do well to congregate
at the Someday Lounge on
March 31 and witness local
rapper Damon Boucher perform his sophomore album,
“Love Me Like A Rollercoaster,” in its entirety for
the first and last time.
Boucher’s first album,
“Superfag,” released last
April, raised eyebrows and
won fans with its dark,
synth-heavy take on young
gay life. “Love Me Like A
Rollercoaster,” while just as
hard-edged and steely-eyed
as “Superfag,” keeps the
angst but turns the horniness up a few notches.
The guest performers
joining Boucher to perform “Love Me Like A Rollercoaster” on March 31 are
a veritable who’s-who of
Portland’s queer hip-hop
underground. Highlights
include Glitter Express, Neil
Von Tally, Boys + Mixtapes
(formerly of Chichi and
Chonga), the absurdly gorgeous Kitty Morena
(also for merly of
Chichi and Chonga),
and the sexy and talented Jeau Breedlove.
Those who like to
trip out while they
rock out are in luck:
live visualizations by
Alex Boyce are sure
to entrance. Once
Damon Boucher
Boucher and his crew
drive the audience wild, DJs
Pocket Rock-It and Roy G
Biv will take over for a latenight dance party and keep
the freaknasty level high. All
in all, it’s a night certain to
get you sweaty — one way
or another.
Da mon Boucher a nd
guests perform at 9 p.m. on
March 31 at the Someday
Lounge (125 NW 5th Ave.,
Portland). Entry is $5 at the
door and includes a copy
of Boucher’s album. Sorry,
kids — this is a 21-andover night of queer music.
For more information on
Boucher, a nd to stream
“Love Me Like A Rollercoaster” in its entirety for
f ree, check out da monboucher.bandcamp.com/.
Sister Spit, every queer’s favorite gang
of touring writers and performance artists
led by writer Michelle Tea (“Chelsea Whistle,” “Valencia,” “Rent Girl”), is coming to
Portland in April, with shows at Holocene
and Lewis & Clark. The 2012 tour features
legendary author Dorothy Allison (Bastard Out of Carolina), writer and musician
Brontez Purnell (“FAG School,” Younger
Lovers, Gravy Train!!!), performer and playwright Erin Markey (“Green Eyes,” “Puppy
Love: A Stripper’s Tail”), comic artist and
writer Cassie J. Sneider (“Fine Fine Music”),
and nationally-ranking slam poet and Mr.
Transman 2010 Kit Yan. The Holocene show
with also feature local comic artist Nicole J.
Georges and a “Valencia – The Movie” chapter by Aubree Bernier-Clarke. Learn more
and get tickets at radarproductions.org.
Another queer luminary is coming to town later in the
week. Our favorite lesbian news crush, Rachel Maddow, is
coming to the Crystal Ballroom April 15 as part of the tour
for her book “Drift: The Unmooring of American Military
Power.” Hosted by Powell’s, the event will include Maddow
talking, signing things, and inspiring swooning. No word
on whether the Crystal will have fainting couches on hand.
Get tickets at the Bagdad Theater, the Crystal Ballroom,
Edgefield, or at etix.com.
Bitch Media Presents: A reading with Everett Maroon – a
memoirist, speculative fiction writer, pop culture commentator, and frequent contributor to Bitch. He will read from
his memoir “Bumbling into Body Hair: Tales of an Accident-Prone Transsexual” March 25 at In Other Words.
Premier NW hip-hop dance company The Detail presents
its spring show “Around the World Through the Movement of
The Detail” the last weekend in March. Directed by Durante
Lambert, the show will feature a variety of dance styles and
a number of dancers from the LGBTQ community, including
Isaiah Tillman (profiled on page 20). All three shows will be
held at The Dolores Winningstad Theatre. Tickets are available at the PCPA box office and ticketmaster.com.
Can’t wait that long to see Tillman perform? You can catch
him March 16 at “Behind the Pasties,” an onstage mockumentary hosted by The Rosehip Revue and Sinner Saint Bur-
ARTS BRIEFS
Isaiah Tillman; Photo by Xilia Faye, PQ Monthly
lesque. He will also grace the stage at Crush March 17 with
fellow Burlesquire performer Esequiel Cortez at the one-year
anniversary of Burlescape. Produced by Zora Phoenix, the
show will also feature Mona de Plume and Divine de Flame.
Tickets are sold at the door. Round out the weekend by catching Tillman at Sinferno Cabaret at Dante’s Inferno.
