your guide lgbtq equality

Transcription

PROUD QUEER
YOUR GUIDE
FREE
QUEER LGBTQ EQUALITY
PQMONTHLY.COM
Vol. 2 No. 6
June/July 2013 MINISTRIES
A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
PHAME ACADEMY TO ALL THINGS
SHINING THE SPOTLIGHT ON
ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES
PRIDE
2 • June-July 2013
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Photo by Julie Cortez, PQ Monthly
HAVE YOU HUGGED YOUR ACTIVISTS LATELY?
Where are you celebrating your Pride this summer? At a parade? A picnic? A party? The options are legion, as are the hours, days, years invested
in planning and executing these opportunities to revel in our beautiful queerness — not to mention the lifetimes being spent reshaping the region,
nation, and planet to allow the LGBTQ community to live and love in peace and dignity.
Within this issue, we’ve compiled an exhaustive listing of Pride events (visit us online and check back in print next month for more), but we’ve also
striven to provide you with a sense of the extraordinary effort ordinary people in our community are putting into building a better Pride and a better
world.
So head out for those parades and parties. Have a blast. But take a moment to reflect on all the hard work that goes into bringing us together every
year and holding us together every day. Give thanks — and maybe a few hugs — to the folks who make it all possible.
-The PQ Monthly Team
A SMATTERING OF WHAT YOU’LL FIND INSIDE:
ON THE COVER
izzy ventura
A global perspective: LGBT equality around the world.................................. page 6
Equality in the eys of God: Local ministries..................................................... page 14
When I knew: Readers’ first moments of same-sex attraction....................... page 18
Staff Photographer
[email protected]
Goodies: A few kits to spice up your Pride sex life......................................... page 21
media
Sammi Rivera
All Pride, all the time: Festivals, parties, and more! ........................................ page 29
503.228.3139
Pride performers on love, music, and community......... ................................. page 33
Director of Video Productions
Vicci Martinez hopes to give Portland hot flashes.......................................... page 37
proudqueer.com
PHAME gives adults with disabilities the stage............................,................... page 38
Out loud together: LGBTQ choruses................................................................. page 42
Read more about our cover models on
page 26. Photo by Jeffrey Horvitz, PQ Monthly
The National Advertising Representative of PQ Monthly
IS Rivendell Media, Inc.
Brilliant Media LLC, DBA El Hispanic NEws & PQ Monthly.
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Send us your Pride
Photos #ProudQueer
‘Antony and Cleopatra’ — a classic with a twist............................................. page 46
Columns: LGBTQ Legal Outlook; Pretty & Witty & Gay; OK, It’s Like This ...; Everything is Connected;
Ponderlust; The Lady Chronicles; Whiskey & Sympathy; Cultivating Life; and Eat, Drink, and Be Mary.
Plus Astroscopes, Queer Aperture … and more!
June-July 2013 • 3
RECUMBENT BIKES
& TRIKES, FOLDING
BIKES AND MORE!
*We service all bicycles*
Coventry Cycle Works- East
2025 SE Hawthorne
Portland, OR 97214
503-230-7723
Tuesday - Saturday: 10am - 6pm
Sunday: 12pm - 4pm
Monday: Closed
Coventry Cycle Works- West
8354 SW Hall Blvd
Beaverton, OR 97008
503-941-5367
Tuesday - Saturday: 10am - 6pm
Sunday & Monday: Closed
PQ PRESS PARTY!
Get PQ Monthly hot off the presses the third Thursday of every month at our PQ Press Parties!
June 13, 2013 • 5 P.M.-7 P.M. JOIN US!
• June 13, 2013, 5P.M.-7 P.M. VENDETTA
Next up
in July:
237 NE Broadway #101
equity group
( 4306 N Williams Ave, Portland, OR 97217)
Starky’s
• July 18, 2013, 5P.M.-7 P.M. STARKY’S
(2913 SE Stark St, Portland, OR 97214)
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CITY
HALL
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• Accredited Buyer’s Representative
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NEWS BRIEFS
(Left to right) The Rev. Dr. Guy Erwin, an active member of the Osage Tribe of Indians, is the first openly gay bishop elected by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Oregon United for Marriage volunteer Josh Standtler collects pledges to support marriage equality on SE
Hawthorne in Portland (photo by Erin Rook, PQ Monthly); Oregon native Brigadier General Tammy S. Smith served as Capital Pride’s parade grand marshal June 8; protesters demonstrate outside of Sweet Cakes by Melissa (photo by Christopher Alvarez, PQ Monthly).
Marriage Equality campaign hits
the streets with Summer of Love
By Erin Rook
PQ Monthly
Oregon United for Marriage kicked off its Summer of
Love campaign for marriage equality June 1 with events
across the state.
In Portland, more than 50 volunteers showed up at Sunnyside Church to listen to remarks from Sen. Jeff Merkley
and retired Lt. Col. Linda Campbell — who recently won
a battle to have her wife buried in a national cemetery —
before hitting the streets to identify supporters and future
volunteers.
Following a brief training, the volunteers split up into
groups and dispersed across the city to invite passersby to
pledge their support for marriage equality and sign up to
volunteer during Pride weekend.
Volunteers are not yet collecting petition signatures.
“We are waiting for the green light from the Oregon
Supreme Court, so we can begin collecting the 116,284 signatures needed to qualify for the November 2014 ballot,”
says Amy Ruiz, communications director for Basic Rights
Oregon.
One of those who gave up four hours on a sunny Saturday was 33-year-old attorney Josh Stadtler. The California
native isn’t gay — in fact, he’s engaged to be married to his
girlfriend in September — but he says he’s “very animated”
about marriage equality.
“As someone about to get married … to me it’s a
no-brainer in 2013 that everyone should have that freedom,” he says.
Stadtler’s step-brother is gay, and though the two have
never had a heart-to-heart about the issue, he says his sibling’s coming out in the 1990s was a transformative experience for him and his family. He says he’s been eager to get
involved since that “bittersweet day” that California passed
Proposition 8 and Barack Obama was elected president.
“I heard about the campaign on NPR and thought I
should get my lazy butt off the couch,” Stadtler says. “[My
step-brother] can stand and be my best man but he doesn’t
have that right [to marry]. That’s messed up.”
Most of the people who passed by Stadtler on SE Hawthorne that day were eager to show their support for marriage equality. One woman, catching only the words “freedom to marry,” waited patiently while Stadlter finished
another conversation to find out what was going on.
These conversations will continue throughout the
summer, on street corners, at kitchen tables, and across
neighbors’ fences.
“The single most important thing people can do to
achieve marriage equality in Oregon is to start a conversation about why marriage matters,” Ruiz says. “LGBT people
and our straight allies shouldn’t assume that the people
pqmonthly.com
in their lives know how you feel about marriage for samesex couples. It’s not about changing someone’s mind in a
single talk, it’s about starting the conversation — sharing
your values around love, commitment, and basic fairness.”
To learn more about how to start conversations about
marriage equality, check out PQ Monthly’s extended coverage at pqmonthly.com. To volunteer with Oregon United for
Marriage, sign up at oregonunitedformarriage.org.
LOCAL
Multnomah County Board Chair Jeff Cogen signed an
executive order June 11 calling for all future county buildings
to include gender-neutral restrooms. The county will also
conduct an inventory of its existing buildings and remove
the gender labels from single stall restrooms where possible.
Cogen told the Oregonian that he made the decision after
transgender county employees expressed that there were
no facilities they could safely and comfortably use. He also
said that he timed the signing of the order to correspond
with LGBTQ Pride month.
Washington, D.C.’s Capital Pride honored Oregon native
Brigadier General Tammy S. Smith as its Pride Parade Grand
Marshal June 8. Smith, who became the first openly gay or
lesbian flag officer to serve in the U.S. military in 2012, is
originally from Oakland, Ore., and graduated from the University of Oregon Reserve Officer Training Corps program.
She has served in the Army for 26 years, including tours in
Afghanistan, Panama, Costa Rica, and the Pentagon, and
recently received the 2013 Advocacy Award from Out and
Equal Workplace Advocates. Her wife, Tracey Hepner, is the
co-founder of the Military Partners and Families Coalition.
A group of activists called Northern Oregonians for Equality and Respect (NOFEAR) is circulating an online petition
asking Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum to take
action against two Oregon bakeries that denied services to
same-sex couples — Sweet Cakes by Melissa in Gresham
and Fleur Cakes in Mt. Hood. The group, which organized
in response to these incidents, says that the bakeries’ actions
violate the Oregon Equality Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in public accommodations.
In Washington, 13 Republicans introduced a bill into
the state Senate in April that would weaken that state’s
non-discrimination law after a florist came under fire for
refusing to sell flowers for a same-sex wedding. The bill is
sponsored by Sen. Sharon Brown and would exempt business from the law banning discrimination based on sexual
orientation or gender identity if providing goods or services
violates their “sincerely held religious beliefs, philosophical beliefs, or matters of conscience.” While that plays out,
the owner of Arlene’s Flowers is counter-suing state Attorney General Bob Ferguson.
Dustin Lance Black — the award-winning screenwriter,
director, film and television producer, and LGBTQ rights
activist — will be in Portland in July. He is the special guest
for the 2013 HRC Portland Gala, to be held July 27 at Meriweather’s Skyline Farm. The annual outdoor event supports
the work of the Human Rights Campaign in Oregon and SW
Washington with a farm-fresh meal and local wines and
spirits. Ticket are $200 for VIP and $150 for regular admission and Federal Club members. For more information,
visit hrcportlandgala.org.
NATIONAL
The Maine Supreme Court ruled on May 30 that the
National Organization for Marriage must turn over donor
records from its campaign to ban same-sex marriage in
the state. Fred Karger, the former Republican presidential
candidate and president of Rights Equal Rights, who had
previously worked to expose the financial backers behind
California’s Proposition 8, filed the original complaint in
the case. He called the ruling “a victory for everyone who
believes in truth and transparency in elections.”
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
recently elected its first-ever openly gay bishop, the Rev. Dr.
Guy Erwin. The denomination had banned clergy in samesex relationship until 2009, a position that prompted gay
and lesbian clergy to serve in the closet and caused congregants to leave for more welcoming denominations. Erwin,
who will serve in an area that includes Los Angeles, is also
an active member of the Osage Tribe of Indians. He called
the election a “significant milestone for both LGBT people
and Native Americans.”
On June 1, 35 LGBT organizations released a joint letter
and accompanying video called “We the LGBT” committing themselves to re-engaging the community in the fight
against HIV. With issues such as marriage equality and
the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) taking
center stage, HIV/AIDS is no longer the galvanizing issue it
once was for the LGBTQ community. Despite advances in
treatment, HIV continues to disproportionately affect the
LGBTQ community, especially people of color. According to
the letter, 63 percent of new infections in 2010 were among
men who have sex with men. And while statistics for trans
communities are still sparse, research indicates that about 28
percent of trans women — and 50 percent of African-American trans women — are HIV positive. The letters cosigners
include the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Lambda
Legal, The Transgender Law Center, SAGE, Gay Men’s Health
Crisis, PFLAG National, The National Minority AIDS Council, The National Center for Lesbian Rights, and Immigration Equality, among others. Learn more at wethelgbt.org.
Looking for a global perspective? Check out Pride Around
the World on page 6.
NEWS
A global perspective: LGBT equality around the world
According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, the United States, Canada, and the Czech Republic have seen the greatest increase in acceptance of homosexuality.
By Erin Rook
PQ Monthly
It’s easy to get impatient with the pace of progress for
LGBTQ rights in the United States, but as older activists
explain — and a June 4 report by the Pew Research Center
confirms — public opinion is actually shifting rather
quickly.
In fact, acceptance of homosexuality has increased
11 percentage points here since 2007 — an increase only
exceeded by South Korea. But despite the rate of progress,
only 60 percent of Americans believe homosexuality should
be accepted. Of the 39 countries surveyed, the United States
doesn’t even make the top 10.
So which countries are the most accepting of gays and
lesbians, and which have the furthest to go? And how do
those attitudes translate into tangible legal protections?
Let’s take a look.
THE GOOD
Claiming the top spot in the Pew survey is Spain, where
88 percent of those questioned believe homosexuality
should be accepted and only 11 percent think it should
be rejected. With numbers like that, it’s possible Spain has
fewer homophobes than homosexuals.
Spain legalized same-sex marriage in 2005 — the same
year Americans re-elected George W. Bush — through a bill
supported by the country’s newly-elected social democratic
government and passed by parliament. At the time, 66 percent of Spaniards supported marriage equality.
But it’s not just marriage — in 1979 Spain legalized gay
sex and passed anti-discrimination laws. By 2005, the country not only allowed same-sex couples to wed, it permitted
adoption, military service, and blood donation by gays as
well as the rights of trans citizens to legally change their
gender.
Just behind Spain is neighboring Germany, coming in at
87 percent acceptance of homosexuality. It has the highest
rate of acceptance of any country that has not yet passed
marriage equality. However, same-sex couples have been
able to register their partnerships since 2001.
Interestingly, Germany allows people in same-sex relationships to adopt their step-children, but joint adoptions
are not permitted. Commercial surrogacy is banned for all
couples, regardless of sexual orientation.
Gays have been openly serving in the military since 2000,
which is the same year Germany recognized the right to
change one’s legal gender.
Tied with Canada for third place at 80 percent acceptance is the Czech Republic. Surprised? The small European nation was an early adopter of the decriminalization not only of homosexuality (1962), but also gay prostitution (1990).
Same-sex couples still can’t marry there, but they’ve
been able to register their partnerships — and obtain some
of the rights of marriage — since 2006. Discrimination on
the basis of sexual orientation has been banned in the military since 1999 and in the rest of society since 2009.
Czech law provides protection against discrimination
on the basis of sexual orientation and allows for the legal
change of gender — transsexuality is not classified as an
illness, but gender confirming surgeries may be covered
by health insurance.
Oddly, gays may only adopt if they are single. Public polls
consistently show significantly lower support for adoption
rights than for marriage rights.
THE BAD
According to the Pew survey, the country with the
lowest acceptance of homosexuality was Nigeria, where
just 1 percent said they believe it should be accepted and
98 percent supported its rejection. Whether attitudes
reflect laws or vice versa is not clear, but
the situation for LGBTQ Nigerians appears
dire.
It is illegal to be gay in Nigeria. The maximum penalty for homosexuality for those
governed by Shari’a law is death by stoning.
In secular areas, gay sex can get you 14 years
in prison. Lawmakers recently passed a bill
making same-sex marriages illegal as well.
Nigerian law also prohibits men from dressing in women’s clothing in public.
As a result, LGBTQ Nigerians ex ist
mostly in secret. However, they are welcomed at the House of Rainbow Metropolitan Community Church, and targeted services exist for HIV-positive men who have
sex with men.
(Keep an eye on: Nigeria’s Queer Alliance,
queeralliancenigeria.blogspot.com. And if
you’re not already, follow Spectra Speaks,
a powerful voice for hope and progress, at
spectraspeaks.com/.)
Just 2 percent of the Pakistanis surveyed
believe homosexuality should be accepted.
While gay and lesbian Pakistanis have no
legal protection and their sex lives are criminalized, the country’s government did move
in 2009 to recognize the rights of transgender citizens.
Pakistan’s anti-gay laws are part holdovers from British outdated penal codes (as
is the case in many nations formerly colonized by Britain) and partly influenced by
Shari’a law. Gay and lesbian culture exists
largely in the shadows. Hijras, a third gender
identity common in South Asia, are more
visible due to their established in the culture prior to colonial times.
(Check out: Pakistan Gay Rights Movement on Facebook.)
As in Pakistan, LGBTQ Tunisians face strict laws and
unwelcoming attitudes. Only 2 percent of Tunisians think
homosexuality should be accepted, and gay sex is illegal.
Though most Tunisians are Muslim, the country does not
follow Shari’a law and homosexuality is not punishable by
death — just three years in prison.
In 2012, Human Rights Minister Samir Dilou said that
gays need medical treatment for their “perversions.”
(Bookmark this: Gayday Magazine, launched in 2011,
gaydaymagazine.wordpress.com/.)
THE CHANGE
Though South Korea has seen a 21-point increase in cultural acceptance of homosexuality in the last five years, it’s
still not a wildly accepting environment. According to the
Pew survey, a majority of South Koreans still think homosexuality should be rejected (59 to 39 percent).
Gay sex as well as gender confirmation surgeries are
legal in South Korea, though same-sex couples have no protections. The recent up-spike in support may be, in part,
attributable to an increase in LGBTQ visibility in popular
media. Entertainers such as Harisu and Hong Seok-Cheon
have come out as transgender and gay in recent years,
bringing LGBTQ issues to the forefront.
In 2013, a Seoul court ruled that gender confirming surgery is not required to change one’s legal gender. Also this
year, in May, South Korean filmmaker Kim Jho Gwang-soo
announced plans to marry his partner of nine years. Perhaps the tide is turning.
For the full report from the Pew Research Center, visit
pewglobal.org.
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NEWS
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NEWS
PERSPECTIVES
Uniting to win for us all LGBTQ LEGAL OUTLOOK
INCLUSIVE REFORM:
IMMIGRATION & SAME-SEX COUPLES
By Mark Johnson Roberts
PQ Monthly
Nicola Cowie (left) and her wife, Meg, have remained “happily together” through transition and legal limbo.
By Nicola Cowie
Guest opinion
As an immigrant and transgender woman
whose marriage is not recognized in this
country, I often find myself in a legal limbo
that makes it hard for me to protect my
family. From this position at the intersection of multiple identities, I’ve seen firsthand how the prejudices and disparities that
impact one group also impact others. It’s
helped me realize that for human rights to
move forward, we must work together, on
multiple issues at once, to win freedoms and
protections for us all.
Since childhood I had known that the
gender I was assigned did not fit. However,
a lack of information and a fear of the consequences of nonconformance kept me from
dealing with my identity. In the late 1980s, I
met the woman I fell in love with. We were
cast opposite of each other in a community theater production. Meg and I both
had the same silly sense of humor, and we
bonded over our mutual love of Terry Pratchett novels. We moved in together.
It took several years and several major
life events — marriage, children, the death
of Meg’s mother, international relocation to
the United States — before my life came to
a crisis point. On May 26, 2008, it all came
out at once. At home in the kitchen, in one
breathless sentence, I told Meg, who was
now my wife, how I could no longer live this
way and that I needed to transition.
