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PQMONTHLY.COM Vol. 3 No. 6 June-July 2014
INSIDE: Complete Pride 2014 Coverage, Oregon’s Big Marriage Win (and the Folks Behind it), Queers in the Military, Johnny Scruff, the Secret Life of Summer Seasons, Columns, and Much More!
PHOTO BY ERIC SELLERS
MONTHLY
2 • June/July 2014
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PQ TEAM Melanie Davis
Owner/Publisher melanie@pqmonthly.com
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“QUEER IS A CULTURE, QUEER IS A HISTORICAL LEGACY” Those words, written by one of our favorite guest columnists, were published in our pages last month, and I can’t think of a better sentiment for everyone as we go full-steam-ahead into Pride season. And as we think about our culture, our legacy, we have much to celebrate. We won marriage equality last month — and we were the first state in the country to not have to live through a stay of our ruling (though with all we’ve been through, one could argue we certainly deserved it). We continue the fight against HIV/AIDS. Efforts around racial justice, immigration reform, trans justice, and economic justice — very important lived equality pieces — are ramping up, as they should. The list goes on. One rather unfortunate development, though, was a local publication taking aim at one of our community’s leaders, Terry Bean, founder of HRC and lifelong champion of all things fair and equal. And it’s not lost on our community that this publication decided to do so as they simultaneously printed our community’s official Pride Guide. (Pride NW has since pulled the Pride Guide and will now self-publish.) The story, ostensibly about Terry’s recent breakup, was short on facts and heavy on innuendo and “he said, he said” fodder. In a moment, Terry’s personal life and heartbreak were splashed all over the cover of a newspaper, for all the city to see. I searched for a reason: What law was broken? Was there public money somehow mishandled? Did Terry abuse his position and power at HRC, or his relationship with President Obama? Aside from a vague, unsubstantiated claim about possible video cameras in Terry’s own residence, I came up empty. I am fairly certain few of us would survive a “scandal” that revealed our most intimate, private romantic moments to an entire city. I know I wouldn’t. More importantly: Who cares? Your bedroom, your choice. So I’m left with some rather disturbing conclusions: We’re meant to be appalled about Terry’s dating choices; we’re meant to think people his age shouldn’t have sex lives; we’re meant to think someone being kind, gen-
erous, and loving automatically means they have sordid ulterior motives; we realize there’s no such thing as privacy. And, perhaps most sadly, straight, suburban masses are meant to be mortified when a complicated queer relationship is deconstructed in painstaking detail. Look at that older man with that younger guy. What is he up to? An open relationship? The scandal! I’ll tell you what he was up to: Loving his partner, and making personal, private choices with another consenting adult. I don’t know Terry terribly We continue the fight against HIV/AIDS. Efforts around racial well, but I do know many, many justice, immigration reform, trans justice, and economic people who do. People I respect. justice — very important lived equality pieces — are ramping People who are leaders in our up, as they should. city and our community — and country. Terry has, as one friend put it, “done more for the national LGBTQ movement than anyone I can think of.” He’s a man who’s dedicated his life to social change and making the world a better place; he is, according to countless sources, a kind and loyal friend, an endlessly caring, generous soul. We, as a community, know one story won’t change all that. His lifelong fight — for us — will be what defines his legacy. Because they already have. The real question about legacy here is: What’s yours?
--Daniel Borgen, Editor; Melanie Davis, Publisher
A SMATTERING OF WHAT YOU’LL FIND INSIDE:
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ON THE COVER
Your Pride 2014 Event Roundup.............................................................................. Page 5
Oscar Foster
After a Decade-Long Hiatus, Peacock in the Park Returns!................................ Page 6
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Queer Military Service Members on Life Post-DADT............................................. Page 9
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Director of Video Productions
PFLAG Portland Black Chapter............................................................................... Page 14
contributing writers TJ Acena, Ben Burwitz, Belinda Carroll, Marco Davis, Gula Delgatto, Andrew Edwards, Leela Ginelle, Kim Hoffman, Shaley Howard, Konrad Juengling, Richard Jones, LeAnn Locher, Monika MHz, Miss Renee, Katey Pants, and, of course, your PQ Editorial Team
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“The Normal Heart” and its Place in Queer Film History...................................... Page 18 Style Deconstructed: Sarah Dee........................................................................... Page 22 PHOTO BY ERIC SELLERS
Our inspiration for this month’s cover was all things Peacock in the Park. Choosing to shoot in-studio, Eric Sellers captured the spirit of Pride and nostalgia from our big gay past. On the cover, from left: the divine Alexis Campbell Starr (whose Pride events you’ll find in our pages), and Peacock legends Poison Waters and Maria Peters Lake. Photo, styling, and design by Eric Sellers.
Paul Rummell and Ben West Reflect on Marriage Equality’s Big Win................. Page 25 Lake Perriguey, the “Evangelist” Lawyer with One Big Vision.............................. Page 26 Queers, Addiction, and Mental Health................................................................. Page 41
Plus: Jason Stuart, The Secret Life of Summer Seasons, Trans Justice, Reproductive Rights and LGBTQ Rights,
a Big Gay Marriage Timeline, The Lady Chronicles, Everything is Connected, ID Check, Whiskey & Sympathy, The Bi Line, and Much More! Something you want to see in our pages? Email Daniel@PQMonthly.com June/July 2014 • 3
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PRIDE 2014:
THE LIST Compiled by Daniel Borgen, PQ Monthly
THURSDAY, JUNE 12
PQ Monthly Press Party: Mix and mingle with the makers of your favorite queer newspaper—writers, artists, this party has it all. This goes down Pride Thursday. You’ll never know who you’ll gaze at from across the room, maybe it’s your new soul mate. This month: Vendetta. 5pm-7pm(ish), 4306 N. Williams. Queer Heroes Kickoff Party: Queer Heroes NW is a project of Q Center and Gay & Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest (GLAPN). They honor a Queer Hero for every day in June – 30 in all – as part of their celebration of Pride. Our community nominates the heroes – living or dead, representing every color of our rainbow, from every corner of our region. A committee made up of former Queer Heroes honorees and LGBTQ community members make the final selections. 5pm, Q Center, 4115 N. Mississippi. Queerlandia: Carla Rossi’s “Gays of Future Past,” this is the kind of social you can really get behind. There’s mixing, there’s mingling, there’s dancing, there’s drag — party architects manage to cram everything you love about queer Portland and put it under one roof. (And proceeds benefit Bradley Angle House!) Shitney Houston, Liza with a J, Melody Awesomazing, Seattle’s Riff-Raff, Sappho, Serendipity Jones, an arts and crafts market, Hold My Hand, Orographic, Huf ‘N Stuf. 9pm, Embers, 110 NW Broadway. $10.
FRIDAY, JUNE 13
Queer Lit Happy Hour: Join some of the Northwest’s top LGBTQ writers and publishers for this one-of-a-kind happy hour. Featuring Tom Spanbauer, Lidia Yuknavitch, Carter Sickels, A.M. O’Malley, Cathy Camper, Chloe Eudaly, Michael Sage Ricci. Come early to mix and mingle with hosted appetizers and free beer to the first 100 people in the door. Door prizes from Reading Frenzy, Tom Spanbauer, Sage-Ink Custom Tattoo and more TBA. 5pm, Free, Bridgeport Brewing Company’s Heritage Room, 1318 NW Northrup. Poison Waters and Friends Happy Hour Show: Poison Waters & Friends are back in Al’s Den for one of their notorious Happy Hour shows. Come cheer on guests Kourtni Capree Duv, Ambrosia Schock, and Eugene’s Diva-Simone Slaughter. The theme is Pride, clearly. Bring your friends and get ready for a fast and friendly, fun, and funny Happy Hour experience. No cover. 5:30pm, Al’s Den, 303 SW 12th. Pablito’s Pride Kick-Off Party. “Come to my big gay art show at The Central Hotel, St Johns. There will be an art raffle for one of my original illustrations and plenty of cheeky art for you to enjoy! Saints of Basswill also be providing the music later that evening, so come shake your culo with me.” 7pm, The Central Hotel, 8608 N. Lombard. Taking Pride on Stark (through Sunday). The last of the Pink Triangle stands proud and tall, and aims to entertain you all weekend long. Caravan of Glam, Deejay Robb, Miss Mylar, Pindar 3, Saturday Night Orphans, and much more. Cover is typically $5 before 7pm, and $10 after. Proceeds benefit Cascade AIDS Project and Peacock Productions (Audria M. Edwards Scholarship Fund). Scandals, 1125 SW Stark. Twerk, Pride Edition. DJs ILL Camino and II Trill — special guests Beyonda and Troubled Youth. Keywords: Bring your twerk. The city’s longest-running queer hip hop/R&B party--where artists, deejays, performers come to mix, mingle, and move on the dance floor. Established fun, all night long. 9pm, Local Lounge, 3536 NE MLK. $5. Bearracuda, Portland Pride Edition: Also marks the party’s 5 year anniversary in Portland, and their last night at Branx/Rotture. Hifi Sean, Matt Stands, this party really pqmonthly.com
needs no introduction. 9pm, Branx, 320 SE Second. $5/$7 Royale’s Pride Latino Night: Dance to the hottest Latin Pop hits & Remixes, Cumbias, Reggaeton, Bachata, Banda, Merengue, Duranguense and more. Special host and performances by Kelly Johanna. 9pm, Royale, 317 NW Broadway. Second Annual “Extravaganza” Vogue Ball, brought to you by Alexis Campbell Starr and Shiny Presents. Children of Portland, assemble your houses. Strike a pose and bring back your girls. It’s time for a traditional vogue ball. Celebrity judges: Heklina Heklina, Poison Waters, Madame DuMoore. A portion of ticket sales go to Cascade AIDS project. Doors 9pm, performances 10pm, category call time 11:30pm. Rotture, 315 SE Third. $10 advance, $15 at the door. Laid Out and Gaycation have a Gayby. #NSFW is gonna be a wild night of dancing and general debauchery open to all of Portland’s beautiful queer people. To make sure everybody feels welcome, the promoters are keeping the cover to a low $5. This isn’t a party for a select few — they want to see everybody celebrating the beauty of collective pride. Deep breath: Georgia Ray Babycakes, Gossip Cat, Mr. Charming, Misti Miller, Bruce LaBruiser, and Pony’s KKost (Seattle). 9pm, Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison. $5.