Pacific Northwest College of Art video installation students present 24 KARAT PRETENSE, an exhibition stage at
Pioneer Place Mall the weekend of March 15-17. The exhibition will include a workout video by Carla Rossi (the drag
alter-ego of Anthony Hudson) as well as works by Kris Clouse,
Kaija Cornett, Demian Dine “Yazhi,” Zack Dixon, Insa Benita
Evans, André C. Filipek, Adam Johnson, Brenna Lavin, Izidora Leber, and Lee, K. Valencia. The artists will address
themes included appearance, concealment, deception, and
identity. PNCA alum Gia Goodrich will facilitate a discussion
following Saturday’s opening reception.
Another PNCA alum, queer Portland artist Finn Paul,
has his Photographic Portraiture hanging at Q Center this
month (through March 30). Paul’s video work has screened
at the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, the San Francisco Short Film Festival, and the Athens International Film
Festival. He has also performed in New York City with Lacy
Davis. Can’t make the show? Check out his work at finnpaul.
wordpress.com.
Queer hip-hop duo God-Des and She will perform live
April 13 at the official ribbon cutting ceremony for the
new program space for the Sexual and Gender Minority
Youth Resource Center (SMYRC). They will be joined on
stage by queer youth performers. Sliding scale tickets can
be purchased via Q Center online.
Performance artist and sex educator Annie Sprinkle
teams up with As You Like It owner Kim Marks (profiled on
page 13) April 15 to host an “ecosexy exploration” of the
Clackamas River. Sprinkle, who has both experience in the
adult film industry and a Ph.D. in human sexuality, developed the ecosex walking tour with concept artist/professor
Elizabeth Stephens. Participants will learn ways to combine their love of the planet with the love of, well, making
love. All adults are welcome. For more information, visit
asyoulikeitpdx.com or sexecology.org.
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March 2012 • 31
THE GOOD LIFE
Cultivating Life
EAT, DRINK, AND, BE MARY
BRUNCHES FOR HUNGRY
POST-HIBERNATION BELLIES
By Brock Daniels
PQ Monthly
BLOOMING INTO
SPRING
By LeAnn Locher
PQ Monthly
Ah, the rites of spring. What do they
bring? The first pedicure of the season. Feeling a breeze on arms bared for a moment in
sunshine. Seeing neighbors out on walks we
really only see nine months of the year, the
other three lost to the darkness, cold, and
rain. But really what says spring to me? The
blooming flowers and budding branches of
the plants surrounding us.
I asked my Facebook followers (www.facebook.com/sassygardener; you should come
join us) what flower most says spring, and I
love the varied answers. From Jacquelyn’s
camellia that blooms outside her bedroom
window, to Carla’s iris reticulate, to Gary’s
resounding cherry trees, and Laura’s love of
the smell of fresh cut grass, the question is
personal and so poignant to those of us who
value watching the seasons change.
Honoring these seasonal changes is
inherent to Japanese culture. Hanami
in Japanese refers to picnicking under a
blooming cherry or plum tree, welcoming
spring with friends, family, sake, and dumplings. Cherry blossoms themselves are rich
with meaning in Japan, symbolizing the
ephemeral nature of life and blossoming
viewing parties — Hanami festivals — offer
a chance to reflect on life, the blooms, and
honor that point in time.
I love how spring offers so many opportunities to open our eyes wide to a new
season. For me, I eagerly watch for signs
of crocus in a vacant lot in North Portland.
I call them the feral crocus, because thousands grow here completely wild, making
for a sea of purple. This tells me it’s spring.
Want to bring a little of that outdoor
springtime indoors?
With so much rain as part of our springs,
I’m not always out in it as much as inside
looking out. But bringing in cuttings from
budding trees is a perfect way to savor the
growth and unfurling of spring up close and
personal (while keeping warm and dry).
Josef Reiter of Botanica Floral Design
suggests using peach, cherry, plum, or
quince cuttings. I asked Josef about hammering the woody bases before putting
them in a vase, and he said it doesn’t really
make a difference.
“If you can break the stem instead of
smashing it or cutting it with pruning
shears, it opens up a lot of space to drink
the water up,” Reiter said. To keep the tall
branches from toppling your vase, try using
decorative rocks in the bottom.
Feel like eating spring up?