Meg had long known of my female gender
identity. She still loved me, and she bravely
decided to stay and support me. Together we
went to counseling, and she was with me as
I went through the transition process, which
took more than three years.
We’re still happily together. Our relationship might seem different from others,
but Meg and I just think of each other as
two people in love. We share similar values,
hopes, and dreams as other loving and committed couples and want to take care of each
other as we grow old. But because we don’t
easily fit into the usual categories, we too
often struggle to protect each other.
In Oregon, for example, we can’t be regispqmonthly.com
tered domestic partners because we already
married in England. But we aren’t considered
married in the United States because here we
are seen as a same-sex couple. This has made
it difficult for my wife to get on my medical
insurance plan. Anti-immigration laws make
it hard for her to legally work here.
That’s why I am working not just to win
the freedom to marry but on several issues
all at once, volunteering at Basic Rights
Oregon, which works to win the freedom
to marry and simultaneously works toward
trans justice and racial justice.
Some people make it sound as though
we are all completely separate groups — as
if gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender people,
people of color, people of faith, and immigrants are on opposing teams, working for
different causes. In 2004, opponents of
the freedom to marry even hired an African American spokesperson to divide gay
people and people of color. In 2012, the
National Organization for Marriage in a
secret leaked memo stated that it intends
to “drive a wedge between gays and blacks,”
making it seem as though people with both
identities do not exist.
In reality, transphobia, homophobia,
racism, immigration, and faith are not discrete issues. Laws that stop Oregonians from
having the freedom to marry, anti-immigration laws that make it hard to keep families together because partners are from different countries, healthcare policies that
exclude people because of their gender and
the gender of their loved ones — all these
polices impact me and my family.
It’s likely they affect your family, too, if
not now, then some time in the future. Our
movement must be broad and inclusive. At
the most basic level, it all comes down to the
Golden Rule. I believe in treating others as
one would like to be treated. That includes
allowing us all to have the freedom to marry
and to live in a world that gives us an equal
opportunity to be whom we are and to reach
our potential.
Human rights apply to all us, or they
mean nothing for any of us.
Nicola Cowie lives in Hillsboro.
LGBTQ activists were disappointed last
month when the U.S. Senate’s version of an
immigration reform bill passed out of the
Judiciary Committee without provisions
designed to assist binational LGBTQ couples in achieving legal status for their foreign partners. While the outcome is disappointing, there is cause for optimism that
at least some of these couples will soon be
removed from the legal limbo where current law has left them.
Over the last decade, as the number of
undocumented immigrants in America has
climbed, immigration reform has become a
symbol of the partisan gridlock that seemingly grips Washington in all matters great
and small. Estimates hold that 11 million or
more undocumented immigrants presently
live in the United States, and there is no
practical way either to deport them all, or
to incorporate them more fully into American life. Many of these people are adults
brought here by their parents as children,
with no way now either to become American citizens or to go back to their parents’
home countries.
During this Congressional session,
a coalition of interested stakeholders —
including LGBTQ activists — have pulled
together on immigration reform, and it
appears that a bill may actually be enacted
into law. The 2012 election, in which Latino
voters abandoned the Republican Party
wholesale, also has had an impact on conservatives’ willingness to consider making
needed reforms.
Transnational married couples have
received special treatment in immigration for many years. It is relatively easy for
an American husband or wife to obtain
citizenship for their spouse. But because
same-sex couples are excluded from marriage in most states, and because the federal government does not recognize those
legal marriages celebrated in states that
do allow them, LGBTQ couples have long
been excluded from the special status
accorded to opposite-sex marriages in
the immigration context. LGBT activists
have sought equal treatment for samesex couples in the immigration process
through a stand-alone bill. More recently,
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), chair of
the Senate Judiciary Committee, has proposed to include the Uniting American
Families Act (UAFA) as an amendment to
the larger package of immigration reforms
as it is assembled in the Senate.
The Senate’s reform package is being
carried by the so-called “Gang of Eight”
senators — four
from each party —
who have resolved
to make immigration reform a priority
for this session. The
Democrats in the Gang of Eight include
Leahy and other senators who have supported LGBTQ issues in the past; nevertheless, when the four Republicans expressed
doubt about passing the bill with LGBTQfriendly provisions, the Democrats agreed
to omit those provisions in favor of promoting passage of the larger bill. While
Leahy has not said whether he will introduce the UAFA amendment on the floor of
the Senate, it likely will require 60 votes to
pass there and probably will not be able to
get that much support.
While this is an obvious disappointment, it is also true that other provisions
in the bill will benefit LGBTQ immigrants
as well as benefitting our coalition partners, who presumably will remember our
support and stand with us on another
issue another day. The “Dream Act” provisions, for example, benefit undocumented
immigrants brought to the United States as
children, a cohort estimated at 1.7 million
young people, including a vocal minority
of LGBTQ youth — or “undocuqueers.” For
these reasons, activists have agreed to support the bill even without the UAFA provisions.
In a n inter v iew w it h PQ, Sen. Jef f
Merk ley (D-Oregon) gave his opinion
that the momentum coming from the
Senate and coalition partners, together
with the perceived need for Republican
outreach to Latino voters, w ill be too
much for the House to ignore. He expects
the House to pass its own bill and for the
differences to be ironed out in a conference committee. If Leahy chooses to
press UAFA on the Senate f loor, it is conceivable — though unlikely — that the
amendment may still make it to the conference committee.
Pendency of “United States v. Windsor” in the U.S. Supreme Court is also
a factor of sorts in this calculation. In
that case, the court has been asked to
strike down the Defense of Marriage Act
(DOMA), the law that presently prevents
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) from treating all married couples
the same. If the court strikes down DOMA
as expected, then presumably same-sex
married couples will be treated the same
as opposite-sex. The Supreme Court decision in “Windsor” will come before the
end of June and the bill may still be in the
Senate side when that happens.
Portland attorney Mark Johnson Roberts is a former president of the National LGBT Bar
Association and of the Oregon State Bar. He practices family law at the Gevurtz Menashe
law firm with a particular focus on LGBT family law issues. He can be reached at
[email protected].
NEWS
DYKES&ALLIES ON BIKES
Meetup at Paradise Harley
Sunday June 9, 2013 at 11am at Paradise Harley-Davidson
Meetup at Pride NW Parade head at NW Park Blocks at W. Burnside
Sunday June 16, 2013 at 10am; park and walk to breakfast.
Please email [email protected] to get on mailing list
Dykes&Allies on Bikes
RIDE LOUD & PROUD WITH US!
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FEATURES
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FEATURES
Pretty And Witty And Gay
KUMQUAT!
By Belinda Carroll
PQ Monthly
Hey, sugar plums, it’s 2013 Pride season! I
am currently trying to shove food in my face
as fast as possible for some sustenance, so
I can get through my to-do list of all things
Portland Pride.
I have three events that I am directly
responsible for: the fourth annual Pride
comedy show on Thursday with the comedian ANT and myself at Curious Comedy,
main stage entertainment at the Waterfront
Pride festival, and Dyke March.
Who knew being queer was so much
work? I guess it isn’t for some. Some people
just go to the marches and then a party, like
normal. I suppose if I were straight I’d be
the annoyingly busy president of the PTA
who’s also coaching the Powderpuff football team and juggling my career in macramé art or something.
People have asked me how I find the
time. Well, my house is a mess, my dishes
still aren’t done, and my girlfriend gets to
talk to me while I type into a computer as
I half-listen to her day. “Uh huh, yeah. Oh,
really? [Interrupting] I wonder if Uh Huh
Her is available? I should email their management.”
And you do not want to know the state
of my laundry.
I’m not sure if people know the amount
of masochistic activism that goes into
planning LGBTQ Pride. I say masochistic
because this time every year I am curled up
in a ball muttering my safeword (kumquat)
over and over, yet I still take on more every
year. I don’t know how it’s done in the rest
of the country, but in Portland we only have
a few key players who plan most of it. I say
few in the larger picture of who comes down
for Pride (around 30,000 people). We have
about seven or eight people (maybe nine or
10?) who have their jobs. That means that if
you had 3,000 talking My LIttle Ponies, then
one My Little Pony would be in charge of all
of them. We would have a Pony stampede
in no time. I may have that wrong; I’m not
good at math.
If it weren’t for the volunteers who
step up on the weekend of the event, I’m
sure that most of the planners would
have been committed to the mental hospital by now. (P.S. Volunteer for the weekend.) As it is, I’m sure half of us are subsisting on medical marijuana, but I’m
not saying what half, because that would
be telling.
Pride planning happens all year. That
means while you are sleeping off your
Family law for all families
hangover and shaking the glitter out of
your speedo on June 17, we are beginning
to put together the bones of the next year.
(No pun.)
Going into the minutiae of planning
Pride is a bit boring, but suffice it to say that
everyone involved with planning Pride is
part entertainment booker, part networker,
part logistics, part travel agent, part accountant, part salesperson, part fundraiser, part
public relations manager, and all parts
absolutely crazy.
I remember when I started to work on
becoming a stand-up comedian, entertainer, and producer. I recall reading all
of these interviews with successful comics
saying, “It’s the best job. I work an hour a
day!” And being inherently lazy, I was like,
“Sign me up!” There may be a few entertainers who have that life. I picture them
just lying around while their houseboy
Stephan showers them with praise and
cookies (and the good cookies too, not the
shitty shortbread kind), while they take
phone calls from Comedy Central begging them to put on some pants and come
to work. Sometimes I feel like I was duped
by a multi-level marketing scheme where
“Work an hour a day, and have all of the
groupies fawning all over you” turned into
“Work for 16 hours a day and hopefully
someone cute will talk to you someday.”
But, alas, I love it anyway.
I addressed this in a blog post I wrote for
PQ about Dyke March recently and I will
echo it here: everyone who works to make
Portland Pride happen does so because
they love Pride. Somewhere a little gaybee
(I say gaybee regardless of biological age)
is walking into their first LGBTQ pride festival, and sees reflected back at them all
that they are and they finally feel acceptance, maybe for the first time. LGBTQ
Pride, when the day is done, is exciting,
fun, and a way for us to catch up with all
of our ex-girlfriends all in one weekend.
Though I may only be speaking for
myself on that last one.
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 ◆ S.W. WASHINGTON
503.227.1515 360.823.0410 GevurtzMenashe.com
Belinda Carroll is a Portland-based, nationally-touring stand-up comic, writer,
vocalist, and an ardent LGBT activist who is in desperate need of a nap, a massage,
and a girlfriend who works for an airline or a spa. For booking or to offer the
aforementioned services, her email is [email protected].
pqmonthly.com
FEATURES
Equality in the eyes of God
Two local ministries provide models of LGBTQ community engagement
By Nick Mattos
as a transsexual,” she announces with the
booming voice of a Pentecostal preacher.
“My mission in life has been to show that
Editor’s note: This is part two of three
God accepts lesbian, gay, bi, and trans
in a series on maintaining a sense of compeople, and that gay Christians are every
munity.
bit as born again and filled with the Holy
Spirit as any straight person. There is total
The queer community is at a point
equality in the eyes of God.”
of critical transition. For LGBTQ spaces,
Her ministry took a dramatic turn when
businesses, and communities, the quesPaula decided to take her message to the
tions of reach, relevance, and engagemasses.
ment are more pressing than ever; the
“God put me on television in 1987 when
answers they find to these questions
I started the Sister Paula Public Access Minoften define whether the organization
istry,” she says, “The Sister Paula Ministry is
lives or dies. As the Metropolitan Coma combination of all my life’s experiences —
munity Church of Portland and the Sister
from when I was born again, to when I was
Paula Public Access Ministry discern the
a teenager and received the baptism of the
means by which their message and activHoly Spirit, to when I went to Bible school,
ity can thrive through a challenging era
and when I started working as a profesof transition, they illustrate the impor- The Reverend Nathan Meckley of Metropolitan Community Church ofPortland (left) and Sister Paula Nielsen (right) engage the community at large sional entertainer at Darcelle XV’s in 1980.
tance of keeping historically significant through their innovative, gay-focused ministries.
The show business training at Darcelle’s
institutions alive — and provide models
was every bit God’s training and preparaby which queer organizations can remain relevant, serve church” comes into question. While MCC has never been tion for my television ministry, which has been going for
diverse populations, and redeem the community at large. exclusively gay in membership — two of the original 12 con- nearly 30 years and has now expanded onto the Internet.”
gregants at Perry’s fellowship weren’t queer, and his mother
At its inception, Sister Paula’s television ministry had
METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCH: A QUEER REFORMATION
is cited as the first straight member of the church — it has everything necessary to enter the annals of public-access
always been focused on ministry towards the LGBTQ com- cult status: a mind-blowingly countercultural mix of fiery
Founded in 1968, the Metropolitan Community Church munity.
old-time religion and gender nonconformity. As a result,
denomination emerged from the ministry of former Church
“The moniker of being the so-called ‘gay church’ is still she quickly became a public-access television phenomeof God of Prophecy preacher Troy Perry. Interestingly, the shorthand used in 2013 to differentiate an MCC from
non, attracting both media attention and a large number
though, Portland was ahead of the curve.
another church,” says Meckley. “In places like Portland and of rapt viewers. However, something astonishing began to
“Portland had at least two or three gay Christian gath- other progressive, large cities in North America, we are not
happen: many of the viewers who were attracted to Nielerings already meeting in the early 1970s which were not the only game in town — there are multiple options for
sen’s flamboyant display of Pentecostal preaching ended
affiliated with MCC,” explains the Reverend Nathan Meck- people to worship and be in a community of faith as an
up staying to pray. Through Nielsen’s public ministry, a
ley, current pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church LGBTQ person, Christian and otherwise. It’s a good thing,
surprisingly large number of people either came to know
of Portland.
but it presses us to look deeper and offer more. The ques- of the Gospel or rekindled a fire for the message that they
One of the local groups became an MCC in 1976. As a tion is, what is that ‘more,’ and what is that ‘different?’ There
had long left behind.
result, Meckley notes, MCC became the first place locally are gifts that we can’t let go of from our founding and who
“When I started the ministry, I thought it would just be a
where all openly queer people could come together out- it is we are, but what is the larger offering? We’ve always
gay audience, but it isn’t,” says Nielsen. “I’ve heard so many
side of a bar or club. “In the early years of the church, it been more than just ‘the gay church’ — we’re just learning
people say ‘Sister Paula, you’re the only religious program
was the first center where the community could congre- how to live into that more fully.”
we watch.’ Gay, straight, educated, uneducated, rich, poor
gate,” he says. “This is the case for many places where
“The role and location of MCC has shifted and changed — they all listen to me!”
MCCs have existed.”
over the last 36 years,” Meckley adds. “It was much more
“I think part of it is that they like the sincerity,” Nielsen
At its inception, the Metropolitan Community Church central early on. As more groups arose and took on their
says of her thriving international ministry. “People don’t like
was largely influenced by Perry’s Pentecostal Holiness back- own missions and identities, there was less of a need for
hypocrisy, and they can tell sincerity when they see it. I hear
ground in theology and worship. However, soon after the the church to serve these things. That’s a mixed blessing —
from atheists and agnostics all the time that they’re totally
mother church of the denomination started to sprout new it’s wonderful for there to be a proliferation of groups and
against religion, but they like me because they appreciate the
congregations, the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan spaces, but it’s unfortunate that the church is often not a
sincerity and honesty of my message.… My motto is ‘Tell the
Community Churches opted to allow its local off-shoots place for people to come for things that aren’t a spiritual
Truth.’ I have my flaws and my faults. However… sometimes
free reign to create their own theologies, ministries, and tra- need.... Churches die when they do not adapt. Change or
the most unlikely person is the very one that God anoints and
ditions of worship. As a result, UFMCC-affiliated churches die! I mean that for church universally, not churches indichooses to carry His message. The apostle Paul persecuted
vary dramatically from congregation to congregation; even vidually. Church — and not just my church, but all churches
and murdered Christians before God zapped him on that
within congregations, the beliefs and even religious iden- — must be in a constant state of reform. If we don’t, we will
Damascus road! People who are gay, lesbian, bi, and trans
tities of members can be wildly diverse.
become irrelevant.”
who are despised by the traditional churches, by some of the
“While we have defined and articulated it differently at
straight Christians, are the very ones that God has chosen.”
times,” Meckley explains, “MCC locates itself as a Christian
THE FLAMBOYANT GOSPEL OF SISTER PAULA NIELSEN
church — not a Christian-exclusivist church, though, as all
THE REDEMPTION OF THE COMMUNITY
people are welcome to participate.”
“Even though I was born Larry, Paula is who I am,” says
With their focus on queer theology, however, comes Sister Paula Nielsen. “I am a preacher of the gospel, a bornIn an era in which LGBTQ spaces, businesses, and coma unique challenge for the MCC which mirrors an issue again Christian, and an entertainer.”
munities are experiencing an often-rough transition, what
faced by other queer-centric organizations, businesses,
Nielsen is also the televangelist behind a surprisingly can be inferred from ministries like the MCC and the Sister
and spaces in Portland. There was a time in which the MCC large and influential ministry, the reach of which has gone Paula Public Access Ministry? In a sense, it is the imporwas indeed “the only game in town.” However, in this era, international.
tance of redemption.
numerous other churches have adopted queer-affirmNielsen became a Christian at age 12; later, in 1963,
“One way to look at redemption, taking it out of the reliing policies and theologies, with several even developing she came out as transgender. However, her gender transi- gious context, is the act of trading one thing in for something
queer-specific ministries to attract and serve LGBTQ con- tion did nothing to change her fervor for faith and calling else,” Meckley explains. “Redemption is an exchange, to take
gregants.
to the ministry.
something and trade it for something of value in return, to
In this situation, the necessity of the so-called “gay
“I knew from then to this very day that Jesus accepts me
MINISTRIES page 49
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OK, HERE’S THE DEAL …
A vision of Pride
By Monika MHz
PQ Monthly
Nights were always the worst. I remember playing the piano with tears in my eyes,
and lying in bed watching the trees sway and
flicker the moonlight as it shone on my restless body. I’d stare at the sky and wish I’d paid
more attention in astronomy. As a child and
teenager each night was painful as I sat alone.