SATURDAY, JUNE 14
Crush Pride Equity Brunch! Help support Equity Foundation by having brunch at Crush! Our friends at Crush have generously offered Equity 10% of their brunch proceeds on Saturday of Pride Weekend. Before you head down to the Pride Festival, have some Brunch and support their work. Want more information on Equity? Visit www.EquityFoundation.org. Noon-3pm, Crush, 1400 SE Morrison. The First-Ever Trans March: This is Portland’s first official Trans* Pride March at the Pride Festival, as a part of Pride weekend. “Get your highest heels on, and your heaviest boots, but you don’t need to have either. Come as you are, as we showcase our glorious splendor of gender diversity, at this year’s first official Trans* Pride March event, sponsored by Pride NW, partnered with you.” 11:30am, downtown. Look for “pdxtranspride” on Facebook. Portland Dyke March (20th anniversary): Long long ago, in 1994, several Portland Lesbian Avengers—lezzies, bulldykes, femmes, and transfolk got together to replicate an event that happened at the March on Washington in 1993—the Dyke March. It’s been 20 years. And a lot of things have changed. We’re shedding labels, and identifying in new and different ways, but Dyke March is hugely important to queer and dyke visibility.1pm, North Park Blocks. Pride Festival at Waterfront Park. Main stage, entertainers, booths, and gays galore. Opens at noon both Saturday and Sunday. http://pridenw.org/ for details. Gayme of Thrones. You either win, or you sashay away. In the 3rd installment of the annual Pride Photo Scavenger Hunt, you and your noble (or trashy) house of 4-5 people will band together as you race across our great city completing tasks, challenges, and feats of bravery (all to be captured on your cellular device) in an al- out war (of fabulousness) as you compete for the crown and everlasting glory. Proceeds benefit Equity Foundation. (Teams do not need to be organized ahead of time, and you don’t actually have to know Game of Thrones to play and win.) 1pm, Royale, 317 NW Broadway. Inferno’s Pride Dance Party. Ladies Night! Their Portland and Seattle gogos will be amping the dance floor and stage throughout the evening. This event is open to the entire LGBT community! Partial proceeds to benefit Pride NW. Dancers, performers, everything. 6pm, Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside. $16. Blow Pony’s Seventh Annual Queer Mutiny. This marks the Pony’s seventh Pride — it started off as Gay Bash back in 2007. Expect lots of queer diversity, dancing, bonding, history, and unity on the dance floors. Deviants, bents, pervs,
PRIDE and more with an agenda to dance, celebrate, be sexual, love, and enjoy the homosexual lifestyle. SSION, Double Duchess, Glitterbang — for starters. Jens Irish, Airick X, Stormy Roxx, Kasio Smashio keep you moving. 9pm, Rotture, 315 SE Third. $8 before 10pm, $10 after. Control Top, Pride Edition: Control Top is a queer experience; this quarterly dance party blends skillful music, stunning visuals, and photography with lots of hot queers you’re dying to hook up with. Katey Pants (Roy G Biv) has long provided sweaty bodies, rad outfits, and nasty fun. Hosted by Chanticleer Tru, featuring Rye Rye (Baltimore) and Bomb Ass Pussy, and music by Ms. Biv, Nark (Seattle), Mr. Sister, and Gossip Cat. 9pm, White Owl Social Club, 1308 SE Eighth. $12 advance, $15 door. Stranger Tickets. Gaylabration: Going into its fourth year, Gaylabration just gets bigger and better! DJ Tristan Jaxx and Lasers by Laseronics! Gaylabration is an annual dance party and fundraiser that takes Pride in celebrating the diversity of love and relationships in our community. A portion of the proceeds will support the fulfillment of the Pride NW core mission. 10pm, Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside. Tickets at etix. Mrs.: Tom of Finland. The queen of theme. Leather/ sailor/uniform/pecs, special performance by DieAna Dae, hostess Pepper Pepper, deejays Beyonda and Ill Camino. 10pm, Mississippi Studios, 3939 N. Mississippi. $5.
SUNDAY JUNE 15 (AFTER THE PARADE) (DISCO NAPS)
The Pride Parade: Get up early and get out to see your community in all its splendor. The parade makes its way through the Pearl and Old Town before ending at Waterfront Park. I am very sorry if you didn’t get your shit together and buy tickets to A Big Gay Boat Ride. Because I can say with all the certainty: you are missing out. Bianca Del Rio! Bianca! Stand at the waterfront and watch for me, I’ll be holding her in my arms and waving at you. Look for the Portland Spirit. Very Best, Daniel Superstar Divas, Pride Edition! Bolivia Carmichaels, Honey Bea Hart, Topaz Crawford, Isaiah Tillman, and guest stars perform your favorite pop, Broadway, and country hits. Dance floor opens after the show. The Drag Queen Hunger Games are over, and the shows must go on! Check out the newest and freshest Diva hits. 8pm, CC Slaughters, 219 NW Davis. Free. #Grannytrigger featuring Bianca Del Rio. Bianca is taking over Sunday. Think Tabitha Takes Over, but better. Plus the beautiful Madame DuMoore hosts. Don’t ask questions, it’s Pride. Just do it. Two floors, hot deejays, go-go dancers, drag queens, and dancing. Deejays Jakob Jay, Monika MHz, Pavone (Seattle, Bottom 40), Art of Hot. Jackie Daniels Interior Delusions VIP lounge. 8pm, Branx, 320 SE Second. $15 GA, $40 VIP (includes meet and greet), Stranger Tickets. Dickslap! Featuring Adore Delano. A let loose scenario for boys and girls and more boys — a wonderland full of free beard rubs, slick hands and magical dancing gogo men, where the whiskey shots go down easy and the sounds of the discotheque parade around and intoxicate you until you finally wake up from the dream, potentially next to someone you don’t remember. Got it? Carla Rossi, Shitney Houston, Roy G Biv, Nark, Jens Irish, etc. etc. And Adore! The queen of cute. 9pm, Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison. $12. Stranger Tickets. If your plans do not involve one of the specialty parties, please remember to support queer-owned business this Pride season—and bars! CCs and Silverado will be ready and open for business all Pride long. Also coming up: Vancouver’s Saturday in the Park in July. (We’ll have many more Pride listings online.) Watch for outof-area Prides and festivals! We print previews and a weekly forecast each and every week. June/July 2014 • 5
PRIDE
AFTER A DECADE-LONG HIATUS, PEACOCK RETURNS! has told us how much they missed the park show, and we finally decided that it really needed to come back. And we worked on making it a financially viable option.” And it wouldn’t be Peacock without memories galore, and PQ mined Poison Waters’ past for some doozies. “The one of only 3 years it rained — out of all 18 — it was a crazy deluge and every entertainer was in it to win it, splashing around onstage like it was nothing,” Waters remembers. “The crowd brought me to tears — I looked out at thousands of umbrellas in every color with smiling faces underneath — they would not be deterred by that damn rain. It was glorious. Very wet, but glorious.” She continues: “Bobbi Callicoate was a fabulous entertainer who traveled the world and lived in the room bearing his name in Darcelle’s home whenever he was in Portland. He was available one year during Peacock, and was a hit as Flip Wilson’s Geraldine — in an emerald green Playboy Bunny outfit. He always blew me away with his talent. I remember he sang, ‘All of Me’ live on the mic after his act and invited everyone to his 50th birthday party. I remember his performance and remember foolishly thinking back then, ‘Wow! 50? That’s old.’ I wish all my friends had lived to be the age I am now.” Peacock is community, it is celebration, but it is also a fundraiser, as money goes to the Audria M. Edwards scholarship fund, which helps LGBTQ kids pay for college. “One of my all-time favorite memories — out of all the fabulous costumes members of the Peacock audiBy Daniel Borgen, PQ Monthly Poison Waters, a Park staple, says definitively. “Peacock ence created and wore — and there were many — was when was a favorite of the Parks Bureau as well as the neighbor- a local performance artist dressed as an extraordinarily Picture it: 1994, Portland, Oregon. It’s a sunny June hood. Sure, there were the rare ill-mannered attendees or tall, sexy clown in high heels. To avoid aerating the grass, afternoon, and you’re sitting on a blanket in Washington the easily irritated homeowner, but the majority of the 18 she had her little assistant dressed as a mini clown laying Park, surrounded by a close-knit group of friends. You’ve years went literally without disturbance or incident.” And, and picking up and relaying parquet flooring square tiles packed a picnic lunch, you’re sipping all manner of bever- to Waters, Peacock’s return is so important. in front of her as she walked through the entire park. It was age, and you’re surrounded by hundreds of queers — drag “To me, the most important thing about Peacock — fabulously Portland and perfectly Peacock.” queens, butches, femmes, short shorts, costumes galore; I grew up with it, but I was once a shy, closeted gay kid “I still remember the last year Lady Elaine Peacock everyone’s reveling in a relaxed state of community. You — is visibility and community,” she continues. “It gives hosted the show,” adds Maria Peters Lake. “It was magical. can’t wait to see who takes the stage next. Will it be Poison people a place to gather and feel accepted and loved. Over It rained that year, but the clouds would dry up every single Waters? Monica Boulevard? It doesn’t really matter — on the years, for me and you time she came on stage.” the stage is a nonstop barrage of big gay fun, one number and multitudes of others, the “My first year hosting after another, sprinkled with witty banter and commen- overwhelming sense of comthe show, I was so nervous,” tary. You’re tired of the Oregon Citizens Alliance and their munity became vital. As a Peters Lake continues. “I was nasty ad campaigns; you just want a place to sit, socialize, spotlight-hungry baby drag scared to death that the crowd flirt, and simply be — without the societal pressures that queen at the fourth Peacock, would not accept me or they’d come with being out and proud. I was like, ‘Hey, look at me, I’m think I was trying to replace To anyone who’s lived in this city for any amount of here!’ and well before the 18th Lady Elaine, but I was overtime, that, in a nutshell, was Peacock in the Park, one of and final one I was—from my joyed — they were all so loving the city’s most revered and treasured institutions. In 1987, heart and soul—sincerely, and accepting. Last SeptemLady Elaine Peacock, local entrepreneur and drag icon, ‘Hey, look at you! You’re all ber, when we premiered the dreamed of producing a drag-style show in the amphithe- here. We are here, together.’ Peacock in the Park teaser ater of our city’s world-famous rose gardens in Washing- Also, it’s with such a sense of video, the crowd erupted with ton Park. After consulting with local weathermen, who told honor and privilege that we thunderous, overwhelming her the last Sunday in June was historically the driest day are allowed to carry on in the applause. I knew right then of the year, Lady Peacock and her lover, Ray, purchased a name of Peacock in the Park’s bringing Peacock in the Park $5 permit from the Portland Parks and Recreation Bureau. creator, Lady Elaine Peacock, back was the right decision.” The first Peacock and the Roses show was held on that last and his partner, Ray, mother Welcome back. You’ve Sunday in June 1987. Those who were there say the crowd Audria, sister Mary, and all been sorely missed. was thin but energetic — Lady Peacock and company their countless friends. That Here are the details (and strutted their stuff in the park for all the city to see. There fact does not go without rules): Admission is free, but were no sets, no booths, no flyers — just friends who got pause or notice throughout remember this is a fundraiser, together to make history. our annual experience.” so bring a cash donation. Park And, after a much-too-long-in-my-opinion hiatus (10 Peacock is community, it opens at 7:30am, Picnic and years), Peacock in the Park is back — to make new his- is celebration, but it is also a music begins at noon. The tory, to shepherd new queers, and to fill what feels like fundraiser, as money goes to show begins at 2:30. No alcoan ever-growing chasm in our community. Where do we the Audria M. Edwards scholhol will be served or sold; you all assemble and celebrate our diversity? Peacock is part arship fund, which helps are welcome to bring your own Queens, from left: Maria Peters Lake, Poison Waters, and the exquisite Alexis Campbell of that answer. And yes, rumors of its initial demise are LGBTQ kids pay for college. beer or wine, but absolutely no Starr (read more about Starr’s events on page 5 and page 29). greatly exaggerated — there were no disputes with the “We first stopped because the hard alcohol is permitted. All neighborhood or city officials or residents chasing the gay expense was getting to be too great and folks forgot it was seating is first-come, first-serve — bring chairs and blanout of the park. a fundraiser,” Maria Peters Lake, President of Peacock Pro- kets. For more information, go to http://www.peacockin“Was it stopped ten years ago because the neighbor- ductions, tells PQ. “They loved the party but forgot the thepark.org/. Peacock in the Park is held at the Washington hood association didn’t like the ruckus? Absolutely not.” reason for the party. However, the last 10 years, everyone Park amphitheater. 6 • June/July 2014
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PRIDE
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FEATURE NEWS
PRIDE
SHIFTING MILITARY CULTURE: “IT’S IMPORTANT FOR OUR GENERATION TO RISE IN THE RANKS”
“I [had] a top-secret security clearance, but I [had] to lie about my sexual orientation and that’s complete and utter bullshit,” says Eric Zimmerman (pictured above), who joined the military in 2003 and rose in the ranks during his tour in Iraq, where he became First Lieutenant. By Kim Hoffman, PQ Monthly
Since the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, LGBT military service members reflect on where we are now, and where we have to go. It was 2009 and I was dating a girl for the first time. She was based overseas in South Korea with the army, and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell had yet to be repealed. Even though I lived in Seattle, a liberal, queer-minded city, there were no support groups for people like me—partners and spouses of gay and lesbian military members. Never mind the emotional trip anyone with a loved one in the military faces every day: life and death scattered across quick phone calls and letters home, cryptic explanations of their missions—there’s also the matter of what we can and should ask and tell. In the thick of political, social and cultural changes lay a contradiction of military principles: How could service members serve their country, lead platoons of soldiers, stand behind a military oath, and earn trust and respect from one another while remaining in the closet? ERIC ZIMMERMAN “I [had] a top-secret security clearance, but I [had] to lie about my sexual orientation and that’s complete and utter bullshit,” says Eric Zimmerman, who joined the military in 2003 and rose in the ranks during his tour in Iraq, where he became First Lieutenant. “Before I was the gay officer, I was just good at what I’ve done. When we had our platoon over-
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seas and people got blown up, no one cared if the lieutenant was gay or straight, they cared about if he did a good job.” As a captain and a commanding officer, Zimmerman says it was personally important to live openly. “Knowing I had young gay and lesbian soldiers working for me, it was really important to not be a rumor, it was really important to not be living a false life, and it was important to my partner not to ask him to be shooed away or closeted, with respect to my work life,” he says. “Soldiers respect realness. They expect it and respect it. It’s the ultimate job. They know when I’m lying, and they knew it before. Not having to do that is tremendously powerful.” At the threshold of DADT’s repeal in 2010, Zimmerman and his then-partner were one of the first to be recognized in a traditional military change of command ceremony in Oregon. To him, it meant total acknowledgment could become a reality for queer service members. Now, post-DADT represents a state of restoration for those who were dishonorably discharged from the service because of their sexual preference. Integral to this restoration will be equal access for LGBT service and family members to the resources for active members, veterans, and their families that are already in place. It’s important to normalize what we’ve previously been so separated from, Zimmerman says, beyond simply creating separate resources and organizations for LGBT families and service members. Still, as Zimmerman recalls the private who wished him a “happy Pride,” and the vacations shared with queer service members from around the world, he believes the real
minority today are the service members who oppose working alongside those of different sexual preference or skin color. “[The end of DADT] helped people like myself, and it’s also helped straight allies—there are more straight allies in the military than not. It’s allowed them to form their opinion, versus having to be concerned about a witch-hunt or being lumped in with something they didn’t want to be lumped in with,” says Zimmerman. “Ten years ago, there wasn’t a lot of room where you had that courage to tell a soldier to shut the hell up. But today somebody can have that a little bit— there’s more cover. Today the policy supports diverse schools of thought and diverse people. And that’s really helped a lot of people find their voice and their confidence.”
NATHANIEL BOEHME To Nathaniel Boehme, there’s still a long way to go. “Even though gay, lesbian and bisexual military members can no longer be discharged because of their sexuality, it doesn’t establish it as a protected category. It also does nothing to change the culture of the military,” says Boehme, who began his career at Hill Air Force Base in Utah with the 419th Fighter Wing, an Air Force Reserve unit. “While there are quite a few units I’ve served with where I could’ve felt comfortable coming out to them, for the most part the military is still very hyper-masculine, and because of that, anti-gay.” Boehme also points out that the military does not protect transgender people who serve. Boehme, whose grandfather was one of the last Warrant Officers to be commissioned in the Force and whose father was a 38-year Air Force veteran, had a realization while studying at the University of Utah. “To all outward appearances I am a member of every single power majority that exists in the world today. Namely white, American, non-poor, non-disabled, male, heterosexual, educated, and so on,” says Boehme. “This unearned privilege followed me everywhere I went and I hated it. I could walk into a store and not fear being followed because of my skin color, or walk down a street late at night and not fear assault due to my sex.” With this notion in mind, he interviewed for and was selected as the 419th Fighter Wing’s new Equal Opportunity officer. “I was going to be commissioned and be the one that ensured the Wing fostered an environment free from discrimination, sexual harassment and other things that pull otherMILITARY CULTURE page 10
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FEATURE
MILITARY CULTURE Continued from page 9
wise good airmen down.” Suddenly, he was deselected, for which he cites then-in-place DADT as a possible reason. So, he moved to Portland and found a life-changing opportunity as the Veteran Services Program Manager at Transition Projects. “As a veteran who serves veterans, I can attest to the importance of veteran benefits. I think that veterans coming home today have a system that is better suited and poised to address many of the issues that arise from military service, especially in combat zones,” he says. “However, those benefits are built upon a massive disservice this nation did to its Vietnam veterans. We made those kids, 18 and 19 years old, go to a place few had heard of to fight for a reason nobody could tell them. Then, after years, when they came back, physically and emotionally scarred, we spat at them, called them baby killers, did nothing to address the things they’d suffered at the behest of our government. Many of the veterans I serve have situations they face today that are the direct result of how we treated them then.” For Boehme, serving veterans—many of whom are disabled, homeless, and mentally unwell, brings up hard feelings about equality campaigns that take aim primarily at marriage, while so many people go on suffering. “Why do they push so hard for marriage equality when queer youth and [queers] of color are so overrepresented in
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the ranks of the homeless and suicide rates? What about their struggles?” asks Boehme. “If their mission is to give voice to the voiceless, then focus on issues that don’t have so much money backing them and make a more lasting impact.” TYLER WARD Still, to service members like Tyler Ward, the future looks bright. Ward, who joined the Navy in 2008 and is still on active-duty in Washington state, came out at the age of 16 and performs as a drag queen and volunteers at a queer youth center in his spare time. “I abide by the guiding principles of honor, courage and commitment,” says Ward. Knowing he was entering military service at a turbulent time when he would have to hide part of his identity, Ward was prepared for a struggle. Instead, he was met with positivity. “The people I work with are not low-IQ, knuckle-dragging, women-hating people,” says Ward. “They are actually quite curious and compassionate individuals. Just like most humans.” As the soldiers say: “Hooah!” [The views expressed in this piece are the views of each individual person, with special regard and respect to the military organization as a whole] Resources: http://www.sldn.org/ http://www.militaryfamily.org/get-info/partners-parents-others/partners/resources.html http://vfhr.org/ http://militarypartners.org/ http://www.oregon.gov/odva/info/Pages/ stats.aspx
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NEWS PERSPECTIVES
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FEATURES
PEAK BEARD: JOHNNY SCRUFF ON SEX, STYLE, & TECHNOLOGY
By Nick Mattos, PQ Monthly
If you’re a gay man with a smart phone in the Portland area, it’s more than likely that you’ve given SCRUFF a try. The GPS-based gay men’s social app has accrued over five million users in five years, dramatically shifting the ways that gay men worldwide meet and date. PQ’s Nick Mattos chatted with 33-year-old SCRUFF co-founder Johnny Skandros — better known as Johnny Scruff — to find out how he sees his app changing the landscape of gay life and aesthetics; along the way, we also discovered that he definitely does not want to talk about the technological singularity. PQ Monthly: Technology such as SCRUFF has certainly changed the ways that gay men meet. How do you see technology changing the way that people experience desire? What sort of role do you see SCRUFF playing in that process?