Oh for the love of fresh produce and the
tender and varied flavors of spring. First
up for me? Chives, snipped fresh from the
garden and used in a weekend breakfast of
eggs and chevre. They are so easy to grow,
come back on their own every year, and their
late spring/early summer purple blooms
add color and bite to salads. Speaking of
salads, spring also means fresh greens, and
how can I forget asparagus?
Mark your calendars
While Portland Farmers Market has had a winter market at Shemanski Park on Saturdays, there’s really nothing
like the grand Portland Farmers Market at Portland State University. The market — two full blocks of locally grown
and crafted food — opens for the season March 17 at 8:30 a.m. Many of the other neighborhood markets will
open in May and June.
Hortlandia, the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon’s spring plant and art sale, is the whammy of spring plant sales. This
year it features 72 nurseries and more than 30 local artists specializing in art for the garden. Held at the Portland
Expo Center, April 7, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., and April 8, 10 a.m.-3pm. www.hardyplantsociety.org
Hana Matsuri, the flower festival celebrating the birth of Buddha at the Portland Japanese Garden, will feature a
special shrine decorated with flowers and a prayer ceremony on both days of the festival and Saga Goryu Ikebana
Exhibition, March 31-April 1, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. www.japanesegarden.com
Support a Portland treasure, Zenger Farm, simply by eating out at select restaurants or shopping at select nurseries,
March 11-22. Zenger is Portland’s largest non-profit educational farm, with a mission to promote and educate
about sustainable food systems, environmental stewardship, community development, and access to good food
for all. Check out the listing of restaurants and nurseries at www.zengerfarm.org.
Wondering about Portland’s waterfront cherry trees and when they’ll bloom? Unfortunately we don’t have cherry
tree blossom forecasts like they do in Japan, but according to my calendar, last year they were in full bloom the
first weekend of April. I’m keeping my eyes peeled.
LeAnn Locher is an OSU Extension Master Gardener and cultivates all kinds of good things in her
North Portland garden and kitchen. Connect with her at www.facebook.com/sassygardener.
32 • March 2012
($6.25) is not a dish to taken lightly at Gravy
in North Portland. Grandma’s rich mixed
berry pie meets breakfast oatmeal, with a
burnt sugary crème brulee topping. Take
a minute to go back in time, remembering the first bite of perfectly cooked syrupy
berry goodness, and now combine it with
hearty steel cut oats. To die for, right? But
wait … now adorn the baked wonder with
a sprinkling of sugar, which is caramelized
into a glass-like candy coating. Finish with
a light snow of powdered sugar and sliced
berries. My spoon breaks through the crisp
shell with reckless abandon, and fights its
way to the bottom, through the oatmeal,
to find the baked purple fruit foundation.
Stepping out of the
cave from hibernation,
the furry cub stretches, then squints his eyes
at the now-unfamiliar bright sun. Life begins
to return to normal after the long slumber,
and energy is restored to the city. Barely
awake, the cub searches for food to appease
his rumbling stomach, finding relief in the
City of Roses, where each neighborhood is
blessed with several brunch options.
Brunch, the ever so under-utilized meal,
is more than just eating a late breakfast. It
truly is about mastering the delicate merger
of two meals. This month you are
encouraged to sample some of the
best brunch dishes in Portland while
getting to know their creators.
For Tasty n Sons’ Burmese Red Pork
Stew ($10), Chef John Gorham allows
pork shoulder and belly to absorb flavors of soy and ginger for a full day.
With a house-made sauce of Calabrian chiles, the bases are loaded for
this masterpiece to come to fruition.
A quick scorch confidently ensures Burmese Pork Stew, Tasty n Sons
the flavor is set, and the juices remain
inside the meat for the slow oven braise. The Pulling out, the spoon fills itself flawlessly
smell creates an uncontrolled predator, but with a combination of each of the three
precision takes time. Pulling the tender red levels. Steam wafts its way up and hits you
nuggets out of the oven, they are relocated in the face like a prize fighting boxer. Each
to a bowl of rice. Two eggs, one fried, and layer marries on the tongue in a triumphant
one house-pickled (an amazing, and much bloom. Just when you think pie can’t get
needed culinary feat) stand proudly atop any better, opposites attract in this brilliant
the stew. A few green onions highlight the brunch dish created by Mark Greco.
top, and the steaming work of art arrives at
In addition to Tasty N Sons and Gravy,
the table. The yolk breaks over the tender Portland is bursting with impressive brunch
meat making a creamy sauce as the fork spots for this budding spring. Cubs with full
goes in for the first bite. Soft, sweet, with bellies can now roam the Rose City with
a hint of spice, the flavors force your eyes renewed energy to conquer the day — at
shut, and you can’t help but smile.
least until dinner, but that’s another issue.