Loneliness, alienation, shame, and distress are the unspoken demons that plague
queers in a quaint world — and more so for
those whose queerness resides at the intersection of other marginalized existences.
Queers with disabilities, queers of color,
queers with HIV, queers living on the streets,
queers with trans bodies, and those who
live intersecting these spaces, between the
lines or beyond these margins, often find
that forging their path and finding community can be the most difficult of tasks in
a society that, at best, so easily ignores us.
Whenever the idea of “Pride” comes to
mind I become momentarily sentimental
and hopeful. One of the ideals, at least in
some of my favorite idealistic portrayals
of Pride, is one of community and coming
together out of love and solidarity.
I imagine taking that teenage girl I was by
the hand, and helping her see that she wasn’t
alone. I imagine seeing her laugh and smile
with her new friends, who welcome her with
open arms, and owning every intersection
of who she is without shame. I imagine her
hearing moving speech after moving speech,
inspiring her to action. I imagine her falling
asleep for the first time feeling like she has
a real family and community.
But I know it’s more likely that she would
feel like more of an outcast, more alone, and
more ashamed than she did before. And
the adult I am today feels the same way.
The truth is, I’ve never really been to Pride.
I was nearly 22 years old before I knew
that Pride was anything but one of the
best-paying club weekends of the year. I
had been a DJ in gay clubs since I was 16,
and no one had taken the time to explain
to me what Pride was, what it commemorated, and what it hoped to be.
But by the time I’d discovered what Pride
was, beyond the nightclub, it seems as if all
that history had been erased — or pushed
aside.
Sylvia Rivera fought her way to the
microphone during the Christopher Street
Liberation Day march in 1973, shouting:
“Y’all better quiet down.” When Sylvia took
the stage that day, her voice cracking with
passion, she reminded the crowd of all the
people who weren’t there, who wouldn’t
have the chance to speak that day. She
spoke of the street kids, the homeless, the
incarcerated, the beaten, and the murdered.
“Do you do anything for them? No! You tell
me, ‘Go and hide my tail between my legs.’”
She demanded that those who wanted
to do real work, who wanted to make great
change, must join to “help everyone, and
not just men and women that belong to a
white middle class.”
Pride is an important moment for some,
no doubt. It is a weekend of no shame, of
pride in who they are. Pride has been a
matter of fact in some queer lives for so
long it can be easy for forget those at the
margins — those queers who may not have
found their community, those who don’t
have trans friends, or gay friends, or someone who is like them. For many, especially
our youngest and/or most marginalized,
simply telling them they are welcome, that
we are here for them, and that they should
be proud just doesn’t cut it.
Each of us should make the effort to
make someone we don’t know feel welcome,
proud, and a full participating member of
our community. Don’t just ask someone
what they are doing for Pride. Ask them to
join you, and remind them that all of Pride
will be richer for their contribution and participation — that all of our community will
be richer for it. Let’s reach out to those who
we are missing, and who desperately miss us.
I envision a future for Pride where our
youth, just for a moment, will see that they
aren’t alone. I envision them meeting new
friends who welcome them with open arms,
and owning every intersection of who they
are without shame. I envision all of us hearing moving speech after moving speech,
inspiring us to action. I envision everyone,
truly everyone, finding a home, a family,
and community.
Pride can be the moment we all come
together, leaving our petty squabbles
and personal politics behind us for one
brief moment. And we can do it together,
because we have to if we want to move forward. From disability justice to racial justice, our Christopher Street won’t ever find
the liberation we all still march for, until
all of us do.
Our Liberation Day has got to be for all
of us.
Monika MHz is a queer trans Latina who makes her way as a Portland-based House music
producer/DJ, activist, and writer. Practicing radical love through music, she believes in the
transformative nature of music and its real substantive and cultural power to save lives. You
can find Monika online at monikamhz.com and @MonikaMHz.
pqmonthly.com
FEATURES
When I knew: PQ readers share their
first moment of same-sex attraction
Moonshine Sparrow, Mike Clemenhagen, and Oriana Quackenbush agree that their epiphany of same-sex attraction was a major turning point in each of their lives.
Compiled and edited by Nick Mattos
The first time a person realizes they are attracted to someone of the same sex can be
a life-changing moment — and the memory of it often lays the groundwork for one’s
entire future.
Here, a few PQ readers recall their first memories of same-sex attraction. Have your
own story to share? Tell it to us — and to the world — at PQMonthly.com.
“I was probably in the fourth grade at the time. My family was vacationing with a few
other families from my mom’s work on a houseboat. There was another girl there, and
we got along right away. After hanging out all day long doing things fourth graders do, we
played some sort of cops and robbers game. She tied me up with a jump rope and ‘tortured’ me by covering me with kisses. I could have sworn my little fourth grader heart
fell in love right then and there. This may coincide with when I realized I was kinky, too.”
— Moonshine Sparrow
“I think the first time I realized I was attracted to the same sex was, I kid you not, seeing
Stanislav Ianevski in the fourth Harry Potter movie. I found him intensely attractive, and
all of a sudden, I realized that my feelings for my best friend were so much more than just
liking him as a person — I was in love with him. It almost destroyed our friendship. I was
16 and stupid, ha ha!” — Mike Clemenhagen
“It was about .5 seconds after my best friend told me she loved me like her boyfriend
and then kissed me. I was just barely 15; I was also super into Jesus and very dense. My
friend and I had gone to visit her aunt and her aunt’s ‘roommate’ in Iowa. It was my best
friend’s idea that we should go through her aunt’s desk. We found what I’m sure my best
friend knew we would find, which was the aunt and ‘roommate’s’ secret stash of cards
and letters proclaiming their undying lesbian love for one another. Literally right after
the kiss, I was like, ‘Oh my god, duh — this is why I hate making out with dudes! I’m gay!’
More than guilt or shame or anything else, I felt relieved that I figured it out. I was happy.”
— Mary Charming
“All of the freshmen at my high school were required to take P.E. As a chubby, awkward,
unpopular kid, the thought of changing in the locker rooms terrified me. On the first day,
when we chose our lockers, I picked one in the farthest-back row in order to avoid all of
the other guys. A few days later, I discovered that I wasn’t alone on that block: a senior,
who I’ll call J.R., had dance that period and also picked a locker in the farthest-back row.
I changed into my gym clothes and fixed my eyes on a single point on the lockers in order
to avoid him; however, when I glanced over at him as he changed into his dance leotard,
Photo of Oriana Quackenbush (right) by Greg Maguire
I couldn’t stop looking. To say that he was exquisite would be an understatement — his
body was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, and the things I felt were immense
and wild, terrifying, a great pagan force that filled the sky and electrified everything like
a cloud in a lightning storm. He looked up at me, I quickly looked back at the single point
in front of me on the locker, and I tried not to pant, knowing that something profound
and life-changing had just occurred.” — Nick Mattos
“My senior year of high school, some raunchy college-type movie had just come out
wherein some over-sexualized female characters convince the main male characters to
get all sexy with each other in exchange for getting to watch the female characters do the
same things. I was at a small hot tub party at a friend’s house with my then-boyfriend,
a male friend, and a female friend who I’d been unaccountably and confusingly fascinated with for some time. Someone suggested we emulate such a pact, and enthusiastic
same-sex makeouts followed. That certainly cleared up the confusion about my feelings
towards my friend, and I do not believe I was the only person present who felt they were
getting the best end of the deal.” — Andrea Winchell
“The first time I found myself physically attracted to a guy was while watching the documentary “Pumping Iron” on T.V. But, in retrospect, my first same-sex attraction ever was
to a boy in my kindergarten class. The feeling was innocent and uncomplicated — I distinctly remember sitting with my mom looking at my class picture, pointing to him and
saying, ‘I want him to be my friend.’ Sometime thereafter I approached him in class, and
asked straight out, ‘Do you like me?’ Without malice or hesitation, he shook his head ‘no.’
My first flat-out rejection.” — Randall Szabo
“When I was in the fifth grade, 10 years old, was the first time I looked upon a man
and thought sexually of him. There was a kid in the class who sat across from me, right
across the aisle — his name as Darwin. He had Levis on, and his legs spread out, and I sat
there and fantasized about what it would be like to see him in his underwear! That wasn’t
a crush, or being in love, but was strictly a physical thing. Up until then, I had crushes on
guys, but that was the first time I thought of a man in a sexual way.” — Sister Paula Nielsen
“When I was a freshman in high school I went to a regional weekend Unitarian youth
gathering. I met this awesome girl who was open about having a crush on me. She was
beautiful, sweet, cracked me up, and even drew my portrait. I felt a little strange around her
but certainly didn’t want to stop hanging out. I thought it was just because I couldn’t take
a compliment. Shortly after that I started to identify as ‘bi-curious’ and when I let myself
acknowledge a crush on a girl I realized that strange feeling had returned. I had totally
been crushing right back on my whirlwind weekend friend!” — Oriana Quackenbush
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PERS{ECTOVES
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NIGHTLIFE
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CALENDAR
PRIDE
Goodies: A few kits to spice up your Pride sex life
By Erin Rook and Nick Mattos
Kind, but Naughty: The
Eco-friendly Set
Clockwise from left:
locally-made hemp rope
( $ 3 4 ) , So l o U S B v i b e
($134), Sheer Glyde dams
( $ 1 . 7 5 ) , Si r R i c h a rd’s
Condoms ($13/pack), She
Bop massage oil ($13),
Almost Naked vegan lube
($16)
PQ Monthly
Who doesn’t like a few new toys? Whether you’re shopping for a gift or just outfitting
your bedside supplies, it’s always good to have a few new acoutrements on hand — so
She Bop, one of our favorite local queer-friendly sex shoppes, provided us with some
must-have suggestions for your Pride escapades. Whether you’re a solo flyer or making
all sorts of “new friends,” you’ll be set through the season with a few items from each of
these PQ-curated sets.
Warm Leatherette: The Dungeon Set
C lock w i se f rom lef t : Cu stom
handmade f logger with machinedaluminum handle ($46), Hanky Code
handkerchief pack ($11), rainbow
dildo ($70), Wartenberg pinwheel
($19), Skyn non-latex condoms ($1
apiece), Yes lubricant ($2), Cumfy
cuffs ($49.50), The Toybag Guide to
Dungeon Emergencies and Supplies
($10)
On the Go: The Compact
Set
Clockwise from left:
Rainbow zipper sox ($11),
J-Boa lasso-style cock ring
and gift tube ($35), lube
sampler kit ($7), Yes waterbased lube ($9), finger
cots ($2), Hot Dam dam
($1.75), Tenga Egg male
masturbator ($8.50), Nice
Pocket Toyfriend vibrator
($22), Kimono condoms
($1)
Drug Store Cowpoke: The Homemade
Set
Clockwise from left: Disposable
gloves — cut the fingers (keeping the
thumb intact) and then cut up the other
side for a makeshift dental dam ($5.99/
pack), drugstore-brand lube ($2.99),
carrots and cucumbers (prices vary by
season), condoms (free via numerous
community organizations), Trojan
vibrating ring ($9.99)
She Bop is located at
909 N Beech St, Portland.
For more information
and to shop online, visit
SheBopTheShop.com/.
GET PUCKED! at Morning Brewtender Coffee Bar
The Official Brewtender of PQ Monthly!
Outside on the 6th Ave side of
Macy’s, between Alder & Morrison
We’ll be at the Pride Festival
again this year!
Be sure to come see us!
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PQ Monthly
Greg sits on my couch, illuminated by
the dim light of the lamp beside him. He
is in his 40s, an accomplished craftsman,
grey-haired and rugged-handsome in his
black 501 jeans. He’s here to drink Evan Williams on the rocks, summoned by my latenight perusal of my neighbors on Scruff, but
there’s a vastly more important reason than
whiskey and kisses. Greg is here because his
heart is broken.
“I’m not in a place where I can date,”
he says, his ice cubes clicking against the
glass. “I just got out of this relationship, and
I’m not ready to start seeing anyone else
while I’m still reeling from the last one.” He
sips thoughtfully while Fiona Apple sings
through my speakers, reminding us that she
had to fold because her hands were just too
shaky to hold. “That said, I do want to have
fun, and have sex, and be close with guys.”
“That’s a very common story,” I observe,
pouring myself another.
“If I’m really honest,” he goes on, his eyes
focused on the empty air between himself
and the floor below him, “I think I really just
want to feel like myself again. After all that
time loving my ex, I’m worried that I don’t
really know how to love anyone else.”
Everyone’s a psychologist after three
whiskeys on the rocks, and I am no exception. “Do you think that’s part of it?” I ask.
“Not sure if I follow,” he says.
Everyone’s a psychologist after three
whiskeys, but very few are articulate therapists, and some just become bold and confrontational — I do, at least. “A part of why
you can’t get into a relationship? Like, you’ll
get into a relationship with someone, and
that not knowing how to love again will
weigh on you terribly, and you’ll feel like
you’re just going through the motions? Or
that you’ll be in there and realize that it’s
not just a state of ‘not knowing,’ but that
you actually can’t love again?”
Greg is quiet for a moment and Fiona
Apple states that hunger hurts, but starving
works. He looks up at my face — “Yeah,” he
says softly. “It’s hard to admit, but that’s it.”
When we talk about being brokenhearted, it’s so often about the interior
experience of emotions — the sadness and
lethargy, the intrusive thoughts and longing, the feeling that the chest is full of jagged
heirlooms cutting one up inside. What we
don’t talk about, though, is the heart’s brokenness in terms of functionality — that,
through these experiences that leave us
feeling abandoned, pained, and unlucky,
something fundamental about our ability to love and be loved becomes dysfunctional. When we talk about recovering from
broken hearts, perhaps this is the vastly
more important part: not having an emotional heart that is free from pain, but a
heart that actually works.
Now Greg is on a roll, running his fingers over his salt-and-pepper beard. “When
I broke up with my ex, most of the people
around me encouraged me to ‘have fun,’
which at the time seemed absurd because
I couldn’t even really conceptualize what
‘fun’ felt like at that moment. Then, they
clarified that ‘having fun’ basically meant
acting as though as I had a right or even a
responsibility to get out there and act wild,
fuck around with dudes, casually date,
interject myself into the social scene.” He
downs his whiskey in one gulp. “I am in my
40s and I’m fucking heartbroken. Why in
the world would it be a good idea to act like
some emotionally-stunted 20-something?”
“Speaking as an emotionally-stunted
20-something,” I quip, “I dig it.”
As individuals, many of us walk around
with broken hearts, probably far more than
even realize it. However, perhaps more dangerous for the queer community is the brokenness of our collective heart. As a people,
we’ve done some amazing things for which
we can, and should, be proud; simultaneously, and perhaps more urgently, we’ve had
numerous legitimate and profound reasons
to question the functionality of our ability
to love and be loved
I say this, not as any sort of expert, but
just as a man whose heart is broken: If we —
me there on the couch, Greg beside me, our
exes and friends, the community at large
rippling outward into the world — have any
hope of ameliorating our broken hearts,
pride is unfortunately not the answer. What
we need is to admit frankly that, somewhere
near if not deep within the core of us, something is not working, that all of our good
intentions and works aside, something is
still broken, and that as a result we don’t
know how to love one another or love ourselves. Rather than gay pride, perhaps what
we need is gay humility.
Greg and I do nothing that night. We
drink until our eyelids get heavy, then he
hugs me goodbye and walks out into the
darkness of 12th Avenue. He turns around
on the sidewalk — “Thanks,” he tells me. “I
needed that.”
“Me too,” I reply and shut the door, turn
the deadbolt lock. I fall onto my bed, my
eyes closed, and listen to the heart beating
out its rhythm inside my chest.
Nick Mattos loves hearing from you at [email protected].
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PQ Monthly
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PQ PRESS PARTY!
This month’s cover models are a few of the local activists who comprise the vanguard of the LGBTQ movement.
Together, they help make our community’s march toward
justice and equality unstoppable. They may not be household names, but the work they do changes lives. Two of
them — His Most Imperial Majesty Rose Emperor XXXIX
Gina Valdez Kennaday Smith and Her Most Imperial Majesty Rose Empress LIV The Sassy Cassie Nova of the Imperial Sovereign Rose Court — will lead the 2013 Portland
Pride Parade as Grand Marshalls.
Learn more about these hardworking activists online
at pqmonthly.com.
LAURA CALVO, 56
Identity: Human, Latina,
female, trans, pretty happy
Occupation: Residential
and commercial property
inspections; Democratic
Party politics
Activism: Democratic
National Committeewoman
representing Oregon, Democratic Party of Oregon leadership team
She says: “Pride is being
Photo by Jules Garza and living your true self
without remorse, shame, or guilt. Pride is living respectfully while being part of the solution and not part of the
problem. Pride is being at a point in life where you give
more than you take — where you can actively and intentionally leave the world just a little bit better than you
found it.”
DEVIN KIT CROSLAND, 26
Identity: Queer
Occupation: Web developer and computer science
student
Activism: Coordinator for
In a Bind, TransActive Education & Advocacy’s chest
binder exchange program
He s ay s : “C h i ld r en
and youth are often overlooked in the transgender
community, despite their
Photo by Erin Rook alarmingly high rates of
suicide ideation. The work we do at TransActive saves
lives and virtually nobody else is doing it. Pride means
each of us as individuals living as the unique people we
are, and all of us as a community recognizing and celebrating our shared humanity.”
• June 13, 2013, 5P.M.-7 P.M. :VENDETTA
Next up
in July: Starky’s
• July 18, 2013, 5P.M.-7 P.M.
STARKY’S (2913 SE Stark St, Portland, OR 97214)
Like us on Facebook for details on the
press parties & all things PQ Monthly!
CITY
HALL
Starky’s
Photo by Jeffrey Horvitz
LEILA HOFSTEIN, 29
Identity: Disco Butch
Occupation: Youth coordinator for Portland PFLAG
Black Chapter; tattoo artist
Activism: Social justice work for queer youth
of color in Portland, creating safe spaces, connecting
communities, and providing
resources.
She says: “Pride is about
visibility first and foremost.
It’s about speaking for the
silent and being present for
the invisible.”
JOHN KIM, 29
Identity: Gay
Occupation: Musician
and computer machine programmer/operator
Activism: LGBTQ equality, youth education, safety
and progressive public
policy, political campaigns.