Johnny Scruff: Technology has enabled gay men to make connections faster. Whether it’s for a hookup or something long lasting, SCRUFF has enabled gay men to connect with one another nearby and with the global gay community. SCRUFF has also helped guys “come out” of the closet faster and self-identify. Many guys live in remote areas where there is an absence of gay nightlife and SCRUFF provides them a place where they can chat and feel connected to one another. PQ: T h e o r i s t s s u c h a s Ray Kurzweil posit that we’re moving towards what they term a “technological singularity” — a moment when artificial intelligence will have progressed to the point of a greater-than-human intelligence, radically changing both civilization and human nature. As I mentioned before, it›s clear that tech such as SCRUFF has already participated in this by changing the ways that one culture (gay men) approaches a key aspect of human nature (connecting with one another). What are your thoughts on the theory of the technological singularity? JS: The technological singularity should be left to philosophers and technologists to discuss…. and Morgan Freeman! I agree that SCRUFF has certainly changed the ways that gay men connect with one another and that’s a great thing. More than ever, gay men can download SCRUFF and have access to a global gay community. From finding out where to go clubbing in a new city, to a SCRUFF wedding, SCRUFF can be useful in a variety of ways. Maybe in the future, you will be able to teleport to your hookup via SCRUFF! Oh and our members have continuously asked us to build that feature. PQ: Fair enough, but I have to point out another aspect of the technological singularity theory: As the capabilities of a hybrid human-artificial intelligence is intrinsically beyond a solely human comprehension, the technological singularity is an occurrence beyond which the course of human history is unpredictable or even unfath-
omable. We’ve seen this happening in a micro level in the queer community itself — after all, the idea of marriage equality being on the national stage would have been unfathomable just thirty years ago. Beyond apps like yours, how can you see technology potentially change reality for queer people? JS: I think about our LGBT brothers and sisters in other countries, especially in areas that aren’t as progressive as the United States. Technology such as SCRUFF has already helped bring a gay visibility and resource for many of those people. I can only hope that technology continues to help gay men feel connected to one another even more. PQ: Okay, fine, no more singularity questions. Next topic: There seems to be a bit of a “SCRUFF aesthetic” — hairy, bearded, perhaps a bit nerdy — that has seriously proliferated as a mainstream aesthetic recently. Why do you see this aesthetic being so popular amongst gay men right now? JS: Gay men have been wearing beards for decades. However, I think there is a movement against the overt representation of gay men in mainstream media over the past two decades. This image has primarily been a tan, hairless, fashion forward male. While this may represent some, it is not an accurate representation of the gay community. Also, SCRUFFy, hairy, and bearded men have a masculine aesthetic that I think many gay men find hot. So, we won’t see SCRUFF going away any time soon. PQ: There are places such as here in Portland where, no joke, three fourths of gay men have beards. Have we reached “peak beard?” JS: I like that term! There are similar places in NYC that reach “peak beard,” especially in Brooklyn. There can never be enough beard, so keep ‘em coming! PQ: In an era when things like the fight for marriage equality — which some claim is largely a fight to assimilate queer people into mainstream society — tend to suck up a lot of the oxygen in the discussion of queer identity, what do you see as the political role of gay sex? Is gay sex still as politically transgressive as it once was? JS: The fight for marriage equality is about equal rights and human rights. Visibility of gay sex in the media continues to help move the needle towards changing opinions and perceptions about our community. NFL Player Michael Sam kissing his boyfriend on national television was groundbreaking and hopefully we see more of this in the future. PQ: Alright. One more: if you had your druthers, what would be the next steps in queer society? What would you want to change in it, and what would you want to preserve? JS: I want our community to be kinder to one another. There are so many people already against the gay community, so we need to continue to stand together in our fight for global equality.
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FEATURE
PFLAG PORTLAND BLACK CHAPTER HOLDS FIFTH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
PFLAG Portland Black Chapter is the first PFLAG group in the nation specifically founded by and for the African American community. However, it is an inclusive group and its participants are diverse, with some of them being active in the local LGBTQ movement since the 1970s. By George T. Nicola and Khalil Edwards
An enthusiastic crowd gathered Saturday, April 26, for the PFLAG Portland Black Chapter (PPBC) Fifth Anniversary celebration. The event was held at the facilities of Self Enhancement Inc. in North Portland, and was filled with great performances, inspiring speakers, delicious food, and many memorable moments. The celebration was planned and conducted entirely by PPBC’s members and participants. Miss Gay Pride 2013, Alexis Campbell Starr, was the Mistress of Ceremonies for the evening and even took a moment to share her own personal story about what PFLAG has meant to her. Pioneer African American gay activist John Garlington began his keynote speech by calling into the room all of the African American LGBTQ icons, pioneers, and leaders whom we have lost that brought us to where we are today. The celebration included spoken word, guest speakers, soul stir-
ring musical performances and moving testimonies from PFLAG members sharing what has made PFLAG so meaningful and special for them. Keith Edwards, husband of PPBC co-founder Antoinette Edwards and father of the group’s coordinator Khalil Edwards, presented a lifetime achievement award to Portland African American lesbian activist Kathleen Saadat. It was her fourth lifetime achievement award to date. In the future, this award will be named for Kathleen. PFLAG stands for “Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays.” PPBC is one part of PFLAG Portland Oregon. PFLAG had its start in Portland in 1977 as Parents of Gays (POG). PFLAG now has 13 chapters in Oregon, many of them in small towns where they are sometimes the only organization advocating for equality based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The groups have helped parents accept their LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer) kids, and have worked effectively against bul-
lying. About half the participants today are allies, while the other half are LGBTQ, PFLAG Portland Black Chapter is the first PFLAG group in the nation specifically founded by and for the African American community. However, it is an inclusive group and its participants are diverse, with some of them being active in the local LGBTQ movement since the 1970s. Among other things, it has worked with the schools and with the broader Portland African American community to foster mutual support. The anniversary was an opportunity to celebrate the tremendous growth of the chapter in a short 5 years, which includes expanding its program to include Member Support; Portland Black Pride; Faith Outreach; Advocacy; Youth Outreach; and its Mini Grant Program. For information about upcoming Portland Black Pride events, see our calendar on page 27.
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WEDDING
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VOICES
THE TIME TO FIGHT FOR TRANSGENDER STUDENTS IS NOW
FEATURES
By Leela Ginelle, PQ Monthly
35% say the bullying escalated to physical harassment. 15%, or 1 in 6, report having left Public schools are, by and large, socially school to escape the treatment they expericonservative institutions. Schools work to enced, and, most troubling, 51% attempted keep students safe, and part of that means to end their own lives. establishing and enforcing rules in accorIt’s time to stop sitting idly by while this dance with commupopulation, perhaps nity standards. the most vulnerable In most commuin our community, is nities, this combivictimized and persenation of hierarchy cuted for simply being and neighborhood themselves. Advancoversight leads to a ing legislation guarde facto heteronoranteeing them equal mativity, stifling the status within their voices of LGBTQ stuschools, a basic right dents and adults. For unquestioned for so long conservative their cisgender peers, warnings about gay is both a fulfillment of and lesbian adults our obligation to each “recruiting” or “conother, and a chance ver ting” children to vocally assert the have gone unchalhumanity of lgbtq lenged, leaving many A measure like I’m proposing would likely engender a backlash, and children and adults LGBTQ teachers feel- I believe it’s one we should welcome, as it’s a chance to educate the in our educational ing unsafe being out public about gender identity. system. at work, for fear of We should not community or administrative backlash. allow our public school systems, where Their invisibility creates a vacuum for almost all people learn, grow and develop LGBTQ youth, who grow up surrounded by into adults, to be a place of fear or rejection for heterosexual teachers and administrators queer youth. Advising bullied, suicidal adofreely discussing their own families, and, lescents to hang on until college is no longer conversely, having no examples around a conscionable strategy. them of successful queer adults. The casual A measure like I’m proposing would likely homophobic and transphobic language engender a backlash, and I believe it’s one that proliferates teen culture, likewise, is we should welcome, as it’s a chance to edurarely if ever offset with any positive mes- cate the public about gender identity, and a sages within the curriculum, as, once again, chance once again to pit our humanity and educators fear introducing material some truth against our foes’ ignorance and hate. might find controversial. Children aren’t born bullies. Their incliThe LGBTQ activist community, per- nation to cruelly police one another’s haps consumed until recently with mar- gender expressions, a practice that harms riage equality, has done little to contest this. transgender youth most severely, but nearly While organizations like GLSEN and Trans- all students at one time or another, comes Active advocate admirably on these matters from our larger culture’s rigid, unexamined on a local level, organizations with bigger conservatism around this issue. It’s time we voices have not yet countered the prevailing fully voice our own beliefs and experiences attitudes, allowing the specter of religious or on the issue, telling people gender idenconservative backlash to linger, and leaving tity is a fundamental part of each person’s sexual and gender minorities within schools humanity, and gender expression, whether in an uneasy silence, as heteronormativ- it conforms to binary stereotypes or not, is ity reigns as an almost uncontested norm. an individual’s human right. A chance to alter this unacceptable status It should not be up to individual districts quo lies before us in the form of a statewide and administrators to decide whether transtransgender student inclusion bill, like the gender students can access the restrooms, one passed last year in California. locker rooms and athletic activities that Conditions for transgender students are align with their gender identities. Such almost unimaginable. According to statis- access, unquestioned for cisgender stutics from the National Center for Transgen- dents, should not be the source of embarder Equality, 78% of transgender students rassment, conflict, and sensational debate who were out while attending a k-12 public for trans students they too often are. school report having been bullied. Of those, TRANSGENDER STUDENTS page 21 pqmonthly.com
LIFE IS GOOD. ENJOY THE RIDE!