If your brunch tastes run on the sweeter Here are our “PQ Picks” for March brunch
side, Oatmeal Brulee with Mixed Berries spots:
Tasty n Sons
Chef/ Owner John Gorham
3808 N Williams, Suite C
Portland, Oregon 97212
503-621-1400
www.tastynsons.com
Gravy
Chef/Owner Mark Greco
3957 N Mississippi Ave.
Portland, Oregon 97227
503-287-8800
No website
Starky’s
Chef Wayne LaCour
2913 SE Stark St.
Portland, Oregon 97214
503-230-7980
www.starkys.com
Mothers Bistro
Chef/ Owner Lisa Schroeder
212 SW Stark St.
Portland, Oregon 97204
503-464-1122
www.mothersbistro.com
Gracie’s
Chef Mark Hosack
729 SW 15th Ave.
Portland, OR 97205
503-222-2171
www.graciesdining.com
Meriwether’s
Chef Earl Hook
2601 NW Vaughn St.
Portland, Oregon 97210
503-228-1250
www.meriwethersnw.com
Café Murray Hill
G e n e ra l M a n a g e r B o b
Corser
14500 Murray-Scholls Dr.,
Suite 103
Beaverton, Oregon 97007
503-590-6030
www.cafemurrayhill.com
Brock Daniels, a Pacific Northwest native, has studied wine, culinary arts, gastronomy, and loves
researching new food. Brock has written a self-published cookbook titled “Our Year in the Kitchen.”
Reach him at [email protected].
pqmonthly.com
THE GOOD LIFE
DOING THE DINAH: A LESBIAN’S
GUIDE TO DINAH SHORE WEEKEND
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By Kathy Belge
As I prepared to leave town for last
year’s Dinah Shore Weekend, I was told
by the girl I was dating that I needed
to kiss at least five women while I
was there. Billed as the biggest lesbian party on Earth, with more than
20,000 tanned and board-short clad
dykes descending on the Palm
Springs desert,
I w a s h a p py
to follow her
orders.
Dinah Shore
Weekend gets
its name from
famous singer
who sponsored
a LPGA golf
tournament for years. These days the
tournament is called the Kraft Nabisco
Championship and it still coincides
with The Dinah; but with few exceptions, Dinah Shore Weekend has nothing to do with golf and everything to
do with pool parties, white parties,
drinking, dancing, concerts, and, yes,
debauchery.
The modern-day Dinah began in
1991 when Mariah Hanson and Club
Skirts started to bring in big name
talent and corporate sponsors. Since
2006 there have been two main competing parties in Palm Springs, but for
the first time in 2012 there will only be
one, as the Girl Bar promoters move
their event to the Las Vegas.
The entertainment at Dinah is top
notch. Past performers have included
Katy Perry and Lady Gaga. This year’s
line up feature Chaka Khan, Nina Sky,
Suzanne Westenhoefer, Jessica Kirson
and Karen Williams, Wynter Gordon,
CeCe Peniston, Dev (of Dev and the
Cataracts), and BC Jean, as well as some
of the top lesbian DJs in the country.
Also, expect minor celebrities who
wouldn’t get a second glance other
places to be paraded around at the
Dinah, with nightly red carpet events
and meet and greets. Meredith Baxter,
“The Real L Word stars,” and plenty of
lesbian web series actors will be milling around VIP lounges and posing for
photo shoots.
Over the years various promoters
have tried to cash in on the swarms
of lesbians in the desert, hosting small
parties away from the bigger main
events. Most have come and gone,
unable to make a profit competing
with the larger events. Out and About
Productions is the exception, hosting
an intimate party whose attendees are
primarily lesbians of color.
Last year, I decided to take my kissing challenge seriously. The first two
women I kissed were at the pre-party,
a casual event held outside around the
pool bar of one of the host hotels. They
were actually girlfriends, both in the
military, and fun to flirt with and they
were than happy to grant me my kisses,
as long as it was on the cheek only.
Walking into a party full of gorgeous
women, none of whom I knew, felt a
bit intimidating. But then I figured,
they didn’t come all the way to The
Dinah just to sit by themselves. Soon
enough, I’d made a few new friends,
whom I ran into the rest of the weekend.