He says: “I would rather
work towards solutions
than complain about problems and believe that injusPhoto by Julie Cortez tice anywhere is a threat to
justice, liberty, and equality
everywhere. Pride is a community celebration of individuality, and diversity.”
CASSIE NOVA, 34
Identity: Gay
Occupation: Loan processor for mortgages
Activism: Imperial Sovereign Rose Court, fundraising
for the HIV Day Center, Our House of Portland, and the
Trevor Project
He says: “Pride means
c o m m u n i t y. T h e r e’s a
saying: ‘You can’t choose
your family but you can
choose your friends.’ I know
a lot of people whose family
has discarded them just
because the fact they were
gay. I have a very close set
of friends whom I consider
my family. I think Pride is
that one time of year we get
to band together and celebrate it with the world.”
GINA VALDEZ KENNADY SMITH,
49
Identity: A gay woman
who loves to hang out with
drag queens
Occupation: Owns a
foster care home that supports adults with disabilities.
Activism: Imperial Sovereign Rose Court; fundraisPhoto by Jeffrey Horvitz ing for Esther’s Pantry, Our
Gina Valdez Kennady Smith (left) and Cassie Nova House, and other organizations
She says: “About 24 years ago I met a drag queen and
she was going to do a show. She asked me to stay and that
is where it all began. Pride is about togetherness, love, and
awareness.”
ROB SMITH, 36
Identity: Gay male
Occupation: Assistant
manager of Housing Services at Cascade AIDS Project
Activism: HIV/AIDS,
social justice, civil rights,
marriage equality
He says: “[Pride] is about
being unafraid to be yourself, and in that process,
helping others to underPhoto by Jeffrey Horvitz stand that it’s ok for them
to be themselves too. It’s also about standing up for ourselves and saying we deserve a place at the table.”
pqmonthly.com
GET OUT!
PQ PICKS
Monday, June 17
Note: there’s no Gay Skate this third Monday. (It
moved to June 10 for Pride week.) We’ll be back
on schedule next month.
Wednesday, June 19
CAP’s Fighter’s Ball: Grab your boxing gloves, lace
up for extreme cardio, cue up “Eye of the Tiger”
on your favorite portable music-playing device.
Test your skills in the ring playing “Street Fighter
X” in a pre-registration based video game tournament. (If you’re crowned champion you can win a
flight to Vegas!) But that’s not all. Drinks, music,
friends, raffle prizes, all of the things. Benefits Cascade AIDS Project. 5pm, Fez Ballroom, 316 SE 11.
Thursday, June 20 – Sunday, June 22
Due to overwhelming demand, defunkt theatre is
extending its run of “The Boys in the Band” through
June 22. This is a one-time extension and the show
must close on Sunday. The nine men who make up
“The Boys” were among the first positive depictions of openly gay men in America. “The Children’s
Hour,” a landmark lesbian-themed play defunkt is
also staging, closes June 15. The Back Door Theater, 4319 SE Hawthorne. For tickets/times, visit:
defunktheatre.com
Friday, June 21
Causa Zócalo Night: The Zócalo is the main plaza
in the heart of the historic center of many cities
across Latin America — a place for celebrations,
ceremonies, food, dances, live music, and civic
engagement. Each summer, Salem creates its
own Zócalo at The Mill, putting at the center of
our community the stories and people who make
sure the American dream is a reality, honoring men
and women who’ve played key roles in supporting
Oregon’s Latino community. 5:30pm, Mission Mill
Museum, 1313 Mill Street SE, Salem.
Saturday, June 22 – Sunday, June 23
PHAME Academy’s “Bye Bye Birdie”: Portland’s
acclaimed fine and performing arts academy for
young and older adults with developmental disabilities presents its annual musical production.
In addition to the incredible cast of PHAME students, the show is directed by Jessica Dart —
with musical direction by Matthew Gailey and choreography by Heath Houghton. 7pm Saturday and
2pm Sunday, Mt. Hood Community College’s Main
Stage Theater, 26000 SE Stark. Buy tickets at
phameacademy.org.
Thursday, June 27
Gay and Grey Fourth Thursday Social. Come one,
come all, come socialize. Eat delicious foods,
mingle with all the gorgeous greys — burgers,
specials, and more. 4pm, Starky’s, 2913 SE Stark.
Stonewall Anniversary Party — in its fourth incarnation, the LGBT Caucus of the Democratic Party
of Oregon invites you to remember the struggles of
our brothers and sisters and celebrate our accom-
pqmonthly.com
1
plishments as a community. Let’s re-invigorate our
fight towards full equality. There will be special
guests, local VIPs, and community leaders galore.
6pm, Crush, 1412 SE Morrison. Donations encouraged and accepted.
Sunday, June 30
Hot Chocolate III: Join Poison Waters, Maria, Tiara
Desmond, Kourtni Capri Duv, and Alexis Campbell Starr (Miss Gay Portland!) as they celebrate
their sisterhood and mutual love of entertaining
in a prideful tribute to African-American vocalists. Anyone who’s ever attended any of the previous incarnation can vouch for this night’s brilliance. They need to take this act on the road.
Are you reading, Poison?! Do it! 5pm, Darcelle’s,
208 NW Third. $10.
Thursday, July 11
Mark your calendars, the night we hinted at while back
(in our profiles of Big Dipper and Rica Shay) is finally
upon us. The Accidental Bear Queer Music Benefit
Tour brings this big gay family together: local legend
Logan Lynn, Chicago’s Big Dipper, Conquistador, vagabond darling Rica Shay, and Darling Gunsel. Proceeds from the tour go to LGBTQ Mental Health Services and Suicide Prevention at Q Center (PDX), LA’s
Gay and Lesbian Center, Pride Foundation (Seattle),
Ali Forney Center (NYC), and Stonewall Project (SF).
The more money raised, the more queers helped. The
night your sonic dreams come true, and you helped
so many people! 7pm, Mississippi Studios, 3939 N.
Mississippi. $15.
Sunday, July 14
The Annual Red Ribbon Show in Salem, which has
raised nearly $20,000 for a variety of HIV/AIDS
organizations by way of entertainment (drag, burlesque, live singing) celebrates its sixth incarnation.
This year’s show features performers from throughout the Northwest. Benefits Our House, which provides health care, housing, and other vital services
to low-income people living with HIV/AIDS. Raffles,
auctions, impressive prizes, and more. 6pm, 3529
Fairview Industrial Drive SE, Salem.
Friday, July 19 — Sunday, July 21
Bad Girls of Portland presents HOWL, a woman-only outdoor weekend event held on eight acres
of “primitive playground.” Organizers encourage
you to “leave the chains of civilization behind”
and to “play in the wild or in the dungeon that’s
open both evenings.” For those wanting to retain
a touch of humanity, there are also spa services
available. Workshops, camaraderie, and a gluten-free/ vegetarian menu. Open to all self-identified women over the age of 18. (Bad Girls is a
social and educational group for women interested
in BDSM with other women.) A portion of proceeds
go to Planned Parenthood. For more information,
including cost and membership requirements, visit:
pdxbadgirls.net/howl/.
Friday, June 14
Gaycation holds its Pride edition Friday
— and welcomes MEN/Le Tigre’s JD
Samson (who killed it at the last Control Top). About Samson: For more than
a decade, JD’s career as singer, producer, and DJ has landed her at the
intersection of music, art, activism, and
fashion. Oh, and Gaycation plays the
best music you’ll ever hear. Truth.
DJs Charming, Snowtiger, and La
Bruiser. 9pm, Holocene, 1001 SE
Morrison. $7. Pg. 31 for full list of
Pride parties.
ARTS &PRIDE
CULTURE
2013
It is June — Pride month — and it seems like every single day
is filled to the brim with queer-centric goodness. In addition
to an exhaustive Pride agenda (pg. 31), check out our online
calendar of events, submit your own, and view photos from
your reporters-about-town. Our weekly weekend forecast
— which has all the latest and greatest — comes out each
Wednesday (sometimes Thursday), online only.
DANCE IT OUT
(CHEERFULLY PAY YOUR COVERS; DEEJAYS GOTTA EAT, TOO.)
First Sundays
Bridge Club. A slew of stellar deejays play music on one of
the city’s most treasured patios. Old Boys Club regularly
welcomes special guests. Brunch, mingle, get down. 3pm,
Produce Row Café, 204 SE Oak. Free.
Every Sunday, including this Pride Sunday, Superstar Divas.
Bolivia Carmichaels, Honey Bea Hart, Ginger Lee, and guest
stars perform your favorite pop, Broadway, and country
hits. Dance floor opens after the show. 8pm, CC Slaughters, 219 NW Davis.
First Thursdays
Dirt Bag. Keyword: Bruce LaBruiser. She’ll make all your
musical dreams come true. Indie, pop, electro, all of it.
Dance to the gayest jams. 10pm, The Know, 2026 NE
Alberta. Free.
Hip Hop Heaven. Bolivia Carmichaels hosts this hip-hopheavy soiree night every Thursday night at CCs. Midnight
guest performers. 9pm, CC Slaughters, 219 NW Davis. Free.
First Saturdays
Sugar Town. DJ Action Slacks. Keywords: Soul, polyester.
9pm, The Spare Room, 4830 NE 42. $5.
Maricon! DJs Moisti and Ill Camino redefine the Eagle with
their beloved once-monthly dance party. For homos and
their homeys. 10pm, Eagle Portland, 835 N Lombard. $3.
Second Sundays
Silverado’s Beer Bust. (Every Sunday.) Sweet jams, lots of
skin (the dancers, not you), and our city’s beloved Stan —
listen carefully to his commentary. He has things to say.
4pm, 318 SW 3, Free.
Second Thursdays
I’ve Got a Hole in My Soul. Three keywords, the most
important being: DJ Beyondadoubt. Others: soul, shimmy.
9pm, Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison. $5.
Second Fridays
BMP/GRND. Portland’s only queer dance night devoted
entirely to that tragic(ally wonderful) decade. DJs Kasio
Smashio and Rhienna. Wear 90s gear, get in on the cheap.
9pm, The Foggy Notion, 3416 N. Lombard. Free before
10pm, $5 after, $3 w/ themed attire.
Second Saturdays
Rotate: DJs Moisti and Hold My Hand make a Maricón/
Bridge Club baby. 9pm, Eagle Portland, 835 N Lombard. $3.
Mrs.: The queen of theme. And dynamic DJ duo: Beyondadoubt and Ill Camino. Costumes, photo booths, all the
hits. 10pm, Mississippi Studios, 3939 N. Mississippi. $5.
Third Thursdays
Polari. Troll in for buvare. Back-in-the-day language, music,
and elegance. An ease-you-into-the-weekend mixer. Bridge
Club boys make the music. Bridge and tunnel patrons have
Thursday, June 20
Bites for Rights is back! On
this day, restaurants, coffee
shops, bars, and bakeries
all around the state will
donate a generous percentage of their day’s
proceeds to Basic Rights
Oregon. This day — and
this day only — you can
feast to promote fairness for all LGBT Oregonians. Make
a day of it. Stuff your face morning, noon, and night.
Check out the list of participating venues here: basicrights.
org/bites-for-rights-participants/
2
pqmonthly.com/get-out
no idea what to do with us when we pour in. 10pm, Vault,
226 NW 12. Free.
Third Fridays
Ruthless! Eastside deluxe. DJs Ill Camino, Rhienna. Come
welcome new resident deejay Rhienna and listen to the
fiercest jams all night long. Keyword: cha cha heels. 10pm,
Local Lounge, 3536 NE MLK. $3.
Third Saturdays
Gaycation all you ever wanted. DJs Charming and Snow
Tiger. Be early so you can actually get a drink. Sweaty deliciousness, hottest babes. THE party. April = Jenna Riot.
9pm, Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison. $3. (Note: moves to
Pride Friday for June.)
Nuttz 2 Buttz. Maricón’s kid brother. DJs Moisti, Ill Camino.
Ass-shaking contest. Hug Moisti! 10pm, Eagle Portland,
835 N Lombard. $3.
Fourth Thursdays
Cockabilly. Rock and roll disco with homosexual tendencies. The night’s charismatic hostess, Chanticleer, proves
Thursdays are back. 9pm, White Owl Social Club, 1305
SE Eighth. $5.
Fourth Sundays
Gender Abundant Square Dance. All-ages goodness. No
experience necessary! 7pm, The Village Ballroom, 700 NE
Dekum. All ages! $7.
Fourth Fridays
Twerk. DJs Slutshine and II Trill. Keywords: old school.
Established fun, all night long. So much dancing. 9pm,
Local Lounge, 3536 NE MLK. Free!
Fourth Saturdays
Inferno! DJs Wildfire and D-Zel. Ladies, ladies, ladies. Rotating venue — check online for the latest!
Blow Pony. Two giant floors. Wide variety of music, plenty
of room for dancing. Rowdy, crowdy, sweaty betty. 9pm,
Rotture/Branx, 315 SE 3. $5. (Note: moves to Pride Saturday for June.)
Filth: (Formerly Hey Queen!) For the party girls. The more
intimate, shoulder-to-shoulder Saturday night choice. Bruce
LaBruiser and special guests. 9pm, Beulahland, 118 NE
28. Free.
Last Thursdays
Laid Out, Bridgetown’s newest gay dance party. Seriously,
the posters read: “gay dance party.” Deejays Gossip Cat
and Pocket Rock-It, with photos by Eric Sellers. 9pm, Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison. $3 after 10pm.
Last Fridays
Temple! A West Side Social. Keeping the west side afloat.
Downtown dancing goodness at everyone’s favorite dive
bar. Resident Kasio Smashio, plus guest. 10pm, The Matador, 1967 W Burnside. Free is a very good price.
Saturday, June 29
Netrippers’ Sixth Annual
Co-Ed Soccer Tournament: Roll up your sleeves,
lace up your cleats, dust off
your sports bra, and tighten
your jock strap — it’s time
to play soccer, Netrippers-style. Good times, fun
social events, and plenty of
on-field action.
Players of all skill levels welcome. Grass and turf fields. Jerseys,
snacks, and balls provided. Benefits Camp Starlight. Registration
info: netrippers.org/
3
BOOKS
pqmonthly.com
TRAVEL & OUTDOORS
PRIDE
MUSIC
All Pride, all the time—festivals, parties, and more!
By Daniel Borgen
PQ Monthly
This year, more than any other, marks one of the most
profound in terms of changes on the Pride landscape.
Much of the old guard has stood down (or gone out of business), and new-ish veterans are leaving their marks all over
our fair city. Lots of folks are angling to secure The Biggest
Pride Party Ever™, but, as party architects and festival organizers know, you can’t just call it that and make it so. You
have to plan, assemble talent, woo queers, and then turn it
out on game day. Lucky for you, we’ve done our best to put
all your options in one place. Here, in our beautiful pages, a
look at what’s going down, Pride-wise, in the next 30 days.
Thursday, June 13
PQ Pride Press Party: If you’re reading this, you probably already know about it. Regardless, come mix and mingle
with your favorite writers and publishers on the city’s most
venerated patio — at Vendetta. It’s typically an eclectic
group of queers, and an ideal place for more intimate (and
sober) chats with your peers. 5pm, Vendetta, 4306 N. Williams. Free, clearly.
Queer Heroes NW Opening Reception: Gay & Lesbian
Archives of the Pacific Northwest and Q Center partner for
an annual multi-media celebration of queer pioneers and
leaders from our local movement — a new one is unveiled
each day in June. Come see all the heroes displayed in Q
Center’s gallery — the diverse collection eventually hits
the road and tours the region, sharing the good news far
and wide. 5pm — 8pm, (program at 6pm) Q Center, 4115
N. Mississippi.
Homo Ha! An evening with Ant: The fourth annual
LGBT Pride comedy showcase, co-produced by Belinda
Carroll and Kitty Moshpit Productions. This year, Homo
Ha! is delighted to present Ant, a frequent “Tonight Show”
and “Tyra Banks Show” guest. Hyper and irreverent, Ant
has steadily climbed the comedy hill to become one of
the most successful comedians of our time. Carroll will
also perform, and Manuel Hall hosts. Two shows, 7pm and
9:30pm, Curious Comedy Theater, 5225 NE MLK. homoha.
brownpapertickets.com.
Queerlandia: At long last, Queerlandia returns. In its
third year, Queerlandia is conjuring new pleasures with
an extravagant hybrid of Portland’s queer magic, mixing
and mashing beauty into a new creature of pleasure and
ecstasy. Six deejays (yes, six), Carla Rossi’s Carnival Grotesque, a very long list of drag performers, a marketplace
of queer crafts and art hosted by Serendipity Jones — the
list goes on. This goes on your “don’t miss” list. Who cares
if you have to be up early Friday. You should have taken
a long weekend. Deejays from every party you love: Gaycation, Bridge Club, Laid Out, Temple, BMP/GRND. This
is what Pride looks like, and this last year’s party I’m still
talking about. 9pm, Embers, 110 NE Broadway. $5.
Friday, June 14
The Living Room’s Intergenerational BBQ: Held at
Clackamette Park, the Living Room, a safe haven for LGBTQ
youth in Clackamas County, holds their annual potluck.
4pm, Clackamette Park, 1955 Clackamette Drive, Oregon
City. For more information, like “The Living Room, Clackamas County” on Facebook.
Silverado offers Pride festivities all weekend long. Music,
dancers, dancing, Lawanda Jackson, and lots more! Stan,
as always, will be calling every play. (And critiquing you.)
Silverado, 318 SW Third.
Hedonistic Decadence and Twerk present a Queer Strip
Night: “Strippers, booze, tits, and ass everywhere,” promoters promise. Hosted by Ecstasy Inferno, this night of dreams
welcomes all genders, shapes, sizes, abilities, and races.
Put on some glitter, kittens, unicorns, rhinestones, skulls,
cocks, and floggers. Or sit back and enjoy the show. Twerk
goes down right after. 8pm, Local Lounge, 3536 NE MLK. $7.
pqmonthly.com
Gaycation all you ever
wanted holds its Pride edition Friday — and welcomes
MEN/Le Tigre’s JD Samson
(who killed it at the last Control Top). About Samson: For
more than a decade, JD’s
career as singer, producer,
and DJ has landed her at the
intersection of music, art,
activism, and fashion. Oh,
and Gaycation plays the best
music you’ll ever hear. Truth.