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FEATURES VOICES
“THE NORMAL HEART” WILL BREAK (AND INSPIRE) YOURS
By Daniel Borgen, PQ Monthly
(Spoiler alert) There’s a scene in the middle of the longawaited adaptation of Larry Kramer’s searing play, “The Normal Heart,” where Jim Parsons—a surprisingly excellent, somber, sassy Parsons—is eulogizing yet another dead friend. “We’re losing an entire generation, young men at their beginning, just gone. Choreographers, playwrights, dancers, actors. All those plays won’t get written now, all those dances never to be danced.” He continues: “Why are they letting us die? Why is no one helping us? And here’s the truth, here’s the answer. They just don’t like us.” “The Normal Heart” is part horror story, history lesson, romance, and civics lesson, so pardon it for its occasional heavy hands and loud, preachy monologues. And it shouldn’t be lost on us that we get to sit back, relax, and debate the merits of the film—because we’re not dropping like flies anymore. The Ryan Murphy-helmed flick (“Eat, Pray, Love,” “Glee,” “American Horror Story”), despite its occasional unevenness, is many things: difficult, beautiful, necessary, urgent, and inspiring. The film opens in 1981—on Fire Island— where the sexual revolution is in full effect, where our lead character, Ned Weeks (Kramer by another name), played by a solid Mark Ruffalo, surveys the scene, clearly uncomfortable with his peers’ sexual inhibitions. His friends are a bit miffed at him; he just wrote about how gay men are too preoccupied with sex, how they’ll never find love this way. Then, a persistent cough, a collapse, some inexplicable sarcomas, and the “gay cancer” spreads, decimating everyone in its path.
Enter Dr. Emma Brookner, an excellent Julia Roberts, who wants Ned to spread the word about the disease. She suspects but doesn’t know yet that it’s sexually transmitted. “Where’s this big mouth I hear you got?” she asks. “Is a big mouth a symptom?” he shoots back. “No, it’s a cure.” Moments later, the man who collapsed on Fire Island— Ned’s friend Craig, played by “Looking” standout Jonathan Groff—is rushed into Emma’s office, in the midst of an AIDS-related seizure. That’s where the film gets messy, Ned gets loud, and men start dying at an alarming rate. And though it certainly is messy, nothing about “The Normal Heart” feels terribly dated (except perhaps some poor costume choices by HBO). The film feels urgent and present—it feels now. It’s a tale of human beings and how they treat each other—the best and the worst of it. Kramer’s play is theater, but it is also protest; it is journalism; it is cutting cultural commentary. Kramer co-founded Gay Men’s Health Crisis in his living room—he aimed to raise money and awareness and battle a growing epidemic no one wanted to talk about. This movie feels like an extension of his mission, and it doesn’t give a shit if you approve of it; it only cares if you pay attention. The film dares pose the questions, “How many people had to die?” “Might this epidemic have been less horrific?” “What would have happened if public officials behaved like Ned?” Hindsight has given us those answers. As Ned battles with his confused, scared colleagues and peers (no one likes his in-your-face tactics) throughout the film, “The Normal Heart” recreates the horror and outrage of the early ‘80s, as society and establishment—and government—stood idly by as gay men died in droves, as the public shunned—and showed their aversion to—the sick. In the film, Ned wreaks havoc on the establishment, attempting to out NYC Mayor Koch, publicly accusing the government of murdering gay men, demanding his peers wake up and take action. “I’m trying to understand why no one gives a shit we’re dying!” he yells at his brother. We all know the answer. But the movie isn’t all bark. Early in the film, Weeks falls for New York Times reporter Felix Turner (an exquisite, heart-wrenching Matt Bomer), and it’s in this relationship we really learn what makes
Meeks tick. Sex has never been about love for him; he’s always felt inadequate; he tried to kill himself in college. Ned and Felix fall hard and fast, move in together, and, fairly quickly, Felix gets sick (you see it coming a mile away but you’re still horrified during the reveal), and the war gets even more personal. Matt Bomer is exceptional here; I’d argue his performance is the heart of the film. Felix bridges the gap between Ned and his allies. He embodies the struggle for acceptance we all face. “I’m supposed to use gloves, I’m supposed to do this, I’m supposed to do that, I’m supposed to not kiss him. I’m not supposed to be only 45 years old and taking care of a 35 year-old young man who’s a hundred years old and dying.” –Ned, as he cares for a deteriorating Felix. Heart, that’s what this film has in spades. You see the burden of Emma’s work all over Roberts’ face; her fury rivals Ned’s, especially when she rips the National Institutes of Health a new one. “We could all be dead before you do anything,” she says. There’s the closeted but well-meaning Bruce, played by Taylor Kitsch, who loves Ned but opposes him at every turn. (You can’t decide if you want to hug him or punch him.) In arguably one of the film’s most harrowing scenes, Bruce tells Ned the story of his boyfriend’s Albert’s death. Flying home to Phoenix to see his mother one last time, Albert dies before they reach her at the hospital. Because none of the hospital staff want to handle Albert’s body, an orderly puts him in a garbage bag and releases him to Bruce and Albert’s mother behind the hospital next to its trash heap. You wonder why, at that point, Bruce doesn’t adopt Ned’s loud tactics. Fear, shame, a desire to assimilate? In one of the film’s most marvelous (and difficult) scenes, Mickey (played by Joe Mantello) has a complete nervous breakdown in front of everyone—and at Ned, a performance that captures the essence of their struggle, which is the dominant narrative thread throughout: Mickey feels confused and betrayed about his sexual liberation; the one thing they had to themselves in a hostile culture is now destroying them. “We have been so oppressed. Don’t you remember? Can’t you see how important it is for us to love openly? Without hiding, without guilt. Why can’t you see that?” Tommy (Parsons) steps in, offering one of the best, saddest lines in the film: “Bereavement overload.” “The Normal Heart” certainly is that. And for all its imperfections—occasionally odd pacing, an awkward dance scene between Mark Ruffalo and Julia Roberts— this movie does something wildly important. It insists we remember the lost. It demands we never forget our government’s initial non-response to HIV/AIDS. It implores us to challenge what’s culturally acceptable and to follow our guts. “The Normal Heart” is about love, activism, sickness, bigotry, complacency, and revolution; it is difficult, necessary, and imperfectly beautiful. THE NORMAL HEART page 21
Always have supported LGBT rights, Always will.
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PERS{ECTOVES FEATURE
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FEATURE NIGHTLIFE
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VOICES
CALENDAR
“THE NORMAL HEART”: “YOU CRY AND YOU CRY UNTIL YOU THINK YOU CAN’T CRY ANYMORE, AND THEN YOU CRY SOME MORE. ” Continued from page 21
In one of the film’s final scenes, Ned sits with Felix in the hospital one last time. It is probably the single most heartbreaking scene I’ve ever seen on my television screen; Felix is out of time; Ned and Felix are out of time. They get married on Felix’s deathbed. Your heart breaks. “Once upon a time, there was a little boy who always wanted to love another little boy. One day, he finally found that love and it was wonderful. You cry and you cry until you think you can’t cry anymore,
and then you cry some more. Not only for yourself and Felix, but for all the little boys who finally found their other little boys they wanted all their lives now that we’re men.” “The Normal Heart” joins a canon of recent and incredibly important films— “We Were Here” and “How to Survive a Plague” among them—and it is an imperative, must-watch, imperfect masterpiece. Watch it with friends, and talk about it. Watch it multiple times. There are lessons to be learned here, even 30 years later.
TRANSGENDER STUDENT
Our transgender students are changing that every day, through the courage they show in living their truth in the face of ongoing bigotry. It’s time we help them. It’s time we put our resources and social capital into making things better for them now, by showing both them and their peers that our government affirms their equality, a point which should never been in question. We’ve all learned very recently what a difference recognition of that kind makes. Think of how it could change things for transgender students, half of whom attempt suicide, one in six of whom dropout. The time to fight for them is now.
Continued from page 17
By campaigning for the rights of transgender students, we can help normalize their experiences within schools, and create an atmosphere of acceptance for them that they too often lack. Acceptance helps everyone. As we’ve seen with our victory in winning marriage equality, the majority of our society wants to embrace tolerance and love. The transphobia experienced by students today, leading to the alarming statistics quoted above, is simply a hateful message that’s gone uncountered.