Even so, Dinah is best enjoyed with
a group of friends. It can be easy to feel
lost in the throngs of lesbians, so it’s
nice to have a core group to connect
back up with. The best was the year I
rented a house with a group of friends
from a private owner. It’s good to have
a place to regroup between parties.
In order to enjoy the pool parties, you need to set up early to claim
a spot; otherwise, there’s no place to
sit and no shade. It was while I was
trying to escape the heat that I met
Tee, a Hawaiian native with spiky black
hair, who taught me to put an ice cube
down my shorts to keep cool. She was
the recipient of my third Dinah kiss,
this one on the lips. When I told her
about my challenge, she introduced
me to her friend, who wanted to be kiss
number four. I started to get excited
about the evening’s possibilities.
Unfortunately, too much time in
the sun and not enough hydration left
me exhausted and not able to fully
appreciate the White Party later that
night. I planted myself in the lobby
and watched the lovely girls parade by,
unable to muster the energy to dance
or even talk to many of them. When I
got up to leave, I literally had to push
my way through the crowd.
It didn’t take long for me to meet
my five-kiss quota. I ran into one of the
ladies from an earlier party at dinner
on Saturday and she gave me a kiss on
the lips as we said goodbye. My spirits
were high as I headed out to the main
party downtown at the Convention
Center. My energy was back and I was
ready for dancing.
Were there more kisses? I’m think
I’m only obligated to report of the first
five …
To get the most out of your Dinah
experience, pace yourself, drink lots of
water, and set a goal — whether to make
it onto a “Real L Word” episode, to beat
Doria Biddle at celebrity dodgeball, or to
kiss a bunch of total strangers.
Club Skirts The Dinah
Girl Bar Dinah Shore Weekend
Out and About at Dinah Shore
PQ Monthly
March 28-April 1, Palm Springs, Calif.
www.thedinah.com
April 27-29, Las Vegas, Nev.
http://dinahshoreweekend.com
March 31-April 1, Palm Springs
www.eventbee.com/v/outatdinah2012
Kathy Belge is a writer with a special interest in lesbian life and culture, as well as a political activist and journalist covering the
LGBT community. Find out more about Kathy and her writing at www.kathybelge.com.
pqmonthly.com
Cook Puppy Daddy I Love Lucy Fan
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Smile Generator
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March 2012 • 33
IMAGES
SEE AND
BE SEEN
We want to see more of you! Do you have photos you’d
like to share in the pages of PQ Monthly? We’re looking for
shots of our readers and their families and friends on vacation, out on the town, volunteering, taking a stand … you
get the idea. Send your photos along with a photo credit
and caption to [email protected], post them on our
Facebook page, or tag PQ Monthly in them.
Included in this month’s
photos are shots from the PQ
Monthly Launch Party, Feb.
16 at The Jupiter Hotel and
Crush; Q Center Winter Gala
– Never Out of Style, Feb. 18 at
Yu Contemporary Art Center;
Blowpony 5-year Anniversary
with Leslie & The Lys, Feb. 25
at Rotture/Branx; and EASY:
Disco Halloween, March 3 at
Red Cap Garage.
All photos by Xilia Faye
34 • March 2012
pqmonthly.com
IMAGES
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March 2012 • 35
Business Directory
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COUNSELING
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– Residential and Commercial Projects –
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36 • March 2012
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PRINCIPAL BROKER, GRI, CRS, ABR
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March 2012 • 37
THE FUN STUFF
ASTROSCOPES WITH MISS RENEE End Up Tales
Miss Renee aka Tarot Chick is an empath, tarot card reader, and spiritual astrologer of 19 years based out of NE Portland. She loves love notes so feel free to holla
or schedule a tarot / astrology chart session: [email protected].
Gemini
Your ruling planet Mercury is retrograding (March
12-April 4). Yup, again. So
your new nickname: “Post-It Junkie.”
It’s the only way you’ll keep straight
on whether you’re a-comin’ or a-goin’.
The sweet note: unearthing that manifesto you started awhile back. Or at
least an old booty call’s number.
Aries
“What you’re experiencing is premature enlightenment,” Tyler Durden said in
“Fight Club.” For a brief, shining moment
Mercury (mental processes/communication) burst forth in pioneering Aries!