DJs Charming, Snowtiger, and
La Bruiser — all the lovelies.
9pm, Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison. $7
Lumbertwink returns! It’s
the Twink’s last party until
autumn. (Say it isn’t so, Bund!)
Photo booth by party architect Wayne Bund, music by
deejays Gossip Cat and Pocket
Rock-It (Bridge Club, Laid
Out) — wear your plaid, get
in on the cheap, and enjoy the
Photo by Julie Cortez, PQ Monthly
sprawling patio and packed,
What
Pride
activities
have
you
the
most
psyched?
Check
in
regularly
on
pqmonthly.com
for
more.
sweaty dance floor. The photo
booth alone is worth the trip.
NBC’s “The Voice” will perform. Also on tap: Sindel Starr,
The fur is the bonus. 9pm,
Kimikaze, burlesque, drag queens and kings — all sorts of
Funhouse Lounge, 2432 SE 11. $3 in plaid, $5 without.
BMP/GRND’s Velvet Goldmine Edition: Portland’s only delights. Portland and Seattle go-go dancers will keep your
queer dance night devoted entirely to the 90s is doing an eyes busy. 6pm, Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside. Advance
extra-special Pride edition with a screening of “Velvet Gold- tickets $16.25, $16 at the door.
Control Top, a Queer Experience. A quarterly nightlife
mine,” two guest deejays, and a glorious medley of 70s and
90s jams. Residents Amy Kasio and Rhienna welcome DJs enterprise — a blend of skillful music, stunning visuals,
ONE-900 and Go Ask Your Dad. Think Studio 54 meets rich photography, design, lots of cute people you want to
MTV’s The Grind. 70s and 90s costumes get you in free. make out with, sweaty bodies, rad outfits, a lot of nasty
fun. And dancing. If you haven’t been residing under a
9pm, The Foggy Notion, 3416 N. Lombard. $5.
Twerk, Pride Edition: See Queer Strip Night above. This rock, this is probably already on your radar — and if it
pride edition features a twerk-off, prizes, and various other isn’t, put it squarely at the top. Stage and show inside,
goodies. There’s also a drink special called the Twerk-O- patio and deejays outside. Performers include Bomb Ass
Later. Oh my. Deejays Trill and Ill Camino. 11pm until late, Pussy (Portland), Double Duchess (SF), Ononos (Seattle), and Glitterbang (Seattle). Deejays: Hold My Hand
Local Lounge, 3536 NE MLK.
(Bridge Club), Bruce LaBruiser (Dirt Bag), Freddie Says
Saturday, June 15
Relax (Butch Queen), and house resident Roy G Biv. The
Portland Pride Festival at Tom McCall Waterfront Park: shit’s shit — best arrive promptly. 9pm, White Owl Social
Opens at Noon. Booths, vendors, food, adult beverages, all- Club, 1305 SE 8. $10.
ages, beverages, performances, comedy, live singing, drag
Blow Pony, a Family Affair: Come out, share yourself,
— you name it, it’s here. Good luck dodging exes. $7 entry, celebrate, and be proud without corporate sponsorships,
lasts all day Saturday and Sunday.
banners, or pushy ads tell you how to be or how to live. Blow
Taking Pride on Stark: Scandals’ annual Pride block Pony’s sprawling complex plays host to a variety of deeparty. One of the last Pink Triangle bars, this is a week- jays, and includes live performances by Big Dipper (NYC)
end-long shindig with a $5 cover each day. The weekend — who is fresh off his stellar April show — and Hi Fashion
will feature music by DJ Robb and shows by Peacock Pro- (LA), and Portland’s Boy Funk, We Are Like the Spider, and
ductions. Their headliner Saturday night is Magic Mouth Rap Girl. Deejays Airick, Stormy, Kasio Smashio, and many
(!!!), Sunday is Saturday Night Orphans, with Larry Pendar more. Get there early, this one gets packed. 9pm, Rotture,
and Friends earlier in the day. A portion of proceeds go to 315 SE Third. $5.
Cascade AIDS Project and the Audria M. Edwards ScholGaylabration 2013: Its third incarnation and in the
arship Fund. Doors open at 3pm Saturday, earlier Sunday, heart of the city at the Crystal Ballroom, it’s Gaylabration!
and the party goes through closing time Sunday night. DJ Grind is “back to tear up the dance floor.” Party planners
Scandals, 1125 SW Stark. $5.
say “this will be the biggest Pride event all weekend.” 10pm,
Dyke March: The Portland Dyke March originated in Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W. Burnside. Ticket prices are, well,
1994 to heighten visibility for dykes of all persuasions. complicated: mcmenamins.com/events/114871/.
Embrace dyke diversity — all self-identified dykes, lesbians,
Cross Over’s Pride Party: Celebrate Pride, Escape Bar
women, and people of trans, gender non-conforming ,and & Grill-style. Drink specials, “bomb food,” pool, and video
gender-variant experiences are invited to march. The 2013 poker. 10pm, Escape, 9004 NE Sandy. Free.
will kickoff at 6pm — sharp — at Tom McCall Waterfront
Park. Meet at 5:30pm at the Salmon Street fountain. Look
Sunday, June 16
for all the dykes — or listen for Belinda Carroll’s “loudness.”
Portland Pride Parade kicks off the day. Starts off at the
The Big Gay Pride Party, Hot Flash style: Hot Flash is corner of NW Park and Burnside, ends at the corner of SW
turning up the heat this year with an incredible lineup — Naito Parkway and Pine. 11am sharp. Free.
and they’ve moved to the Crystal Ballroom to make room
Portland Pride Festival at Tom McCall Waterfront Park:
PRIDE page 30
for everyone. Vicci Martinez (read more on page 37) of
PERSSPECTIVES
PRIDE Continued from page 29
Opens at noon. Mattachine Social plays at
3:30pm. $7 entry, lasts all day.
Taking Pride on Stark at Scandals. See
entry for Saturday, June 15.
Gula Delgatto’s External Delusional
Lounge: One of just a few outdoor, daytime block parties, Eagle Portland reunites
Ms. Delgatto with her old sidekick, Fannie
Mae Darling, and welcomes relative youngsters Shitney Houston, Bomb Ass Pussy,
and Kitty Von Glitterbox. Along with that
impressive array of drag talent: Cakes Da
Killa (New York). Do yourself a favor and
YouTube some of his videos. Maricón resident deejay Moisti and Eagle regular Danimal will make the music. There’s an Absolut
lounge and lots of Joe’s Burgers. 2pm, Eagle,
835 N. Lombard. $10.
A Big Gay Boat with Latrice Royale: “To
keep the spirit of the block party alive,” a
drag and dance party on the Portland Spirit.
And, what’s more: Drag Race fan favorite
Latrice Royale. Along with Ms. Royale will
be Portland’s own Carla Rossi, Kaj-Anne
Pepper, Bolivia Carmichaels, Honey Bea
Hart, Alexis Campbell Starr — and too
many others to mention. Music by SNAP!
and Bridge Club. Boards 2:30pm, disembarks at 3pm, returns by 5pm, Tom McCall
Waterfront Park, $20.This event is sold out.
Gospel according to Alaska Thunderfuck: Still smarting from her second
place Drag Race finish, this queen is tearing it up on tour, proving she should have
been America’s Next Drag Superstar™!
“Your makeup is terrible.” With your host
Madame Anita Dumore and music by
Seattle beloved Bottom Forty deejays (and
SF’s Honey Sounsystem), this is the perfect Pride nightcap. Performers include
Shitney Houston, Carla Rossi, Kaj-Anne
Pepper, and more. Oh, to share the stage
with Alaska. It’s every drag queen’s dream.
Rumor has it there are other special surprises (appearances) in store, but shhh.
7pm, Branx, 320 SE 2. $10.
Apocalysp! An all-ages Pride celebration
without the corporate sponsorship. A portion of proceeds go to organizations working to end teen suicide in the queer community. Featuring performances by The Need,
Thank You Holy Spirit, and DJ Hero Worship, and many more. Go to slabtownbar.
net for more details and ticket information.
8pm, Slabtown, 1033 NW 16. $7 advance,
$8 at the door.
Wednesday, June 19 (And you thought
Pride ended on Sunday)
All the Way Turn’t Up: Portland Black
Pride 2013: “This year we are more ‘turnt’
up than ever: Loving who we are, learning
who we are, and celebrating all that we are.”
Wednesday marks the kickoff party at the
Local Lounge, featuring The Queens of the
Night, Pride Edition. 8pm, Local Lounge,
3526 NE MLK. Visit PortlandBlackGayPride.
com for more information, VIP tickets, and
a complete schedule of events.
Friday, June 21
Rice, Beans, and Collard Greens: a Pride
dance party for queer and trans people of
color and our friends and family. All pro30 • June-July 2013
ceeds support Basic Rights Oregon’s Racial
Justice and Alliance Building program. Drink
specials all night! Dance to hip hop, reggae,
top 40, and more. Presented by Basic Rights
Oregon, in partnership with Asian Pacific
Islander Pride, Portland Black Pride, Portland Latino Pride, Portland Two Spirit Society, and Pride NW. And since it’s at Crush,
there’ll be plenty of delicious food available.
8:30pm, Crush, 1400 SE Morrison. $5.
Saturday, June 22
Eyes Open: Our Past, Present, and
Future, Portland Black Pride Summit
2013: An opportunity to explore our diversities and multiple identities and the ways
we can stand in solidarity as we come
together as a community. The summit will
be an afternoon of workshops covering a
wide range of topics relevant to the Black
LGBTQA community, thought provoking discussions, information, community
resources, and entertainment. It runs most
of the day, from 10am until 4pm, and you
can find registration information here: surveymonkey.com/s/PBPreg2013. PCC Cascade, Student Center Building, 10am.
Saturday, June 29
Central Oregon Pride 2013: The ninth
annual Central Oregon Pride celebration
takes over the beautiful Drake Park in downtown Bend, Oregon, from noon until 6pm.
Human Dignity Coalition, which just celebrated its 20th anniversary, hosts the event.
This year’s festival will focus on entertainment and information, and organizers
expect their biggest event yet. The after
party will start at 7:30pm, and will be held
at Seven Restaurant and Nightclub. Donations accepted. For more information, contact [email protected]. Go
spend a beautiful weekend in Bend, and
celebrate all your gayness with your eastern brothers and sisters.
Corvallis Pride/Pride in the Park: Your
favorite sleepy college town celebrates your
gayness in Central Park. Central Park, Corvallis — not NYC. Organizers are still assembling
talent, but plan on a leisurely, lovely time.
Vendors, refreshments, entertainment! We’ll
have more online as the day approaches.
Starts at noon, ends around 6pm.
Saturday, July 20
Portland Latino Gay Pride: PLGP’s
eighth annual celebration will stretch over
this July weekend, with events spanning the
Q Center and the Jupiter Hotel. This year’s
theme: ¡Viva La Vida! Festival mainstays
Voz Alta and the afterhours dance party at
Embers remain. The food alone is worth the
trip. Seriously. For more coverage of Portland
Latino Gay Pride, look for our July issue! But
save the dates now.
Saturday, July 13
Saturday in the Park: Every second
Saturday in July, Southwest Washington
holds the region’s only LGBT Pride celebration. This year marks its 19th. That’s
a great many years! As always, Saturday in the Park prides itself on itself for
being family-friendly, free, and, well, fun.
Vendor booths, live entertainment, raffles
— and what queer shindig would be complete without a beer garden? 11am — 5pm,
Esther Short Park, 301 W. 8 St.
pqmonthly.com
pqmonthly.com
pqmonthly.com
PRIDE
Pride performers on love, music, and community
Musicians Aiden James, Dirty Looks, Lucas Silveira of the Cliks, and Mattachine Social promise to rock your world at Portland Pride 2013.
By Nick Mattos
PQ Monthly
While there are a vast number of things to love about
Pride Week in Portland, the music is always a highlight.
In celebration of the wonderfully diverse acts playing the
Pride Festival Soundstage in Tom McCall Waterfront Park
this year, PQ presents interviews with a few of the stage’s
headliners and performers from near and far. This represents only a tiny selection of Portland Pride’s veritable
cornucopia of musical offerings; for a far fuller look at the
array of performers at the Waterfront and beyond, go to
PQMonthly.com.
LUCAS SILVEIRA, THE CLIKS (Toronto)
PQ Monthly: Can you tell me a bit about your current
musical project?
Lucas Silveira: Right now I’m concentrating 100 percent on my band, The Cliks. We just released a new album
called “Black Tie Elevator” and are planning tours around it.
PQ: As one of the most visible transpeople in music,
how do you see yourself fitting into the larger queer music
scene?
LS: I don’t really know, to be honest. I’m in a weird
spot right now. Almost limbo-like. I don’t quite fit in in
the mainstream, and now that I’m passing as male I
feel like all my female lesbian fans have finally realized
I’m not one of them, so it’s a strange spot. I think a lot
of them identified with me because of how I looked, but
are now realizing that in fact I am a man. I was feeling
very invisible before, and in a way it’s validating to my
sense of self to know that when I was feeling unseen that
it wasn’t a figment of my imagination. I actually don’t
like being called a queer musician, because my identity
and my music are two separate things. As a musician,
I’m simply human.
PQ: You and I are both from Portuguese-diaspora families. How did you find that the larger Portuguese community responded to your coming out? How do you currently
connect with your Portuguese identity?
LS: My direct family has been extremely supportive, and
overall of the Portuguese people in the media who have
approached me have met me with kindness and curiosity,
so I can’t say I’ve had a bad reaction. As far as connecting
with my Portuguese identity, it is something I carry and
connect to daily. I’m extremely proud of my heritage. I live
in a Portuguese area of Toronto and am very close to my
family. I was born in Canada but in my heart, I’m always
Portuguese.
PQ: Thinking about the queer community at large —
do you feel that there is a single unified “queer commupqmonthly.com
nity?” Is full unification of the queer community a reasonable goal to work towards?
LS: No. I don’t feel there is much of a community these
days. In fact, I feel the community has divided itself into
cells of separatist mentalities. It’s quite disheartening, actually. I’d love to see queers more united, but sadly it seems
that some people’s ideas around personal narratives have
become increasingly constricted, and so it feels suffocating
to me and others who just want to be queer our own way.
I have found my community lately to be more attached to
being an artist than a queer person. I feel really judged in
the queer community and it doesn’t bode well with me.
PQ: In this era, why are Pride celebrations still important?
LS: Because we simply are still not seen as equals in the
eyes of society and we are victims of discrimination and
violence daily.
PQ: If you could give one piece of advice to young queer
people, what would it be?
LS: Be yourself and allow others to be who they are as
well. Just because someone else’s identity isn’t the same as
yours within whatever part of the LGBT alphabet you come
from, doesn’t mean their identity is any less valid.
AIDEN JAMES (Philadelphia)
PQ: Can you tell us a little about you and your work?
AJ: I’m a fan of anything that is cat-related, coffee-centric, or celebrates beards on men. I write catchy love songs.
I sing, engineer, and produce; my latest album, “Trouble
With This” climbed to the top of the iTunes Top 30 Charts.
I started a record label. I play 100 concerts a year across the
country and internationally. PQ readers might particularly
like my cover of Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With
Somebody.” She and I share a birthday.
PQ: In this era, why do you feel that Pride festivals are
important?
AJ: It’s important to show our numbers, to stand up and
be counted. Celebrating who we are is important because
their are people who will hate us for being just who we are.
PQ: As an out musician, have you had any surprising
members of your fan base or sources of support?
AJ: I live for how music transcends the lines of gay and
straight. There are universal themes of love that I explore
in my music; even past that, it’s great to see people from
all walks of life meet each other at a concert and become
friends. Who doesn’t like to see a butch lesbian meet a 6’3
beefy married straight guy at the merch table wearing the
same outfit? My latest album, “Trouble With This” is 100
percent fan funded, and I cherish the direct relationship I
have with my audience as an independent artist performing live.
Photo of Aiden James (left) by Jeremy Lucido; photo of Mattachine Social (right) by Holly Andres
KATE NEAL, DIRTY LOOKS (Portland)
PQ: Can you tell me a bit about your band and your
sound?
Kate Neal: Dirty Looks is a new band comprised of five
local Portland musicians. About a year ago, I was looking
to take my solo hip hop music to the next level by getting a
backing band — what I ended up with was Dirty Looks. This
project is completely different from what I set out to do but
what organically transpired is something I immediately fell
in love with. We are the house band for an amazing queerowned bar called Escape Bar and Grill on NE Prescott and
Sandy. In fact, our band was named there when we asked an
audience for help in selecting a band name during a show.
We put up a little message on the chalkboard wall in the
bathrooms and asked for suggestions. We played a song I
wrote called “Dirty Looks” and someone had written that
down on the wall as a band name. We all loved it instantly
and decided to go with it!
PQ: What made you decide to play Portland Pride?
KN: We’ve just recently started playing shows out and
about around town. Putting our feelers out, if you will. Pride
seemed like a natural choice for me personally because
I’ve always performed at Pride festivals as a queer hip hop
artist, and while I may be transitioning to new musical
genres, I’ll never transition out of my community. Performing at Pride is not only a great way for us to get our sound
out there but it’s also a way to stand in solidarity and support with my community.
PQ: In this era, why do you feel Pride festivals are important?
KN: This question is a bit of a double-edged sword for
me. I love Pride and think that historically, it’s been an
amazing part of the queer equality movement. It’s important to celebrate ourselves and our love — and to that end,
I will always support Pride festivals. However, I also think
that our obsession as a culture with focusing on our differences is only further driving the wedge that separates
us. My sexuality doesn’t define me, nor is it a major factor
in my life. I think true equality will be achieved when we
don’t have to “come out” as queer, when “gay marriage” is
just marriage. As a society, we should be focusing on what
brings us together, what we have in common, that’s when
we’re most powerful. We see it after any national tragedy, people throwing aside differences, political or otherwise, and coming together to lift each other up as fellow
human beings. Why does it take a tragedy for us to remember what’s really important? To me, Pride is about building
community and supporting each other regardless of individual differences. And I think that should happen every
day, not once a year.