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NIGHTLIFE STYLE
STYLE DECONSTRUCTED: SARAH DEE By Eric Sellers and Michael Shaw Talley, PQ Monthly
In a city teeming with fashion, personal expression and trend setters, we want to get into the heads of some of Portland’s stylish LGBTQ icons. For us, style is not made in magazines, malls or on television; it’s personal. This is the reason for this style deconstruction. NAME: Sarah Dee, Age: 29, OCCUPATION: Fashion Designer/Barista/Violinist/Youth Empowered Sewing, LLC Director PQ: What age were you when you realized style mattered? Sarah: I had a terrible fashion sense in high school; I started thinking about how I was representing myself through clothing at around 17. I found punk music (I’m talking Minor Threat and Dead Kennedys, not the pop-punk that was happening in the early 00s) and started making all my jeans tighter and wearing Doc Martens. It really unleashed my inner Tank Girl, who has been impossible to contain since then. PQ: Who gives you a style boner today? Sarah: Zana Bayne, Janelle Monae, Grace Jones, Tumblrs about toyboy femme style and androgynous women, Sally Mulligan, Korin Noelle, DieAna Dae, Rae Palmer, and a slew of other folks in my community. I am more inspired by the people around me than I am by international fashion designers or celebrities. PQ: What is most valued article of clothing you have purchased? Sarah: Probably the leather and denim vest that I made a few years ago. It was my first foray into tailored pattern-making, and it came out exactly how I wanted it to. I am completely selftaught, so figuring out how to make a pattern without an existing garment was a serious level up for me. PQ: Do you wear jewels? What accessories are a must-have in your closet? Sarah: I am nothing without my accessories! I’m obsessed with rings; I love a big, outfit-complimenting cocktail ring, or stacking a million small rings together until I run out of fingers to put them on. I’m also a sucker for a long necklace with a fierce pendant. Lately I’ve been sporting pieces that local designers Alex Simon and Lindsey Cardoza have made out of porcelain. I never leave the house without a bracelet by Bim Ditson (check Etsy). I also geek out on making weird cuffs and rings out of scrap leather. PQ: The soundtrack of your closet. List 4 songs on your Style EP. Sarah: “Big Mouth” by The Muffs, “Rebel Rebel” by David Bowie, “City Grrl” by CSS, “Partition” by Beyoncé. One part punk, a little bit of skin, some genderbending, and absolutely zero fucks to give about what is acceptable in the mainstream. I dress to please myself and my queerdo friends. PQ: Eat, Drink, Scene. What do you nosh? What’s your sip? Where are your haunts? Sarah: A good Americano is heaven to me, even after serving coffee every day for 7 years. My day doesn’t get going until I’ve had one, or at least a French press. As for adult beverages, I’ll enjoy a bourbon and soda with bitters or lime any time after 2PM. Bulliet or Buffalo Trace, please. Thai food (Sweet Basil is my favorite), sandwiches (Brass Tacks or the New Seasons deli), and popcorn (any brand, anytime, anywhere) are probably my top three food groups. I have a genetically pre-disposed addiction to cheese crackers. Seriously, I’m pretty sure my entire family gets more done when we invoke the power of the Cheez-It. My main haunt is my sewing studio, and I find myself at Swift for some brussel sprouts and a mason jar with my boo at least once a week. When I need to get out and see my friends, I’ll go anywhere Bruce LaBruiser or Gossip Cat are deejaying. PQ: Shoes! What do you have? What do you need? Brands, color, styles? Let’s talk shoes. 22 • June/July 2014
Sarah: I have a real problem when it comes to shoes. I love shoes a whole bunch. And for being as tall as I am, I’m lucky that I wear a pretty small size, so there are a lot of options out there for me. My main go-to for shoes is Buffalo Exchange; they always have a great variety of brand name stuff in good condition. Zappos.com is a close second, because of their great return/exchange policy, and how thorough they are in explaining the shoe you’re looking at. I love sneakers (Vans, Converse, and Reebok high-tops) and I love oxfords, especially more interesting ones like my gold wingtips or black leather with diamond perforation cutouts on the sides. The aforementioned inner tank girl demands a certain number of black and/or brown leather boots; I think I’m up to 12 pairs now. I mostly get them secondhand, but I’ve been known to spend a few hundred bucks on a pair of Fryes. I also really like a costume heel, for maximum queening around. My tallest pair puts me at 6’8” and is, ironically, the only time that strangers misread me as cis male. PQ: You have a time machine. Go back in time and anything from any era. what would you get, where and when? Sarah: I’m a future girl, always looking ahead. I don’t crave anything from the past. I believe in improving upon existing methods, taking something to the next level, and learning from mistakes. The only thing I would bring back from the past are the people who have made efforts to move the world forward, so I could get their advice on what to do next. PQ: Who’s you favorite artist, fashion designer, musician and why? Sarah: This is a really difficult question for me because I spend a lot of time paying attention to art and music. Grizzly Bear is my number one comfort music, which is weird because I usually don’t care for all-male indie rock. There’s just something about those angel voices and the complexity of each song. I’m in awe of people who take performance art and costume design to the next level. Nick Cave (the fiber artist) and Leigh Bowery, for example. It’s totally mind-blowing to me how they conceptualize and execute such wild ideas. I love everything that Allihalla (Etsy!) makes; she designs epic stretch-wear for every single body imaginable, no weird size classifications attached to any of it. It’s the future of fashion, and something I work to include in my designs. Variety is everything, get into it. PQ: What’s your most irritating fashion faux pas? Sarah: Cultural appropriation, especially Native motifs. I know “tribal” prints are very popular right now, and it is a difficult line that everyone must draw for themselves. Personally I feel like any non-native person wearing clothing with images of feather headdresses (or worse, actually wearing a headdress) speaks to a general unawareness of, or disrespect for, cultures other than one’s own. Unrelated and trivial in comparison, I really hate those Adidas sandals that are just one wide plastic strap across the front of the foot. PQ: Where are some of your favorite places to shop? Sarah: Here’s the thing about shopping. I really enjoy shopping, but have a low tolerance for fluorescent light, and a tight budget. So I typically don’t go to the mall or department stores unless I need basics. I do get into Ross pretty often, and occasionally H&M or Forever 21. They just have the cheapest undies, what can I say? I do, however, resent the fact that I wear a size Large in both brands. I’m welllll under the average weight for my height, so that’s a pretty terrible message to send to young girls. At the end of the day though, I do most of my shopping at manky thrift stores. Better Bargains and the Red White and Blue are my favorites, as well as the Bins, of course. I think my closet is probably 10% new, 10% made from scratch, and 80% altered items from the bins or other thrift stores. Taking your style into your own hands is one of the most empowering things you can do, I highly recommend it. And I will be teaching sewing classes at Radius Community Art Studio very soon. Let’s queer up your closet together! pqmonthly.com
STYLE ARTS & CULTURE
STYLE REFLECTION: KATE MOSS, MYTHIC BEAUTY
By Leela Ginelle, PQ Monthly
In 1993, Kate Moss posed for photographer Corinne Day in the small London apartment Moss shared with her boyfriend of the time. The shoot was for a lingerie spread, which appeared in British Vogue, titled, “Under Exposed,” and it immediately birthed a mythos for Moss and the decade that followed. The fashion establishment was repulsed by the pictures, which bore little relation to the chic, sophisticated fantasies that populated such magazines then, and still do today. What they did show was bewildering: a skinny, barefaced Moss, on a bed, in a chair, by a window and against a wall in a brightly lit, bare, white-walled apartment, in underwear and sometimes a shirt. Those hostile to the images said they promoted anorexia, heroin and pedophilia. For an emerging generation of fashion editors and photographers, though, the pictures
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became a touchstone, and Moss an icon. The shoot captured some of the grunge spirit that had conquered music, and the lo-fi aesthetics inherent in small budgeted indie films. Just as those movements marked a pivot away from what were seen by some as slick, sterile professionalism in their areas, Moss became a new model of model; a waif, as opposed to the healthy, somewhat dull ‘80s pin up Cindy Crawford. Moss’s profile soon exploded, with her Calvin Klein ads peppering magazines and billboards worldwide. She proved Crawford’s opposite personality-wise, as well. Whereas the latter had responded to her fame by giving interviews emphasizing a relatability and down to earth outlook, Moss kept her privacy, letting the growing buzz, and its accompanying furor, that emerged around her swirl without comment. Absent “explanation,” viewers had Moss’s image, which was riveting. While “Under Exposed” contained a few pictures in which its subject practices the shy, awkward mugging common among young models today, its more striking shots feature her staring straight into the camera, in a manner her admiring editors and photographers call “sphinx-like.” We stare at her, admiring her features and figure, while she, at the same time, stares at us, with a seemingly impossible complexity, her whole personality on her face, but with a question or agenda one can’t decipher. When Moss began dating Johnny Depp it was as though, in some ways, the ‘90s crystallized. The teen idol who’d rebelled and forged a film career with his “integrity” as his compass and the waif goddess. From the outside, she lent him glamour, and he gave her substance. It was impossibly cool to observe. As a student at UCLA, I covered music for the paper at that time, routinely attending shows on Sunset Blvd., at times in Depp’s own club, the Viper Room, and yet my existence, to my mind, was not in the same universe as the one I assumed they pursued. In a sense, the Moss and Depp of my cultural imagination were from a different sphere: that of celebrity mystique, delivered through the channels of a creaking, yet still functional monoculture. Out of millions who’d sought entry to that world of fame, they’d somehow gained admission, and multiplied their relevance by coupling. They were now the glamorous “observed,” and, because each practiced scrupulous media discretion, observers were free to project their most cherished fantasies onto them. Fashion insiders agree Moss possessed an unerring intuition regarding both her look and prevailing trends, which
allowed her blend seamlessly with her times. With passing years, the vulnerability that marked her emergence into supermodel-dom disappeared, replaced by a confidence, and a new carnality. Her stare remained transfixing, perhaps most when the clothes and image surrounding her signaled transgression. “Yes,” her look seemed to say, “this is who I am. Did you have a question?” The image suggested some decadent life of which we saw only a glimpse. Like the rock and rollers to whom she’s been consistently attracted, she appeared to live some charmed existence, in which a diet of steady pleasure led only to success, fulfillment and riches. This facade crumbled briefly in the mid-’00s, when she and then-boyfriend Pete Doherty, of the sublime band The Libertines, had public scandals involving drug use, resulting in legal trouble for each. Soon the relationship and the charges were gone, though, and Moss emerged seemingly just as she’d been. In a sense she was like a silent film actress, stoic and mute, avoiding all social media, communicating through her work and the paparazzi, her image consisting in large part of the statistics we learned about her large contracts, and her ubiquity in magazines and on fashion sites. Moss’s career has been almost unprecedented in its length, with 25 years having passed since her first major spread appeared in The Face when she was 16. As it does for everyone, age is beginning to have its way with Moss, who no longer closely resembles the models surrounding her. Observing this, one feels superficial, smug, confused, and sad. Like star athletes or dancers, elite models represent a highly rarefied percentile of human existence. Whether or not it’s commendable to recognize their uniqueness as we do, with adulation and often obscene reward, it’s our practice, and witnessing a public decline, as it appears Moss is beginning to experience, summons the complexity of loss. How Moss experiences this change, once again, we don’t know. Having only ever had her looks by which to consider her essence, once again, we judge her mystique physically, and, as she ages, consider it diminished. She looks mortal now, and, like those of us her age, resembles a person who’s lived half her life. Remembering her Obsession ads, when her youth matched my own, seems like recalling a different existence. Seeing scandal and myth coalesce around new model Cara Delivengne, while intriguing, feels distant: humorous, rather than vital. For those of us from a certain cohort, Kate Moss is “our model,” as little sense as that makes. What it means to her, only she can say, whoever she is.