(March 2), then promptly began retrograding (March 12). HULK SMASH! Still,
take that hot one-second flash of blueprint genius and flesh it out! Freedom
of movement = sooooon!
Taurus
Taurean perk: you’re
easily pleased, Ferdinand
the Bull. Now, though, it’s a
hindrance. Powerful Pluto
(death/rebirth/transformation) is harmonizing with Jupiter (luck /expansion) and Venus (love/values) in Taurus.
Go deeper now. Release. Heal. Look farther. Reeeaaach! The Universe could
shower you with pearls, honey, if you
don’t just contentedly eat the oysters.
ANSWERS TO PUZZLES
ON PAGE 39
Cancer
Harmony between the
grounding earth signs and
you gives amazing opportunities to root down and
manifest. You’ll need to be confident
about: 1) what’s to be released; 2)
knowing and prioritizing your loves/
values; 3) methods of acquisition.
Bonus points: work this ish out while
wearing a super hero costume. Email
me pics. ;)
Leo
Hey there, chipmunk
cheeks. You’re gonna have
to spit some of that out,
baby. Jupiter and Venus
squaring your sun may turn you into a
“want beast” of premenstrual proportion, feverishly driving you to get while
the gettin’s good! But really, a little discernment would serve you better. Now
go on, spit.
Virgo
Virgos rule at figuring out what should be
done and hoppin’to it!
What about what you
NEED? Full moon in Virgo (March 8)
opposing sun in spiritual Pisces illuminated the power and necessity of
turning off your head and getting in
tune with your inner self. Did you?
You still can. Find Waldo. ;)
Libra
No more airy
“theor y.” No more
diplomatic gymnastics. Your ruler Venus in
earthy Taurus says get out of theoryland and manifest then root what you
value/desire. Sun in “me first” Aries
starts opposing you March 21, pushing
you to hold ground or compromise. It’s
Black Gurl Neck Roll time.
Scorpio
Scorpio’s astrological “job”: personal transformation/helping others
transform. Are you slacking on your
job? Planets grouping in Aries join freedom planet Uranus, compelling you to
break free. Spiritual Neptune in Pisces
gently washes away the snake’s shed skin,
revealing new. The “devil you know” is
still the devil, honey. Rise up.
Sagittarius
I’m a FB friends list
pruner. I believe that —
just like with healthy hair,
shrubbery, and pubes —
trimming’s important.
South Node (a “been there, done that”
astro point) in Gemini opposing you
and Mercury (Gemini’s ruler) currently retrograding might produce a
blast from your past that needs to stay
exactly there. Snip.
Capricorn
Pluto (death/rebirth/
transformation) has been
tillin’ the H-E-double
hockey sticks out of your
soil since 2008. Breaking attachments to
routine, guilt, and outmoded definitions
of success hasn’t been pleasant. BUT,
benevolent Jupiter harmonizing with
lovey Venus and your Sun gives you fist
bumps and goodies now :) Good work.
Aquarius
Sometimes ya gotta
slow to pull ahead.
Your progressive ruler,
Uranus, moving through proactive Aries
is driving you to explore uncharted terrain. Other aspects to your sun support
this. Venus and Jupiter joined in practical Taurus bait you into moving more
deliberately if you want to receive blessings. Want a cookie? ;)
Pisces
Sweet mermaid/man,
I feel for you. Sun/Neptune/Chiron in your sign
are sensitizing an already
deeply sensitive person. Yummy Venus
and Jupiter in sensual Taurus, even
intense Pluto in earthy Capricorn, can
show you that focusing your will on the
practical will manifest the support you
need most now.
PQ Monthly is published the 3rd Thursday of every
month. Please contact us for advertising opportunities at
503.228.3139 www.pqmonthly.com
38 • March 2012
Fear of Grinding
by Anonymous
Dark was the night, cold was the ground, busy were your
fingers tapping out a message on your iPhone. “Come
over,” you type to the man on Grindr, not caring that his
shirtless photo cuts off at the neck. Tonight you are alone,
and while you’re not quite sure what you want, you know
you want it to be zipless.
“The zipless fuck is absolutely pure,” Erica Jong explains in
Fear of Flying. “It is free of ulterior motives. There is no power
game … No one is trying to prove anything or get anything
out of anyone. The zipless fuck is the purest thing there is.
And it is rarer than the unicorn. And I have never had one.”