PRIDE PERFORMERS page 49
PERSPECTIVES
WHISKEY & SYMPATHY
Dear Sophia and Gula,
I’m worried that I’m the human personification of Grumpy Cat. Whenever I date someone, I start out very into them,
but inevitably within a couple weeks I find some aspect of the person to be absolutely intolerably annoying — their
laugh is annoying, they believe weird things about the world, they’re too self-aggrandizing, they’re too loud in bed. This
annoyance only builds until I just can’t stand anything about them and break things off. I’m lonely, but I can’t stop pushing people away. How can I stop working myself up into being too annoyed by my partners?
-Eeyore in Irvington
Hey Grumpy,
Sophia
Dear Eeyore,
1400 NW 23rd Avenue Suite 2A Portland, OR 97210
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HAIRCUT WHEN YOU
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We all have been annoyed by loved ones. That little
smacking noise, that heavy breathing while next to your
ear, that leg shake they do when they are bored or nervous.... We all have those pet peeves.
However, pet peeves should not be reason alone to end
a relationship. Think of what attracted you to them in the
first place. What are the things you enjoy and love about
them? What makes you smile when they are not near? What
warms your heart when you think of them? These are the
things to keep in the forefront of your mind when you
start to wonder why you stay with someone who laughs
like a hyena.
You also need to look inside and see if some of these
things come from your past. Do you have some unresolved
issues that are playing into your current situation? Sometimes if we do a little self-analysis we can come up with
clues that may give us answers. When I take the time to do
this, I notice that I am much calmer and can think clearly
as to why I am so annoyed.
Try to consciously “talk to yourself” before you are about
to see them. Reassure yourself that this is the person who
makes you happy and the little things are nothing. Allow
them to fall to the background. Being intentional takes
time, so allow yourself that time.
Being open and honest with your date will help, too.
Most people are not able to maintain a poker face when
there are issues bothering them. Whether it’s a wrinkle in
the brow, a slight frown, or a raised eyebrow, your date
might notice. Be ready to address your gesture if they notice.
Good luck,
Sophia St. James
Do you revel in correcting others’ grammar
and spelling? Do you
get angry at the smallest of lines that for just
taking too long? Driving
makes your butt pucker
because all of the “idiots”
out there? You like things
your way, cuz it’s RIGHT?
I might have had you as a
roommate at one point.
You jump into a relationship with an open
mind, with all of the
annoying attributes of
Gula the other there but you
don’t need them for an exit strategy yet. You wait awhile,
then you start picking your partner’s carcass like a vulture.
You find an out before they leave you for YOUR annoying
traits — traits that bug you, too.
So, you’ve identified that you have a problem with pushing people away, whatever the situation or reason. Well
done! You’re well on your way to understanding, and conquering, this issue. Usually, this problem comes down to
your own confidence and self-worth. As with any problem, knowing that it’s there is the first, and hardest, step,
to overcoming it. You’re here, which is excellent, so let’s
get on with it.
1. Seriously learn to love yourself. Write out the crazy
things you love, hate, feel annoyed by and be honest about
the things you do that others love, hate, and get annoyed
by! Once you figure those things out, stop doing the annoying shit.
2. When someone says they like, love, respect, enjoy
you ... accept it! If you act like you don’t deserve praise
and love over and over, people will take you seriously and
leave. No one wants to invest time in a self-loather. You
deserve love and good people deserve to be in your glorious presence! Let them in and believe the compliments
they offer, dumb-ass.
3. Stop waiting for people to disappoint you. Accept that
some people will hurt you, but also, many will not. That is
life, but if you let fear keep you from trying to see the good
in people then you will miss out on some real gems!
4. Stop the “negative-brain dialogue” about how nothing good will happen and how all people are the same. If
you tell yourself that only losers will like you then it is the
losers that will come your way! They can hear your negative
thoughts and will descend upon you like thirsty vampires.
STOP IT NOW because being with a soul-sucker is no fun!
5. Be cute and you will attract positive people. Smile,
damn you!
Good luck!
Gula
Need some advice from Sophia and Gula? Send your query — with “Whiskey & Sympathy” 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.
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.
pqmonthly.com
THE
GOOD LIFE
PERSPECTIVES
LIFE IS GOOD. ENJOY THE RIDE!
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pqmonthly.com
Vicci Martinez HOPES to
give Portland hot flashes
Catch Vicci Martinez at Hot Flash’s Big Gay Pride Party in Portland on June 15.
By Trish Bendix
PQ Monthly
It’s been 13 years since Vicci Martinez
released her first album. In that time, the
Tacoma native has gone from starving artist
to television star to professional touring
musician after appearing on the first season
of NBC’s “The Voice.” The out 28-year-old
took third place in the singing competition,
but she walked away from the show with
a built-in fanbase and an admirer in her
mentor Cee-Lo Green, who lent his vocals
to Martinez’s single “Come Along” from her
2012 major label debut, “Vicci.”
Although the show, currently in its fourth
season, has been hugely successful, not all
of its winners and runner-ups have continued to make a name for themselves like
Martinez has. She’ll be in Portland to play
Hot Flash’s Big Gay Pride Party at the Crystal Ballroom on June 15, marking one of
her first ever Pride experiences in general.
“It was just a few years ago [Tacoma]
recently started having [Pride],” Martinez
said. “My life has consisted of working.…
I always miss out on these kind of things.
So I think that that’s why it’s kind of special
time in my career, when I can start being
a part of it.”
Martinez will be playing a 30-minute
acoustic set at the Hot Flash party, where
she is excited to see some friends she met
during a trip with Olivia Travel. She said
she’s played Portland several times, but it’s
not been the easiest place to find fans.
“Portland has kind of been a hard market
for me,” she said. “It’s funny because it’s
only a few hours from where I lived, but it’s
still hard to get an audience to come out to
the show and be able to make money from
it. With the song on the radio and everything, it’s been a little bit different. But I’ve
been coming out there for a long time.”
Martinez is happy to be getting booked
for LGBT gigs alongside the regular touring
and festival appearances she’ll continue to
pqmonthly.com
make throughout the summer. “The Voice”
has been home to several out contestants
during its four-year run, but Martinez
seems to be the only one who has avoided
being pigeonholed as a “gay artist” limited
to only playing queer-based events.
“I’ve kind of always gone into it with an
‘I’m no different than you’ kind of vibe,”
Martinez said. “I was out, but I didn’t make
any kind of statement about it. I hadn’t
made that a priority. It was always, ‘Whoever’s gonna book me, I’m down to play.’”
While visiting “The Voice” during the
season 4 semifinals, Martinez advised out
lesbian contestant Michelle Chamuel to
“make sure you have the most fun time of
your life because it’s amazing.” She also
managed to have a bit of her own fun thanks
to Shakira — who was not a judge during
the first season.
“I got to meet Shakira and I can die
happy,” Martinez said. “I’m glad she wasn’t
on my season. I think it would have been
bad for me because I would have been nervous the whole time. I have had a crush on
her since I was 12. I would have always had
a nervous tummy, and not because I was on
TV — because I was around Shakira.”
Martinez now lives in Los Angeles and
said she loves the “therapeutic” process of
songwriting, but prefers performing live to
anything else.
“If anything,” she said, “I am doing it to
inspire other people to find what makes
them happy and help them realize what
their passion is.”
But because her ultimate goal is to have a
good time, her only advice for those coming
to the Hot Flash show is this: “Make sure you
get ready to drink some tequila. It’s going to
be a fun night.”
Vicci Martinez will play Hot Flash’s Big
Gay Pride Party at the Crystal Ballroom
(1332 W. Burnside St.) June 15, 6 p.m.-10
p.m. For tickets and information visit hotflashdances.com/.
THE
STUFF
ARTSFUN
& CULTURE
Claiming the spotlight: PHAME gives
adults with disabilities the stage
(Left to right) Jace McFeron shows off his PHAME Honor Tour T-shirt (photo by Erin Rook, PQ Monthly); PHAME students perform the musical “Willy Wonka” (photo courtesy of PHAME).
By Erin Rook
PQ Monthly
When Stephen Beaudoin first heard about Pacific Honored Artists, Musicians, and Entertainers (PHAME) — an
arts organization serving adults with developmental disabilities — he wasn’t sure what to expect. A friend suggested
that Beaudoin invite the group’s choir to perform on a benefit CD he was producing called “Songs for Haiti” and he
hesitantly offered them one track.
“I figured it could either be really beautiful and inspiring
or it could totally miss the mark,” Beaudoin says. PHAME
didn’t have a YouTube presence at the time and he’d never
heard them perform, so he was going out on a limb. “They
blew it out of the water. It’s a performance I’ve never forgotten…. Seeing a great performance stays with you, and
what I was observing was a great performance, not a great
performance with an asterisk.”
Beaudoin was so captivated that two months later he
was on PHAME’s board, and before long he became the
group’s executive director.
PHAME offers arts education classes about 30 weeks
out of the year, including everything from yoga to an iPad
music lab class and rehearsals for its annual summer musical. This year, the group is putting on a performance of “Bye,
Bye Birdie” (June 22-23 at Mount Hood Community College). Last year’s show was “Willy Wonka.”
In all, PHAME participants give 15-20 public performances each year. In 2012, members of the group went on
a tour that had them doing 15 shows in 10 days. Past performances have included collaborations with high-profile
artists like Pink Martini and the Portland Cello Project. This
year, the group will take the main stage at the Mississippi
Street Fair for the first time.
“PHAME is about art, but it’s also about community,”
Beaudoin says. “Some of the students have never stepped
on stage in their lives. If that’s not empowering I don’t
know what is.”
Jace McFeron, 26, is one of those students. When he first
came to PHAME, the segregation he faced as person with
developmental disabilities at Gresham’s Centennial High
School left him with few opportunities to explore the arts
or build friendships.
PHAME changed all that.
“The first week or two that we came here, we came
early to check out neighborhood,” says Jace’s mother, Debi
McFeron. “We stepped into Starbucks and found all the
‘phame-ous’ people. It was so cool. Jace was there with
friends hanging out in Starbucks. On the way home he said
it was the first time he’d had friends.”
Those friendships have only grown through Jace’s participation in the group. In addition to performing in “Willy
Wonka” (as a squirrel) and participating in the tour, he busts
it out at PHAME’s social events, including dance parties.
It’s a lot like “Glee,” Beaudoin says, referencing the popular television show about a high school show choir that
brings together students who are different and help them
create something bigger than themselves.
Jace recently moved to a group home in St. Helens and
travels nearly an hour each way to attend PHAME classes.
When he lived closer, he came more often, and he’s having
a hard time adjusting to the change.
“No more, no more,” he says.
Kayla Rockdaschel, who works with Jace a few days a
week, says it’s a common refrain since he moved out to
the new home. She tries to reassure him that they’ll keep
coming to PHAME, even if it’s not as often as before.
Jace’s verbal abilities are limited due to cerebral palsey.
He typically uses a computer to help him communicate,
but his mother says it’s currently in the shop. So the others
in the room talk about Jace’s experiences with PHAME,
checking in with him frequently to ensure that they are
representing him accurately.
Despite his verbal and mobility challenges, Jace will try
anything once and, as a result, has developed a full repertoire of creative outlets.
“It’s such a way of expressing yourself,” Debi says of her
son’s involvement in PHAME, which has included visual
arts, acting, dancing, yoga, and singing. “These are things
he wouldn’t get to do [otherwise], and because he doesn’t
have the gift of speech, that is a way of expressing yourself
that is really valuable.”
In addition to PHAME, Jace is looking forward to attending Portland Pride. In past years he’s marched with East
Rose Unitarian Universalist Church; the congregation has
been supportive since Jace first came out at age 14. His
mother attended PFLAG meetings there.
For the most part, Jace has been met with positivity
around his sexuality. But that wasn’t always the case. When
he came out at age 14 to a teaching aid, she reported his
disclosure to the authorities.
“Her assumption was that he must have been violated in
some way. [The authorities] were required by law to come
to our house and interview us. Fortunately they under-
stood,” Debi says. “Folks with IDD [intellectual and developmental disabilities] are not seen as sexual; they’re also
seen as victims. It’s easy to victimize someone who has a
disability. But that’s a long jump to the assumption that
they must be [victims].”
It’s not uncommon for people with disabilities to be
de-sexed by society. Debi admits that even she, while generally supportive, had a hard time wrapping her mind the
idea that Jace was gay.
“I said, ‘Well, that’s ok, if that’s what you decide.’ I
thought at 14 he probably didn’t know how to decide,”
Debi says, adding that it’s hard for any parent to see their
child as sexual. “I probably didn’t know enough about it to
know it isn’t about sex. Jace’s idea of gay might mean something different, but everyone’s might.”
Fortunately, at PHAME, Jace is fully accepted, as a person
with a developmental disability and as a gay man. And
though there is only one other out LGBTQ participant at
present, Jace knows he’s not alone.
“You’re not the only ‘fierce’ one here,” Beaudoin reminds
him. Jace immediately points with excitement at Beaudoin,
who is also gay.
Jace is proud of who he is. Recently, he asked his mother
if he could order rainbow spoke decorations for his wheel
chair. But the cost was prohibitive, and she said they would
have to find a way to make something. A few days later,
Jace returned from PHAME with rainbows made of multicolored duct tape adorning his wheels.
Though there aren’t many outlets for LGBTQ people with
developmental disabilities, Beaudoin says the queer community has responded positively to PHAME.
“We are very lucky to have a lot of support from the LGBT
community,” he says, citing Equity Foundation’s backing of
the recent tour. “I think what anyone sees from the LGBT
community are the resonances between persons with disabilities and LGBT people” in terms of the need for equality
in the realms of employment, housing, and families.
Beaudoin is glad that Jace has been so accepted, both
at PHAME and in the LGBTQ community, but he acknowledges that there’s still progress to be made.
“Discrimination against people with disabilities is prevalent. They face mounting stigma, lack of access to services,” he
says. “It can be difficult for the LGBT community to remember; there can be a lack of presence and awareness. Through
our public performances, we’re helping to reduce stigma.”
Learn more at phameacademy.org.
pqmonthly.com
THE FUN STUFF
pqmonthly.com
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pqmonthly.com
PONDERLUST
CAN YOU SEE ME
NOW?
By Erin Rook
PQ Monthly
“That’s an interesting tattoo,” the checker
says, pointing the black bird holding a rolling pin and playing cards half-visible below
my rolled up shirt sleeve. “What is it?”
“It’s based off a card game called Rook,” I
explain, pushing the sleeve up past my elbow.
It’s a family tattoo I got with my siblings in
memory of our grandparents — my granddad’s love of card games, my grandma’s fondness for singing (and dancing) in the kitchen.
I don’t have time to elaborate before he
inquires about the ink peeking out on my
left forearm. He asks what it says between
the wings sprouting out from the black and
white anatomical heart.
“It says ‘survivor,’” I reply. It’s been two
years since I got the tattoo — my first —
to mark the two-year anniversary of leaving a physically and emotionally abusive
relationship. At the time, friends cautioned
me against something so blatant, reminding me that it would invite questions. But I
was proud to be a survivor and compelled
to make that part of my history visible.
“A survivor of what?” he asks. I get that
question a lot, mostly from phlebotomists
and other health care providers. Once, an
ER doctor told me she assumed I had survived heart disease. In a way, she was right.
“Domestic violence.”
The checker pauses and a wave of sadness washes over his face.
“Domestic violence.” He sighs. “It breaks
my heart — but I don’t understand. Why do
the women stay with the men who abuse
them?”
The phrasing feels awkward — why is
he referring to me in the third person? —
but it doesn’t register right away. I’m still
ma’amed more often than not, so I tend to
assume that strangers are reading me as
female unless their language indicates otherwise. Caught off guard by his question, I
offer an over-simplified response.
“It does funny things to your brain.”
It does funny things to your brain? I
kick myself for not coming up with a better
response to this frequently asked question
years ago.
“I guess it turns into some sick kind of
love. Like Stockholm Syndrome,” he offers.
“Do you think they know why they stay —
those women?”
Finally, it dawns on me. “Those women.”
He thinks we’re talking about someone else.
Us guys are not survivors of domestic violence. And so this fleeting moment of visibility has rendered me simultaneously
invisible.
Sometimes, being seen makes me stand
out even more.
V i s i b i l i t y, i t
seems, is rarely
neutral. Walking
through our neighborhood in East Portland,
my partner and I are hesitant to show affection in ways we never were before, aware
that the more people perceive me as male,
the more we are seen as faggots.
As I transition from female to male, I shift
from victim to threat (and, perhaps, back to
victim again). Sometimes, my position within
that power dynamic shifts many times in one
day. It makes it hard to trust that anyone’s perception will hold. And if it wavers in the wrong
person, well, you’re fucked.
Last month, I was a “sir” and a “gentleman” in the morning, but a “ma’am” by the
afternoon. As much as I relish the affirmation inherent in masculine honorifics, they
also put me on guard. I worry that people
take a closer look, see the shaping of my eyebrows, hear the treble in my voice, catch the
lilt in my step, and realize they were wrong.
Driving through Wyoming last fall with
my partner, we stopped in a thrift store to
look for vintage Western wear. As we were
perusing the men’s shirts, the shop keeper
called out to us.
“Let me know if you gentlemen need
any help.”
I hadn’t really come out as trans yet, and
wasn’t making any particular effort to be
read as male. Still, the acknowledgement was
simultaneously exhilarating and terrifying. I
wasn’t afraid of the woman, but I didn’t want
to deal with awkwardness of an unaffirming
apology. So I skulked around the back of the
store, shrugged my shoulders forward, and
avoided eye contact when we departed.
I take the same don’t-look-too-closely
stance with the Office Max cashier, continue to play along with this story we’ve
created about those women who stay with
their abusive men, hypothesize about their
experiences as if I don’t — can’t — know.
“I think some know why they stay and
some don’t. It’s complicated,” I reply.
He doesn’t know the half of it. I don’t have
it in me to explain and I’m not sure why.
Am I afraid of the vulnerability or worried
that he’ll find me out? But there’s no time
to ponder. I’m running late (as always) and
search for an escape.
“Well, those men aren’t men, they’re
boys,” he says.
I nod, figure the best way to end the conversation is to agree, and mutter something
about how grown men ought to act. Satisfied that I share his worldview about the
ways of men, he hands me my receipt and
I slip out the door, step up into my partner’s big red truck, and drive off to a gay bar.
Erin is collecting clever comebacks to correct future assumptions.