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ARTS & CULTURE MARRIAGE
VICTORY AND VIGILANCE
By Jeana Frazzini, Executive Director, Basic Rights Oregon
We won. Let me say that again. We won. One more time. We. Won. I can’t say it enough, and the full impact of what we have accomplished still hasn’t hit me. I spent the first week following Judge Michael McShane’s beautiful ruling feeling like I was floating outside of my body—the entire experience, from announcing the win to a crowd of supporters at Oregon United for Marriage, to marrying seven couples that first day, was surreal. It has taken us years to get to this point. I don’t know how we could have done it without the support of hundreds of people across the state, lending their precious time and money, sweat and tears, to make the freedom to marry a reality for our state. I remain so filled with emotion that I am finding it difficult to express the gratitude in my heart. The outpouring of love, enthusiasm, relief, tenderness, and joy has been astounding. Thank you, to every LGBT person who has spoken your truth. Thank you, to every ally who has lifted your voice for justice. Thank you, to everyone who has opened your heart to understanding that love is love. Thank you! Tens of thousands of Oregonians have put their identities and livelihoods on the line; by having conversations with their friends, family members, neighbors, and colleagues,
Oregonians have changed the conversation about why marriage matters. More and more people have come to understand that no one should be told it is illegal to marry the person they love, and that marriage is a fundamental freedom that should not be denied to anyone. Our efforts helped change the statewide landscape, so that over 58 percent of Oregonians now support the freedom to marry. This is a huge shift over just the past four years, and mirrors what we’re seeing nationwide. Together, we built the largest coalition our state has ever seen. More than 872 coalition members, including 385 businesses, 212 faith leaders, 68 elected leaders, 82 community organizations, 59 faith communities and 20 communities of color organizations, endorsed Oregon United for Marriage’s campaign to win marriage for same-sex couples. Through years of effort, we created an environment where the attorney general could voice her unfailing support for the freedom to marry, and the judge could rule on the right side of history. On the night that the historic decision was made, we as a community had the opportunity to celebrate the victory at the Melody Ballroom. Same-sex couples that had spent the morning in line at the county building, waiting for the Judge’s decision so they could get their licenses, celebrated their marriage vows at the ballroom in front of hundreds of supporters. Throughout the evening and into the night, newly wed couples danced in one another’s arms, joining in celebration with families and friends. Every time I think back to that night, I am brought to tears. During the celebration, we were honored by the presence of the reverent Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay episcopal bishop. The bishop remarked, “We have come a long way, and we should be joyous of how far we have
come. We should also be vigilant about the road ahead of us, and remember those who came before us and laid the groundwork.” Indeed, we do have a lot to celebrate, but we still have so much work to do to end discrimination against LGBT folks and bring full equality to all Oregonians. Whether it is increasing the safety and well-being of LGBT youth, transgender Oregonians, and LGBT folks in rural areas, strengthening services for LGBT seniors, or working to reduce the disparities for people of color in our communities, the work continues. Basic Rights Oregon and our partners will see to it that the momentum to do this work continues as well. Much of this work has already begun. Basic Rights Oregon’s Trans Justice program has worked for years to win policies supporting transgender Oregonians. We have removed barriers to accessing health care, accurate documentation, and more. And we will continue to do this important work by increasing the safety of trans people within prison and jails, working to fully educate our communities about and enforce Oregon’s ban on discrimination, and increasing access to health care for trans Oregonians. Our Racial Justice program serves to uplift the voices and leadership of LGBT communities of color. Basic Rights Oregon is a proud member of the diverse coalition of social justice, faith and business groups coming together to support the Safe Roads Act. Access to transportation for work, church, medical appointments and schools is something all Oregon communities need. And since the federal government now recognizes LGBT married couples in immigration proceedings, our marriage win is critical for binational LGBT couples, who now have more security than before—both in their legal relationship and in their immigration status. We are gearing up for an exciting election season and expanding the reach of our Equality PAC to elect pro-equality candidates, including LGBT candidates. This work ensures that the needs of LGBT Oregonians are front and center in the critical policy decisions of our state. We’re also prioritizing voter registration to build power for our communities through increased civic participation. It is incumbent upon us to continue to do this work. I ask you, the reader, to join us in the long road ahead. On Monday May 19, 2014, we, together as Oregonians, scored a major victory that led us one step further towards achieving full equality for all. But we know our work is far from finished. In the coming months, we’ll be out in the community asking you what issues most impact your life, and what’s next for our LGBT movement. Together, we can achieve not just legal equality, but lived equality.
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MARRIAGE
“YOU ARE THE ONES. YOU ARE REPRESENTING MY FAMILY.” By Daniel Borgen, PQ Monthly
behalf of families in Oregon. The moment was like lightning—we all suddenly became keenly aware of the love and support we had as we left to meet the judge.” Last we saw Paul Rummell and Ben West in our pages, they were part of a feature about And how in the world does a young child handle all the media attention and scrutiny? “new normals” — that is, stories about couples in our community doing rather extraor“We have been very careful to keep Jay isolated from it,” Paul says. “It was important dinary things, things that might normally go unnoticed. Paul and Ben, who wanted to be for us to represent the family we are on decision day, which is why we had him with us fathers for as long as they can remember, became committed “therapeutic foster parents,” as the verdict was read. The most important aspect of our fight for equality is to provide providing the highest level of care to some of our son a safe environment to be nurtured and Oregon’s most traumatized and abused children. to grow. We just want him to be eight; to be a Since then, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind — little boy who has no cares or concerns. His you’ve probably seen their faces on the cover of early life was a life of struggle. We want to prothe Oregonian, on any number of LGBTQ news tect him from that. sites, and splashed all over local news. They, Really, the importance of this movement rather accidentally — and along with other plainmade it a very easy decision to devote our time. tiffs — became the poster couple for marriage The incredible team of supporters, the entire equality in Oregon. Right after our big marriage legal team; they made it very easy to participate. win last month, I chatted with Paul and Ben about We feel like we have made some very importlife, love, court cases, and their beautiful son, Jay. ant friendships with a group of people who will How does one get involved in a lawsuit like be a lifelong network. We shared in a pivotal this in the first place? moment in our state’s history. We are bonded “Our work with Basic Rights Education by the work we have done. The legal team did a Fund started for a couple of reasons,” Paul very good job of explaining the ramifications of remembers. “Ben and I had a commitment cereeach filing and how to proceed with each decimony in 2010 on the Oregon Coast. We knew that sion. We were given an itinerary but asked to our ceremony was not legal, but Ben had become speak from our hearts.” frustrated because many of his contemporar“The campaign was, at times, a test of my ies had been married, and he was beginning relationship with my parents,” Ben adds. “They to develop the ‘Always-the-Bridesmaid-Never[are religious and] have very strong beliefs that the-Bride’ syndrome. We sat down one night don’t completely fall in line with mine. For them, and began talking about what our ideal wedding on the one hand, it’s a highly religious issue. would look like. Initially, it looked a lot different But on the other, they are nothing but incredithan it turned out. We had originally wanted to bly supportive and loving when it comes to my have a small gathering with a few friends, but family and my son; they’re very involved with when I told my parents that we had plans to Jay’s life. My parents don’t fall into the stereohave a commitment ceremony, they were very type our community tends to paint of people supportive and expressed interest in attendwho disagree with us. They aren’t ‘bigots’ — I ing. Ben hoped that his parents [who are relihear that one a lot about religious people — and gious and didn’t attend] would follow my parents’ I think that’s a destructive stereotype. I think queue… As it turned out, we had a ceremony, words lose meaning when we use them so flipwhich then-mayor Sam Adams officiated (in a pantly. It took me 20 years to come out — how non-official capacity). 120 of our closest friends long have my parents had to deal with it?” Ben and family were carted up to a mountain top “Just because a judge makes a ruling, that doesn’t mean that our work is done,” says Ben West, far right, pictured above with pauses, and laughs: “But my mother does have overlooking the Tillamook Valley, with expansive husband Paul Rummell and son Jay. “We need to move forward, doing work in peace and humility.” a copy of The Oregonian [where Ben and Paul views of the ocean, on a beautiful summer day. were on the cover].” Due to our work as therapeutic foster parents, PQ writer, a true scamp about town, Though most people felt like (or hoped) the outcome was a sure thing, that certainly Daniel Borgen, penned a feature article about the New Normal — gay parenthood in the didn’t prevent anxiety levels from rising the days and weeks leading up to the decision. mainstream. You know this story well. The two events coalesced into one feature story “We all knew, yet there was uncertainty,” Paul remembers. “It was exhilarating. We were for the Basic Rights Oregon Education Fund’s Luncheon in 2013. We were featured in all ready to continue on, if needed, but were so happy to hear the final verdict. We won!” a video to create awareness within our community for the need for foster parents and There have been, of course, rumblings that Oregon has been “behind” on the marthe work that Ben and I were doing as we moved from Foster Dads to adoptive parents.” riage equality front — and said rumblings have tried to place blame on a variety of door For all intents and purposes, Paul and Ben became “poster boys” for a statewide, steps. Now that it’s here… even national, movement. How in the world does that feel? “Oregon has played a major role in the marriage equality movement nationwide. The “It’s been incredibly humbling,” Paul says. “It was a monumental legal battle that messages and strategies