Maybe you’re luckier than Jong, you think. Maybe all she
needed was to be a gay man in Portland with a Smartphone,
a boner, a lonely heart.
The door buzzes, you let him in. He’s no unicorn, certainly,
but he’s here, framed in the doorway with a smile equal
parts nervous and lewd. Perhaps he’ll do. It may be winter
but hope springs eternal, the clothes spring off, you both
spring into bed. The result is less zipless than thoughtless.
Later, you’ll reflect on it and the progression between the
acts won’t quite make sense, the narrative won’t quite
form a single-file line. Afterward, you are sweaty and oddly
stunned, sitting in your bed while your guest quickly gets
dressed.
“You know what I really want?” he asks, buttoning his pants.
“A cherry Slurpee!”
“What?” you say incredulously, the comforter around your
waist.
“I always want a Slurpee after sex. Do you like Slurpees?”
“Um … yes. Yes, Slurpees are good.”
“What’s your favorite flavor?” he says, his face hidden
by the shirt he pulls over his head. “Mine’s cherry.” You
wish that it wasn’t so deeply un-P.C. these days to refer
to things as “retarded,” because the worry looms large in
your mind that you may have just had sex with someone
clinically retarded.
“I like cola,” you say, playing along.
“Chick-a-cherry cola!” he giggles. Erica Jong probably
never had to deal with Savage Garden references, you
think. “Well, I’m going to get that Slurpee. Thanks for that,
tiger.” Cherry Slurpee musses your hair, inappropriately
familiar as though he earned the right to do so, then turns
and leaves.
The door shuts and your apartment is so big and silent, the
loneliness a tangible thing, filling all the space around you.
Perhaps this is that “dark night of the soul” that the philosophers talked about, that place full of hunger and longing. You are so far from satisfaction, so far from the purity
Jong promised, that perhaps you really would have enjoyed
a Slurpee more.
You sigh. “Is this the worst things get?” you wonder, then sniff
suspiciously. You throw the comforter off you in horror, the
mystery of your guest’s fast departure suddenly solved. No,
you sigh again, that was not the worst things would get. This
is. Cherry Slurpee, you’ve discovered, shat in your bed.
How did your romantic encounter end up? Send anonymous
stories, protecting names and identities, from awkward dating—
and other—scenarios to us at [email protected].
pqmonthly.com
THE FUN STUFF
QUERY A
QUEER
Are you a lesbian puzzled by gay men? A
transgender person pondering bisexuality?
A straight person perplexed by queers of all
stripes? PQ is here to help you through your
“questioning” period. Send your questions to
[email protected] and put Query a
Queer in the subject line.
Question:
When a homo gets into a relationship with someone of
the opposite sex (cisgender or trans), how does that affect
their sexual identity?
Answer:
In other words, is a lesbian who dates a man (trans or cisgender, gay or straight) still a lesbian? Or does her identity shift
or expand to reflect her partner’s identity? And what if she
were to date someone who was genderqueer/third gender/
Two Spirit? Is there even a word for that?
THEME: MARCH MADNESS
ACROSS
1. Frosting on a cake, e.g.
6. Heat or energy unit
9. *School with most championships
13. Love intensely
14. Dr. Cornelius in sci-fi movie classic,
e.g.
15. Like dragon after knight’s conquest
16. Copperfield’s domain
17. Eating of forbidden fruit, e.g.
18. Total amount
19. *Game tracker
21. In an open way
23. Not vertical, abbr.
24. Be sick
25. Emergency responders
28. Home to Stags Leap and Wild Horse
30. Superlative of “yare”
35. Reluctant, usually followed by “to”
37. A tall one is not true
39. The present occasion
DOWN
1. Its fleece was white as snow?
2. Sixth month of civil year
3. Downward and upward dogs are part
of this
4. _____ Maria Remarque
5. Suppose
6. *Georgetown’s conference,
“The Big ____”
7. *Ranking based on strength
of schedule
8. Major Italian seaport
9. ____ Bator, Mongolia
10. Collect telephone ____
11. Monet’s water flower
12. “___ day now”