Send suggestions to [email protected].
pqmonthly.com
ARTS & CULTURE
Out loud together: LGBTQ choruses
While choruses like the PGMC and Soromundi were created to serve as safe spaces to socialize for gay men and lesbians, respectively, they welcome participants representing a diversity of sexual orientations and gender identities.
By Leela Ginelle
PQ Monthly
The first LGBTQ choruses emerged almost 40 years ago.
While the movement began with the Anna Crusis Women’s Choir, which formed in Philadelphia in 1975, the first
chorus to include “gay” in its name was the San Francisco
Gay Men’s Chorus, who gave their maiden performance
on the City Hall steps the night of Harvey Milk’s shooting
death in 1978.
From Seattle’s BEARatones to Salem’s Confluence, this
blending of art and politics, community and visibility, have
always been present in the LGBTQ chorus movement,
though perhaps not as pronounced as it was on that night
35 years ago.
The Soromundi Lesbian Chorus of Eugene formed in
1989 after its founders attended the Portland Pride Festival. Co-founder Karm Hagedorn had sung in choirs in high
school and at the University of Oregon.
Of the early days, and the chorus’s entry into activism, she says, “I had no motives or agenda at the beginning, but when three or more lesbians gather, opinions
and ideas pour out and before long, we were singing at
political events and rallies right away, as the times were
ripe with anti-gay legislation — causes like ‘Take Back
the Night” and such.”
Soromundi, which translates to “sisters of the world,”
also became a social hub for its members.
“[It] very quickly became a community,” Hagedorn says.
“It was a pretty wholesome place to meet other people who
were tired of the bar scene.”
The same is true for the group that inspired Hagedorn
24 years ago at Pride, the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus. The
PGMC formed in 1980, and was the fourth chorus to call
themselves “gay,” according to artistic director Bob Mensel.
In the PGMC’s early years, Mensel says, “The reasons
that men joined the choir were myriad, but a common
theme was to build an alternate safe space for gay men to
gather that was not a bar or a bathhouse.”
Mensel has observed society’s changes in the transparency practiced by the chorus’s members. In the early years,
he says, “Many members of the chorus listed ‘name withheld’ in the program, or used a fake name. I do not think
that any member of PGMC uses a fake name anymore, and
I think it would be unbelievable if anyone were fired in this
community for being gay.”
Both Soromundi and the PGMC have non-discrimination policies, and include non-LGBTQ members.
“Early on,” Hagedorn says, “we established policies and
guidelines, including that membership was open to anyone
who identified as a woman.”
Of the PGMC, Mensel says, “Gender and sexuality are
irrelevant in assessing a singer’s suitability for the chorus.
A prospective singer must be able to sing in the range of
our repertoire — bass to tenor — and be a good musician.”
The Portland Lesbian Choir has a similarly inclusive outlook. The choir, which formed in 1986, has a “non-audition”
policy, and, according to its website, welcomes “women of
ALL ages, races, gender and sexual orientations (including
straight allies), abilities, creeds, lifestyles, etc.”
As transgender visibility has increased in recent years,
so has trans participation in LGBTQ choruses. Hagedorn
says there have been several transwomen in Soromundi,
and that the group has elected its first transman to its
board of directors. San Francisco also boasts a transgender chorus, Transcendence, which is the subject of a documentary called “The Believers.”
Seattle’s youth chorus, Diverse Harmony, which will perform with the PGMC at this year’s Pride festival, also features transgender singers. The group was founded in 2002
by Rhonda Juliano to help create a safe space for gay male
students she taught, and has since expanded the profile of
its membership, according to artistic director Jared Brayton Bollenbacher.
Photo of the PGMC (left) by Bill Barry, BarryFoto©
“We are still focused on being a Gay-Straight Alliance
youth chorus,” Bollenbacher says, “but like all social advocacy organizations, we find other portions of our community that need our love and support and we focus on the
needs of everyone. Like all queer organizations, I think we
are turning more of our focus on how to assist the trans
portion of our family.”
Of course, while community and visibility are benefits
of LGBTQ choruses, music is still their raison d’etre, a point
both Mensel and Hagedorn stress.
“The Portland Gay Men’s Chorus has always been dedicated to performing high quality choral pieces,” Mensel
says. “The founders of PGMC were blessed with many fine
singers and musicians.”
He also refers to the PGMC’s mission, which states
that the “chorus aspires to expand, redefine, and perfect
the choral art through eclectic performances that honor
and uplift the gay community and affirm the worth of all
people.”
Hagedorn talks about the response Soromundi, which
recently performed in Portland during its three-city “Be the
Change” tour, has on its audience members.
“People say they haven’t heard a choir who sounds like
ours,” she says, “and that can be attributed to the arrangement-specific music we sing, the way we select our music,
and the fun we have singing every week.”
Portlanders will get the chance to take in two LGBTQ choruses as Diverse Harmony joins the PGMC for “Showtunes”
at the Arlene Schnitzer Hall June 15 at 7 p.m. as part of Portland Pride weekend. Diverse Harmony will also sing at St.
Stephen’s Episcopal Parish June 14 at 7 p.m., at the Arlene
Schnitzer Concert Hall June 15 at 7 p.m., and at the Waverly
United Church of Christ June 16 at 10 a.m.
The Portland Lesbian Choir presents “Our Time to
Shine” at the Rose City Park Methodist Church June 21-22
at 7:30 p.m.
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THE LADY CHRONICLES
I’M CONVINCED — YOU GOTTA
DATE AN IMPORT
By Daniel Borgen
PQ Monthly
About a month ago, my cousin visited
from Amsterdam. I host a variety of guests
in and around my home — friends, family,
and otherwise — so an out-of-towner isn’t
a terribly abnormal occurrence. This visitor, though, shares my last name. And here’s
the thing that makes that completely commonplace circumstance peculiar: I haven’t
seen another Borgen in the flesh in more
years than I can count. I could give you a
ballpark number, but I’d be revealing private, intimate details about my age, and I’d
rather not disparage myself in print. Hint:
it’s been decades.
It’s a strange sensation to be cut off from
an entire side of your brood. The why’s
and how’s of my separation aren’t terribly
important right here and now — suffice it
to say, it’s the age-old tale of being ostensibly disowned. Your parents divorce, adults
act like children, and your father accuses
you of choosing your mother over him. (You
were 8.)
Everyone always says, “Oh, your family is
what you make of it,” offering that or similarly phrased bullshit when the subject
comes up — and there’s a lot of truth to such
platitudes. But no matter the rationalizing
and intellectual understanding, losing an
entire side of your family feels like losing a
limb. It’s a festering wound that never completely heals. A gnawing you learn to abide.
So when my cousin told me she’d be
in town, naturally I hesitated. We hadn’t
spent significant time together since we
were small children — who knew what she’d
say or what she thought of me after all these
years. I worried about whose side she took
and if some old father-type wounds might
bust open. But you never get anywhere running from the things that scare you, so I
made a breakfast date — Kornblatt’s, which
houses all my favorite meats — and I broke
bread with a Borgen.
It’s hard to pinpoint what surprised me
most that morning — that I showed up at
all, that my cousin is a seasoned world traveler, that she’s similarly a creative-type, or
that none of my worst fears came to pass.
Her worldly aptitude impressed me and I
was more than a bit jealous hearing about
her treks through our Italian homeland.
Eventually, the inevitable: conversation
steered toward the Borgen clan, and she
shared with me something I didn’t expect.
“I stand up for you,” she said, explaining
what shouldn’t need explaining. “You were
a child; it’s ridiculous to blame you for anything.”
We moved on to romantic scorecards —
and it was good to see a little of me in her,
like her knack for enjoying the company
of a man. (The
Borgen genes
run strong.) I
recapped some
of my more
momentous
pair ings, she
shared hers. I discussed my recent habit
of falling for out-of-towners and how the
last time I was in San Francisco I happened
upon a man I met while visiting New York
— who lives in L.A. (That’s a lot of cities, I
know.) It always happens that way, I said.
Grindr introduces me to some guy visiting
from Canada, we have a splendid time, and
he eventually retreats back to the frozen
tundra. It’s my destiny.
Mere days after her visit, Scruff walked
me to The Nines, where I courted a gentleman visiting from New York. He was
incredibly foxy — voluminous, tousled red
hair, toned in all the right places, and an
accent that made me swoon. There were
weird moments, like when he insisted I
stand on the other side of the room so
he could stare at me naked, or when he
danced to Red Hot Chili Peppers in his
underwear, but generally I found his company enjoyable. I spent a lot of time in
that bed that weekend — bravo, Nines,
for such impressive comfort — and I was
a little sad to see our time together end.
We half-heartedly discussed keeping in
touch, but I’d long ago learned the lessons of Canada and L.A., and my friend
Ryan’s infamous words haunted my eardrums: “Stop trying to make it something
it’s not.” Because I do. Often. That my final
set of plans with the New Yorker fell apart
cemented every one of my instincts.
This past Memorial Day weekend, I
crossed paths with a friend I hadn’t seen in
eons — he was, once, like me, one of the last
dating holdouts. But even he’s been bitten
now, all paired up with a non-native. “Given
the level of ‘talent’ in this town, you gotta
date an import,” he said. “I have a first look
deal with the Port of Portland.” (Someone
get me his agent.)
I thought a little about my newly discovered accommodations in Amsterdam,
wondered how many poor many choices I’d
make with a new continent and new countries filled with men, and blamed a “Shameless” marathon for my lingering obsession
with family.
Seeing my cousin wasn’t so much
life-altering as it was life-affirming. We
are so similar — genetically and otherwise
— and also wildly different, like long lost
friends who missed chunks of each other’s
lives. Regardless, being reminded you’re
fine precisely as you are is always a welcome affirmation — as is the prospect of
a European tour.
Any Dutch tutors out there? Email [email protected].
pqmonthly.com
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THEATER
‘Antony and Cleopatra’
— a classic with a twist
PQMONTHLY.COM
Photo by Kristen Padilla
Chip Sherman (right) and Orion Bradshaw in “Antony and Cleopatra”
Oaks Park Roller Skating Rink
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“I have been so moved by stories
of closeted homosexuality, or closeted
gender identification,” director Cassandra Schwanke says of her motivation for
mounting a same-sex adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Antony and Cleopatra.” “In 2013,
there are still people that feel they have to
put on a persona, live in a skin that really
isn’t theirs.”
Running from June 15-30 at Milepost
5 in Portland through Shwanke’s HumanBeingCurious Productions, the play’s genesis came from company member Chip
Sherman.
“He proposed it to me nearly a year ago,”
Schwanke said. “The seed of thought that
he had was to play Cleopatra in drag and
explore the darker side of the drag world.”
Sherman can relate to the theme of
For more information on “Antony and
Cleopatra,” running June 15-30 at Milepost5
(900 NE 81st St.), visit human-being-curious.com/.
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By Leela Ginelle
clandestine love the adaptation presents.
“I, myself, like some homosexuals, had
the option of ‘coming out’ [when I was
18],” he says. “But remembering those
times prior — cutting class to meet in
the bathroom, escaping into the woods,
or going on long car rides, has helped me
with one of the plays main topics: closeted sexuality.”
While Schwanke, who may be familiar to
Portland theatergoers for her performance
earlier this year as Lady Macbeth in Post5’s
“Macbeth,” enjoys performing, she looks
to all aspects of theater to find expression.
“I decided years ago that I wasn’t happy
as an actor because I had to say ‘yes’ to
roles that I didn’t connect to; plays where
the message wasn’t important to me,”
Schwanke says. “It was then that I started
to write and from there, to direct. When I
get to be more discerning, I am a more content artist.”
In this case, she says, that contentment
came from her collaboration with Sherman,
and an exploration of the play’s themes. “I
really wanted to see Chip tell his version of
Cleopatra. I wanted to try and reach out to
an audience with a Shakespeare piece that
would speak about the life that they have
led, or maybe still lead.”
Both Schwanke and Sherman see gender
as a central theme of their production. “I
couldn’t tell this story and put a woman
in the role of Cleopatra,” Schwanke says,
“and Chip Sherman is expressing the female
gender in this role as clearly as any woman
that I’ve seen audition.”
For his part, Sherman sees the play as
reflecting his more revolutionary ideas on
the topic. “I don’t practice or acknowledge
gender stereotypes. Gender is fluid. Little
things like having a penis or vagina, have no
effect on who you are as a person.”
These ideas all align with what Schwanke
sees as the production’s central point.
“Love is universal” she says, “but I think
it is important to show stories with this plot
to remind people who might forget, or have
never come to that realization.”
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MINISTRIES: “at our best, we offer people belonging
in a meaningful way, and purpose for how they are
in the world and belong to one another.”
Continued from page 14
give it a new name and a new value.”
To provide this value, it’s critical to identify and understand what the community
needs, and to consider how best to provide it.
“I’ve heard it said several years ago that
there are two primary emotional needs:
belonging and purpose,” Meckley muses,
“and I think our spiritual needs are identical. This is the redemptive value of communities, and churches are built for this —
at our best, we offer people belonging in a
meaningful way, and purpose for how they
are in the world and belong to one another.”
Another way that organizations can
demonstrate their relevance and importance in the modern world is to explore
means by which they can innovate in ways
that can impact diverse communities.
“The MCC has been so much on the cutting edge of things, like inclusive language,”
Nielsen says. The denomination’s innovative
reading of scripture has also resulted in significant impacts upon the doctrines of other
mainline churches; for example, The New
Oxford Annotated Bible, a well-respected
study resource utilized by many serious students of the Christian scriptures, incorporated gay-affirming scholarship and biblical
interpretations which originated from the
Metropolitan Community Church’s readings.
Finally, in order to branch out in relevance and importance in the gay community and the world, organizations must stay
true to their roots — and for Christian ministries, this is to be found in Jesus.
“I sincerely believe that the message, the
person, and the relationship offered by the
spirit of Jesus Christ makes a difference in
people’s lives,” Meckley says. “It allows us
not just a different life in the hereafter, but
also a different life in the here and now. I
think this is what most people are worried
about — questions about how to live their
lives in a different way amongst all the brokenness they see around us. Don’t give up
on that just because some of the messages
you’ve heard have been negative or have
hurt you personally. That’s not the whole
story, and the story isn’t done yet.”
PRIDE PERFORMERS PQ: All of you have so many creative
projects going on at once — how do you
see your individual endeavors cross-pollinate into Mattachine Social?
AK: Well the band owes its origins to that!
[Bandmate] Justin [Warner] and I both met
via the HUMP! Festival, where he showed a
fantastic stop-motion film. He’s contributed
amazing costume and prop work to our
visual aesthetic and our videos. As a filmmaker myself, I’ve lensed things for us. Miss
Tammy Whynot brings a deftly-skilled performance artist eye to things and as a DJ she
has the beast summer soundtrack around. I
think all the work we do — Justin art directing or animating, Tammy DJing, me directing [for defunkt theatre] and doing video art
work just lends experience that helps add
more colors to our palette.
PQ: The queer community has some
amazing things to be proud of — what
makes you proudest about the community?
AK: I think we are proudest of the little,
unsung things, like people doing charity
work that goes unpublicized — doing community outreach for at risk youth, helping out with women’s health rights, with
STI awareness, with elder care. I think we
are proudest when we see members of our
community treat each other like a real community and take care of our own. After all
we are all in this together.
PQ: Finally, will you be bringing your
glitter cannon to the Waterfront this year?
AK: No! For this particular performance,
we were asked to tone that down! After years
of spectacular glitter and confetti explosions
in the sky, we were told it’s not allowed this
year, which is a real bummer. But hey, it’s
rock n’ roll, so who knows what will happen?
Continued from page 33
ANDREW KLAUS, MATTACHINE SOCIAL
(Portland)
PQ: Since the beginning, Mattachine
Social’s work has been about exploring and
illuminating themes from queer history.
Where did this originate from, and how has
this focus changed over the years?
Andrew Klaus: Part of it came from a
strong unanimous urge to pay our dues
and to help educate others in our collective
queer history, even if only by name dropping in a song and planting those seeds to
show kids where they come from. Part of it
was just a desire to pay tribute to the people
who made us want to make art in the first
place. While it’s still a significant part of our
aesthetic and our content, it’s not 100 percent our focus anymore — we leave room
for songs about relationships and the dance
floor. Over the years, it has been fun to see
how organically the references pop up in
the various styles of music we span.
PQ: Y’all are about to release a new EP
— can you tell us a bit about that?
AK: We are in the studio at Remix Lab in
Seattle currently recording our full-length
album, which will be out later this summer.
We had these three songs that really worked
well together as a sort of “sad songs cycle,”
so we thought, “Why not release these as
an EP?” They’re sort of late night trip-hop
tracks influenced electrorock ballads —
very downtempo and sexy. It represents a
mellower, sexier, more introspective side
of Mattachine Social.
pqmonthly.com
The Metropolitan Community Church
of Portland meets at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on
Sundays at 2400 NE Broadway, Portland; For
more information, go to MCCPortland.org.
Sister Paula’s programs and writings can
be found online at SisterPaula.org.
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ARTS BRIEFS
Local photographer and national treasure Holly Andres
presents “The Homecoming,” a retrospective of her largescale photographic work from the last six years, at Willamette
University’s Melvin Henderson-Rubio Gallery in Salem. Hanging through Aug. 4, the 43 works showcased in “The Homecoming” consider personal narratives and feminist subjectivity with Andres’ signature aesthetic of approachable subject
matter cast in a surreal, often unsettling light. For more information, visit willamette.edu/arts/hfma/.
The United Kingdom’s esteemed newspaper The Guardian
gave Portland quite a bit of love recently, naming their picks
for the top 10 cultural hotspots in the Rose City in their May
24 edition. Among the honored organizations: the Laurelhurst
Theater, Disjecta, Courier Coffee, Artists Repertory Theatre,
and Floating World Comics. I do believe three cheers of “hip,
hip, huzzah” are in order!
Miss your raver days? Check out Closer PDX — a multi-day
festival set in Portland’s inner-East and West sides, offering cutting edge electronic dance music, world-class guests, diverse
musical genres, and an unparalleled selection of local and regional
talent and labels. Occurring June 20-23 at a wide array of venues
throughout Portland, Closer brings such world-class EDM luminaries as John Tejada, Bryan Zentz, Natasha Kmeto, Masa
Ueda, and more to showcase the new frontier of digital music.