15. Novelist ______ Zweig
20. Muse of love poetry
22. Be nosey
24. Deadly or sinister
25. *Like last eight
26. Sweet coffee drink
27. A Beatle
pqmonthly.com
40. U.N. civil aviation agency
41. Rossini’s opus, e.g.
43. It travels through air
44. Pulsating pain
46. At a great distance
47. *Final ____
48. Some give this when upset
50. Drug abuser
52. Dry, as in humor
53. Eagerness
55. Clinton ___ Rodham
57. Famous for its coffee
60. *Goes with March
64. NBC’s “The _____”
65. “___ to Joy” by Friedrich Schiller
67. Become one
68. On the move
69. Julie Andrews in
“The Sound of Music”
70. Holy See’s administering body
71. *Ranking
72. Apollo to ancient Greeks
73. Levels
It all boils down to one larger question: Is our
sexual identity defined by the gender identities of the people we date or is it an intrinsic
part of ourselves that determines who we
date (or something else entirely)? For those
who are exclusively gay, or historically bisexual, this may seem obvious. For those with
more complex dating histories, sexual identity is not always so simply defined.
Some gay and lesbian folks who find themselves in hetero
relationships hold on to their previous identities. (This
is also often true of straight-identified folks whose previously opposite-sex partners transition.) For those who
define sexual identity by the gender of one’s date, this can
be disconcerting. Bisexual friends may express frustration that the individual does not claim a bisexual identity.
Partners (especially those who have transitioned) may feel
that their partner’s sexual identity invalidates their own
gender identity.
This perspective is a common one, and one which the LGBTQ
rights movement often perpetuates through its focus on
queer folks being “born this way.” It is currently a popular
stance to take, given the perception that LGBTQ people will
be less prone to discrimination if lawmakers and the public
see sexual orientation as innate and immutable.
But it doesn’t reflect everyone’s experiences. Sexual identity
can and does shift and expand. Don’t misunderstand: socalled “reparative/ex-gay” therapy is still bad news, as are
any efforts to force a change in someone’s natural, healthy
patterns of attraction. But while some people’s orientations
are constant, others’ are more flexible.
Have I lost you yet? Here’s a mostly-true anecdotal example.
Suzie Queer has historically dated women. Eventually,
however, she finds herself in a relationship with a trans
man. After introducing the boyfriend to her mother, mom
expresses her confusion to one of Suzie’s siblings.
“But I thought she was a lesbian? Doesn’t that mean she’s
repulsed by all things male?”
Suzie stopped identifying as a lesbian some years earlier,
preferring the flexibility of the word queer. She resisted
identifying as bisexual or heterosexual because she’d never
been attracted to a cisgender man. Suzie didn’t change her
identity to please her partner, but simply to reflect the fact
that she was clearly attracted to male-identified folks.
To complicate things further, Suzie begins to question her
own gender identity, finding “genderqueer” a more accurate label. If Suzie were to transition to male, how would
that affect Suzie’s sexual identity?
It is not unheard of for trans folks to experience a shift
in their sexual orientation post-transition. That is to say,
a trans woman who previously dated women might find
herself attracted to men. A trans man might find himself
in the same boat. While the object of affection might have
changed, it could be argued that sexual identity has not.
The trans woman is still heterosexual, the trans man still
gay. On the flip side, other folks may find that they remain
attracted to the same gender, but that the label changes
along with their gender identity.
In other words, it’s complicated. Sexual identity is complex,
and goes beyond the L, G, and B (and less often “queer” and
“asexual”) we so often align ourselves with. In addition to
the varying degrees of bisexuality (encompassing homoand hetero-flexible), there are pansexuals (attracted to all
genders), those who are attracted to trans or genderqueer
folks (one article suggests calling them “skoliosexuals;” I’ve
also heard “trans amorous”), and there are those who are
attracted to both/but only cisgender women and men.
It seems to come to this: born that way or not, you are who
you are. You should have the freedom to explore all the
facets of your sexual self without worrying about betraying whatever “team” you’re supposed to be on.
-Erin Rook, PQ Monthly staff writer
29. Daddy
31. Over your head?
32. To give an income or property
33. Scrub or purge
34. Towel cloth
36. Ungulate’s foot
38. Victorian or Elizabethan ones, e.g.
42. *Kentucky’s Rupp _____
45. *______ beater
49. “Big Island” flower necklace
51. Simplify
54. Movie “_____ Came Polly”
56. Boredom
57. Speaker type
58. Baptism, e.g.
59. Important battery component
60. “Cobbler, cobbler, ____ my shoe”
61. Republic of Ireland
62. Done in a pot
63. Ligurian one and Adriatic one
64. Military hospitals
66. Simon & Garfunkel, e.g.
March 2012 • 39
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