For more information and tickets, go to closerpdx.com.
Get yucky at Bitch Slap! Burlesque, two nights of cabaret
inspired by the one and only John Waters, June 23 and June
30 at the Star Theater in Portland. Hosted by Vera Mysteria
as Divine, Bitch Slap! gathers such notorious talent as Baby
LeStrange, Hai Fleish, Burk Biggler, Miss Alex Kennedy,
Zora Phoenix, and even synchronized booty-shaking troupe
The Assettes to honor the aesthetic legacy of the father of
queer cinema. Shows start at 7 p.m.; tickets are $10. For more
information, go to StarTheaterPortland.com.
The Murdock Charitable Trust has awarded Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) a grant of $119,800 over three
years to build technological capacity, specifically to fund the
hire of a web developer. The grant supports the enhancement
of the institution’s digital presence ensuring that its web properties serve collectively as an effective recruiting tool, a tool
for student engagement, and a platform for communication
about campus expansion. The announcement comes shortly
after the school announced the formation of their Hallie Ford
School of Graduate Studies, which unites five graduate programs created through a historic gift by the late Hallie Ford.
The summer is heating up, and the Northwest branch of the
Multnomah County Library is going to be even hotter on June
26 for Opened Window: A Steaming Evening of Erotic Verse.
Presented by Verse in Person, poets Sterling Clark, Joaquín
López, Ross Robbins, Celina Wigle, and Dena Rash Guzmán
will share their sensual musings and lyrical fantasies for your
voyeuristic pleasure. The reading is free, open to all ages, and
runs 6 p.m.-7:45 p.m. at 2300 NW Thurman, Portland.
Need a push to get your creative output going? Check out the
How To Kickstart Your Art workshop presented by fine artist
and fashion designer Jessica R. Van Hulle at Catalyst Art Space
on June 27, 6:30 p.m.-7 p.m. Participants will be inspired to
take action, move through stagnation, create more artwork, and
try new methods of promotion such as social media and Kickstarter. Concurrent with the workshop, interestingly enough,
is the reception for Through the Aestherscope, a showcase of
Steampunk-inspired art and a live oil painting demonstration
by Van Hulle. For more information on Van Hulle’s free workshop, go to jessicavanhulle.com.
Hand2Mouth’s Drammy Award-winning show “My Mind
Is Like an Open Meadow” returns to Portland as part of CoHo
Theater’s Solo Summer Festival June 27-30. In 2001, Hand2Mouth ensemble member Erin Leddy lived with her grandmother, Sarah Braveman, for a year and recorded her memoirs.
Sarah worked as an actress in Boston, Manhattan, and upstate
New York from the 1930s until the 1990s, and the tapes Erin
recorded form the bones for this solo performance, a meditation on consciousness, memory, and things passed down
through generations. All shows start at 7:30 p.m.; for more
info and tickets, visit hand2mouththeatre.org.
Everyone raves about the warm sound of vinyl, but what
about the charms of cassettes? Tiny Hearts still digs them —
which is why they’re releasing their new EP “Nuthin’ Fits” in a
format that sometimes demands re-spooling with a ball-point
pen. The Dani Fish-fronted project will release their cassette
EP at a can’t-miss show on July 12 at the Langano Lounge; supporting the fabulous Fish will be deejay Alex Boyce, mandolin
SUMMER TRAINOR LLP
“The Secret Portal” is amongst the works local photographer Holly Andres is presenting at
her show, The Homecoming, at Salem’s Melvin Henderson-Rubio Gallery through Aug. 4.
noise-punk outfit Havania Whaal, grumpy rockers The Mishaps, and out comedian Sisterbrittaney. What the hell else
could you possibly want? Show is free and starts at 9 p.m. —
but sorry, kids, it’s 21-and-over only. To find out more and hear
tracks from Tiny Hearts, go to Soundcloud.com/tiny-hearts.
Out singer-songwriter Melissa Ferrick comes to the Doug
Fir Lounge on July 21. Since 1994’s “Massive Blur,” Ferrick has
consistently thrilled critics and performers with her Liz Phairmeets-Morrissey sound and enigmatic stage persona. Tickets
are $15; doors open at 8 p.m. For tickets, go to DougFirLounge.
com; for more info on Ferrick, check out MelissaFerrick.com.
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THE GOOD LIFE
Cultivating Life
YOU SAY SALVIA, I
SAY SAGE: ONE BIG
HAPPY FAMILY
By LeAnn Locher
PQ Monthly
W hat can withstand neglect, needs
little water, produces gorgeous blooms
feeding hummingbirds, butterflies, and
bees, and is one of my favorite plants in
the garden? Bingo. It’s salvia. And with
over 900 species in the salvia genus of
the mint family, I have many to choose
from. The real question is, why do I only
have five?
The latest plant blooming last year, all
the way into December, was my Salvia
guarantica ‘Black and Blue.’ A pure drama
queen, its black stems and clary blue flowers fed the hummingbirds on Thanksgiving Day. The first perennials blooming this
year? Salvia microphylla ‘Hot Lips,’ again,
providing an all-you-can-eat buffet for the
hoards of hummingbirds bellying up to its
bar every evening.
When is it sage and when is it salvia?
Salvia is the Latin name, with sage being
the common name for when it’s used for
culinary purposes. Sage is a fragrant herb
that’s easy to grow in our climate as a perennial: mine faithfully come back year in and
year out, often producing throughout most
of the winter. Its lightly fuzzy leaves are an
indicator as to its watering needs: it doesn’t
need much, meaning it’s an easy-to-carefor plant, especially during our dry months.
But it’s the ornamental salvias that
shine in the garden. Four salvias are listed
as a Great Plant Pick (greatplantpicks.org),
always a good sign, meaning they are plants
hardy and reliable for home gardeners in
the maritime Northwest. One of them is
Salvia verticillata ‘Purple Rain’ and is found
in my garden, too. Bright plum flowers
blooming in summer, it’s large and
in charge, and how can I not conjure a little Prince and hum my personal high school anthem when it’s
in full bloom?
There’s even a hallucinogenic
salvia. I recently learned this thanks
to my other half, a police officer
working in the schools. When the
kids learned she grows salvia in
the garden, they couldn’t hold back
their wide-eyed shock, telling her
with mouths agape that she was
growing drugs. No, we’re not growing Salvia divinorum, but evidently
high schoolers know all about this
salvia. It’s native to Oaxaca, Mexico,
where it’s used by Mazatec shamans
to induce hallucinogenic visions —
and perhaps by high schoolers seeking cheap thrills.
Chia seeds? Yep, they’re salvia.
Salvia hispanica, to be exact. A darling on the natural foods circuit right
now, they’re high in antioxidants,
OMEGA-3 fatty acids, and fiber, even
though many people know them as
the seeds you sprinkle on the clay
figurine to grow green hair in your
kitchen window.
Salvias favor well-drained soil, not wet
boggy soil. They also like full sun. Have successful salvia that you love? Dig and divide
it in the spring, spreading pieces to different parts of the space or to share with fellow
garden nerds. Salvia makes a great passalong plant and is easy to transplant. Just
don’t tell a teenager you’re growing salvia
in your garden or they might freak out in
excitement. Look how cool you are.
LeAnn Locher is an OSU Extension Master Gardener and believes there’s always more room in the garden for
salvia. You can reach her at [email protected].
EAT, DRINK, AND, BE MARY
BITES FOR RIGHTS: A TASTY FUNDRAISER
By Brock Daniels
PQ Monthly
Last year over 100
restaurants, bars,
and eateries statewide participated in
one of the biggest fundraisers of the year
for LGBTQ equality — Bites for Rights. This
year, on June 20, Basic Rights Oregon (BRO)
encourages everyone to feast at any of the
participating venues for the 14th annual
fundraiser. A large portion of the daily proceeds from each of these generous establishments will be donated back to BRO. It
really is that easy! Get a group of friends,
check the Bites for Rights list, go out, have
fun, and enjoy.
Since the inception of Cupcake Jones
in 2007, owner Lisa
Watson has gone
above and beyond as
an ally for equal rights.
“Supporting Bites
for Rights is an easy
decision each year
because it’s a day that
helps raise awareness
of equality issues
all over the state of
O re g o n ,” Wa t s o n
explains.
S h e ’s b e i n g
modest. In addition
to donating a portion
of Cupcake Jones’
profits on June 20,
Watson established a
“Benefit Month Program,” where a percentage of their entire
monthly sales goes to
a special local organization, with BRO serving as their annual
June choice to highlight awareness for
equality. Every sale and every little morsel
eaten this month will directly support our
cause.
Watson has a “long and very involved
relationship with [BRO],” she says. “I’ve
been on the auction committee, I’ve volunteered phone banking, we’ve donated
probably thousands of cupcakes for BRO
events, and I am currently a member of
BRO’s Business Leaders Council. We’ve even
incorporated the issue of equality into our
guiding principles for our business, stating,
‘We treat everyone with equality.’”
A leader in her own right and role model
for equality, Watson and the entire gang at
Cupcake Jones set the gold standard for
support.
Committed to buying local whenever
possible, local flowers, fruit, and ingredients are the cornerstone of the Cupcake
Jones mission. Soft, delicate, and almost
cloud-like — biting down into a perfectly-frosted and -decorated cupcake proves
Cupcake Jones is top notch. June is not complete without a bite of the menu main-stay,
the Lemoncello. Tender lemon cake is filled
with their famous lemoncello lemon curd
pastry cream and topped with lemon cream
cheese icing, with more of that lemon curd
on top. Not over the top sweet (but perfectly sweet as every cupcake should be),
the bold summer citrus hits your tongue
first, and balances flawlessly with the velvet
smooth frosting.
In addition to the Lemoncello, other
featured cupcakes for
the month of June,
all of which support
BRO, are the Pearl,
Downtown Cupcake
Brown, Chocolate
Chip Cookie, German
Chocolate, PB&J, Coco
Cabana, Velvet Painting, What’s Up Doc,
Peanut Butter Cup,
and Peter’s Chocolate
Mint — all of which
are an amazing treat
any time of day. Cupcakes are $3.75 for the
jumbo filled, and only
$1.50 for the mini —
a perfect addition to
any weekend BBQ,
a summer outdoor
wedding, or any Pride
event this month.
Call 503-222-4404 to
reserve your dozen(s).
With your help, we
can send a powerful
message to business owners that supporting LGBTQ equality is not only the right
thing to do, but it’s good for business, too!
By dining out all day long, YOU can help
sustain BRO’s efforts in transgender justice, racial justice, and marriage equality.
June 20 is our day! Eat, eat, eat!
Cupcake Jones
307 NW 10th Ave. Portland, Oregon 97209
503-222-4404
cupcakejones.net
Basic Rights Oregon’s Bites for Rights
Thursday, June 20, 2013
For more information call Joe LeBlanc at
503-222-6151, ext. 104.
Visit basicrights.org/bites-for-rights-participants/ for a complete list of participating establishments in your area.
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 FUN STUFF
QUEER APERTURE
Through his Queer Aperture project, photographer Jeffrey Horvitz has spent years documenting the LGBTQ
communities of Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, and Vancouver, B.C. He’s well aware that a picture paints a whole
mess of words, but here he offers a few actual words to better acquaint us with his dynamic subjects.
What is your name?
Allie McQueen
How long have you lived in
Portland?
Three years
When was the first time you
noticed that gayness existed?
When I was making out with boys
in elementary school.
What would you consider a guilty
pleasure?
White Zinfandel and Red Bull
You’re having a dinner party of
six; whom would you invite?
Britney Spears, Robyn, Christina
Aguilera, Iggy Azalea, and Joan Rivers
What would you consider a
perfect meal?
McDonald’s
What would be a perfect day off?
Spent at a spa
Favorite book?
“Go Ask Alice”
Favorite movie?
“Mean Girls”
Favorite word?
“like”
Favorite swear word?
“Bitch”
What is your profession?
By day I work retail at Charming
Charlie.
I f yo u c o u l d c h a n g e yo u r
profession with a snap of a finger,
what would you like to be?
Socialite
Whom would you like to meet,
dead or alive?
Britney Spears
Least favorite word?
“no”
For more Queer Aperture visit, queeraperture.com
Photo by Jeffrey Horvitz
ASTROSCOPES WITH MISS RENEE
Miss Renee aka Tarot Chick is an empath, tarot card reader, and spiritual astrologer of 20 years based out of N. Portland’s Kenton
neighborhood. She loves love notes so feel free to holla or schedule a tarot/astrology chart session: [email protected].
never before. Hopefully you’ve entered a new sense
of self and empowerment. Late June-July shifts focus
to improving/reworking finances, redefining values
system, planning out the timing of bold career moves,
and revamping/fine tuning your public image. Pant
Pant Pant!
Miss Renee aka Tarot Chick. Email her to make an apointment
CANCER
The world’s your mutha truckin’ oyster! You’re stronger/more talented/resilient than you knew as this
last year peeled off layers of your old self, revealing
ARIES
the most beautiful pearl. Jupiter (growth, good luck)
“Home” — where / how you’re living, family and
enters Cancer June 25 through 2014, lending you
finding inner stability — are themes for you now.
charisma and self-esteem/confidence. Late June
You may find your energy is focused on consciously
through July = balancing introversion/extroversion,
deciding how you’ll shape the next few years when
Mr./Ms. Popular.
it comes to planning, readjusting, and rooting down.
Soul-searching time. Late June brings personal and/ LEO
or significant other career ops.
Multiple planets in your 12th house (hidden/sub-
[email protected]
TAURUS
Tribe Taurus has been going through a “decluttering” phase for months. Personal values and friendship requirements shifted considerably. Do one last
big sweep to let go and wrap up loose ends. Late
June-summer 2014 opens opportunities in love
(hayyyy!) as well as in broadening your mind via
education, mentoring, writing/speaking, growing
hobbies, and artistic pursuits.
GEMINI
2012 to now has been an inner growth spurt like
pqmonthly.com
conscious) says look at what you NEED: to feel
healthier, have better relationships, feel loved.
For fiery Leo this early summer introspection may
seem like the worst timing, but doing this work
now = amazeballs summer later! Start shopping
now as Venus entering Leo June 28-July 23 =
star power!
VIRGO
Multiple planets in your 11th house (Dreams/Goals/
Community) ask you to put your ALL into sorting
and achieving your long term goals now. Social
CAPRICORN
2012 to present has asked Cappies to get FREE. Planetary aspects in your 1st house (Identity/Persona/
Body), 3rd house (Communication, Mental Processing), and 7th house (Relationships) reveal that studying how you think and erasing/rerecording old beliefs
LIBRA
can free you up to 1) express yourself more truly, 2)
Balancing home, health, and work are themes now. clarify your persona, and 3) create loving partnerYou may find yourself looking at your career path in ships. #FreeYourMind
a new light as you see how your job does/doesn’t
nourish you, how small changes in day to day living AQUARIUS
make your job/life easier, as well as researching new Planetary action in your 2nd house (Finances/Values)
job training/health regimens. Regroup, love!
and 6th house (Work/Health) asks you to consider
either taking further training in your career or shiftSCORPIO
ing/switching your career path to be better aligned
The planets has Tribe Scorpio either thinkin’ ‘bout with your financial needs, who you are, and where
hittin’ dem books this year, or pondering how to utilize you’re going. You may find yourself valuing a healththe education/wisdom/experience gained over a life- ier lifestyle/more consistent habits. #LifeBrazilliantime. Either way mental and educational stagnation Wax
is OUT. Planetary action in your 5th house (Romance,
Creativity, Children) may stir up old yearnings there, PISCES
bringing them to your conscious mind. #nextlevel
Your ruler Neptune retrogrades June 7-Nov. 14.
Retrogrades = review periods and this one hapSAGITTARIUS
pens in your 1st house (Identity/Persona/Body).
Independent Saggs will find themselves exploring You’ll be reviewing Identity — how you see yourcore intimacy needs while balancing what’s yours, self/present yourself to the world. Other aspects
what’s mine, and where the line is. Planetary action show surrendering to artistic/romantic/child planinspires you to get personal, real, and deep with a ning urges/interests can path the way to self-dischosen few. To get your home in order and chose to covery. Break boxes.
truly be present, root, stabilize. Tell the truth about
what you “need.” #BlissBombs
circle shifts become crystal clear as some friendships/groups/goals fade/get cut and new friendship/group/goal requirements rise. Virgo’s consistently show up for people, your friends/groups
should too. #whip!
Business Directory
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503.775.4755
LMT#11142
INSURANCE
Integrating Swedish,
deep tissue and
stretching for a
truly great massage
experience.
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COUNSELING
GLBTCOUNSELING.COM
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eDIRECTORY
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PSYCHIC MEDIUM
HAD A CAR
ACCIDENT?
WE CAN HELP.
MORTGAGE
Did you know that your car insurance’s.
Personal Injury Protection coverage (PIP)
will cover treatment for your injuries?
MORTGAGE
Are you experiencing any
of the following?
REAL ESTATE
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FEATURES AND
MORE!
•Whip Lash or
neck pain
• Difficulty turning
your head in any
direction?
• Headaches that
won’t go away
• Tender to the
touch in specific
areas
• Difficulty Walking
• Feeling confused
• Anxiety
• Forgetfulness
• Low back pain
YOU DON’T HAVE TO LIVE WITH PAIN!
PQ PRESS PARTY!
We will work with your
insurance company.
Insurance rules limit the amount of time before you can
file a claim. For best results — come in for treatment after
your car accident as soon as possible.
Call for an appointment today.
An auto accident can tear and stretch ligaments and
muscles that support the spine; weakening structural
integrity of the spinal column. Untreated, it may lead to
Osteoarthritis of and/or Degenerative Disc Disease years
afterward. My 15 years experience with these injuries will
help you.
• June 13, 2013, 5P.M.-7 P.M. :VENDETTA
Next up
in July: Starky’s
• July 18, 2013, 5P.M.-7 P.M.
STARKY’S (2913 SE Stark St, Portland, OR 97214)
Dr. Kimberly DeAlto
Chiropractic
Physician Chirocentric
503-430-7371
12620 SW 3rd St..,
Beaverton, OR 97005
[email protected]
www.chirocentric.net
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with the diverse populations of
Oregon and SW Washington
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your guide lgbtq equality

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