that were used to win the 2012 campaigns in Maine, Maryland, included four couples — Ben and me, Chris Tanner and Lisa Chicadonz, Deanna Geiger Minnesota and Washington were all developed here in Oregon thanks to the leadership and Janine Nelson, Robert Duehmig and William Griesar — along with many attorneys of Basic Rights Oregon. National organizations, like the ACLU, Freedom to Marry and with the ACLU of Oregon, Basic Rights Oregon, Law Works, Perkins Coie, and Dorsey & the Human Rights Campaign, have felt strongly — until this year — that in addition to Easton. Each and every person involved in this lawsuit has been a champion for equal- those victories, the nationwide movement needed to replace at least one constitutional ity and the expansion of human rights within our state, which is having an effect on a marriage ban with a guarantee for the freedom to marry. Oregon was seen as having the national level. To have the entire Supreme Court rule against the emergency stay, which best chance for that. NOM had filed, gave us all a sense of importance and validity; that the top legal represenThe legal landscape changed incredibly quickly after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decitatives of the United States had finally stated that they would not intervene on behalf of sion in ACLU’s challenge to DOMA in Edie Windsor’s case last June. Suddenly, court cases organizations like National Organization for Marriage whose sole purpose is to disrupt started popping up all over the country, including here in Oregon, when the Geiger case the advancement of legal protections for my family and the families of all LGBT fami- was filed in October by Lake Perriguey and Lea Ann Easton. Ben and I agreed to be plainlies. We are part of a nationwide movement and feel incredibly supported by our family, tiffs in the companion case because we trusted that the ACLU legal team would help friends and larger community. ensure victory in the courts — and they did. The whole thing really came down to a particular moment for me: At the Vigil for MarIt’s easy for people on the outside to second-guess tactical decisions that were made riage Equality, on April 22, the night before we had a moment in front of Judge McShane, a in the past, but the court case could have turned out very differently. There are no sure group of supporters assembled at Terry Schrunk Plaza. When we addressed the audience, things in politics or the courts. There is still plenty of work ahead before we reach full the crowd erupted in applause. I was stunned to have the notoriety of so many attendees. equality in this country, and that should be everyone’s focus now.” Afterward, a woman came up to me, nearly sobbing; in tears, she hugged me and would “Just because a judge makes a ruling, that doesn’t mean that our work is done,” Ben not let go. She said, ‘It’s you. You’re the ones. You are representing my family tomorrow. adds. “We need to move forward, doing work in peace and humility. We still have LGBT I can’t believe I get to meet you. Just know that what you and your partner are doing is teen suicide, ex-gay reparative therapy, widespread economic issues, lots of things. Great, monumental and felt by all of us. We just adopted a child, too.’ Up until that moment, the we won marriage! Now let’s show the world how graceful we are — and let’s get to work.” movement did not feel real to me. I did not know the impact Ben and I were having on Make sure you check out our marriage centerfold on page 28. pqmonthly.com
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BOOKS MARRIAGE
“HE TREATED MARRIAGE LIKE PANCAKES — THE GOVERNMENT IS DOLING OUT PANCAKES AND NOT DOING IT IN AN EQUAL WAY”
“I had almost an evangelical outlook; I knew exactly how this was going to work out.” By TJ Acena, PQ Monthly
On May 19, 2014, at 12:10PM I stood in a bar on my lunch break, watching the announcement that a federal judge had declared Measure 36, which banned same-sex marriage, unconstitutional. How did this happen, I wondered? How did we get here? Two days later I interviewed Lake Perriguey, the lawyer who brought the first plaintiffs and case that won us marriage equality in Oregon, in his apartment over a cup of vanilla green tea. In May 1993, Perriguey stood in the Capitol Building in Austin, Texas, throwing paper airplanes and stink bombs into the gallery during a session of the legislature. He was a performance artist taking part in group action protesting Texas’ sodomy laws. The group was arrested and put in jail, and soon a lawyer showed up to get them out. “She was this cool lesbian lawyer. I was so impressed how she parted the waves of all the cops who were standing between me and freedom that I decided then I would become a lawyer.” Ten years later, in a 6 to 3 opinion, the Supreme Court ruled in Lawrence v. Texas that the state’s sodomy laws violated due process and equal protection under The 14th amendment. That decision formed the basis of Perriguey’s legal opinion challenging Oregon’s ban on same-sex marriage. Perriguey eventually moved to Oregon to attend law school at Lewis & Clark. He moved to Oregon during a time when a spate of anti-gay initiatives were popping up and ended up canvassing door to door for Basic Rights Oregon (BRO) in attempts to stop those initiatives. “Our actions were always reactionary,” he reflects. “Suddenly the very essence of your equality as a citizen is up for grabs in a popularity contest.” In 2004, Measure 36 passed. We lost the popularity contest. Time passed. Then, in 2013, the Supreme Court made its historic judgments in United States v. Windsor and Hollingsworth v. Perry. Perriguey followed each case closely. A few days after the decisions, he was perusing Facebook, and he saw that former mayor Sam Adams had posted about signing a petition to overturn Measure 36. In that moment Perriguey had a revelation: This was wrong. “Our civil rights should not be voted on, even when we put them on the ballot. It would be wrong to perpetuate the 26 • June/July 2014
notion that any minority’s rights should be voted on. The election wasn’t for 14 months and would cost millions of dollars. And where would that money go? To convince assholes that they should treat us equally? I decided right then and there I would email the attorney general.” His email was short and to the point; he told Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum that he intended to sue her and the state. A couple days later, he spoke to Rosenblum on the phone. “It was premature. I didn’t have plaintiffs.” Perriguey laughs. “But I told her I was going to do it so then I had to.” Rosenblum thanked him for the information and told him to keep her informed on any developments. Perriguey found his plaintiffs through word of mouth, asking people, “Do you know anyone who’ve been together for a long time and isn’t going to break up in the next year?” It took three months, but eventually he found his clients. During this time he also met Lee Ann Easton, a lawyer who worked extensively with tribal clients. “She knew something about challenging discrimination in the federal court.” He immediately made her co-counsel. At the same time BRO and Oregon United for Marriage were preparing a massive campaign to overturn Measure 36 through the ballot. Perriguey sent the campaign a message telling them he was going to try to overturn 36 through the courts. According to Perriguey, he received some pushback from BRO, as well as other organizations, asking him to wait until after the election in 2014 to consider filing the lawsuit. He said no. He thought he could get the same result faster. “I had almost an evangelical outlook; I knew exactly how this was going to work out. Sometimes when people have that kind of clarity they’re crazy and I was struggling with this sense that people thought I was kooky and couldn’t do it. But I had a lot of judges and lawyers outside of my bubble who told me that I could do it.” Perriguey filed the suit in October. The filing cost was $400. He made an agreement with BRO to keep the lawsuit fairly quiet. The Willamette Week was the only paper to get a press release. “I wasn’t going to do any more press so as not to draw in the National Organization for Marriage,” he remembers. “And because if I messed it up I didn’t want to confuse the voters in November.” The day after he filed the lawsuit Attorney General Rosenblum announced that Oregon would recognize out of state same-sex marriages. It was a sea change in the battle for marriage equality in the state. “The government showed its hand. I think that surprised a lot of people who didn’t think I had a case that could get done quickly.” Then the organizations that cautioned him against a lawsuit wanted to throw their support behind his case. BRO had clients of their own, and they wanted to consolidate their cases.
“At first I didn’t trust them,” Perriguey admits. “My clients and I resisted because it would extend the case to consolidate.” He wanted to win as quickly and quietly as possible, but the request for consolidation was granted by Judge McShane, who presided over the Perriguey case. “It became a much louder lawsuit than I originally envisioned, but as difficult as that was, it is indicative of how a lot of human energy comes to the counsel table and pushes itself into the courtroom. It’s not just me. We’re all part of this unfolding of liberty.” During the oral arguments, seven lawyers argued for two hours why Oregon’s marriage laws were unconstitutional, including the defense lawyers from the state. “Four women handled the case for the state, they were brilliant. As much as a hand as I had in this, it really was equally or more Attorney General Rosenblum and her staff who moved this along so quickly.” With no opposition the case seemed like an easy win, but the consolidation had delayed the trial for several weeks and in that window NOM caught wind of it and motioned to intervene—because Attorney General Rosenblum refused to defend Measure 36. “NOM wanted to stand in the pumps of Ellen Rosenblum. They said that she wasn’t doing her job, so they would do it for her. The judge said even though you like her pumps a lot, she is accountable to the people who elected her and you are not. You don’t have standing.” NOM immediately filed for an emergency stay pending their appeal; even if McShane ruled in the plaintiffs’ favor, a stay could keep marriages from happening for months. But Perriguey’s team anticipated this, and had already created a legal response before it was even filed. Everything then hinged on the 9th Circuit in San Francisco, who would review the stay. The decision from Judge McShane was only days away. “You have so much at stake and three judges you’ve never met will decide whether all these people will be able to get married. Just a day or two before they had issued a stay in the Idaho case.” Fifteen minutes before Judge McShane’s decision, The 9th circuit denied NOM’s request for an emergency stay. Perriguey told me he was more excited that the stay had been denied than the decision that was to come fifteen minutes later. His certainty that he would win never left him. On May 19, 2014, at 12:04PM, I was standing in a bar on my lunch break watching an empty podium, waiting. All over Oregon people were waiting. At 12:05 the decision came out, and Measure 36 was overturned. Perriguey’s clients were already waiting in line to get married. After the weddings, he treated himself to a pedicure near his apartment and spent a quiet evening having pizza with his clients. Much has been made of Judge McShane’s decision, about how secure it is, and I asked Perriguey to explain it to me. “McShane decided that marriage is a fundamental right, he treated it like… pancakes. The government is doling out pancakes and they’re not doing it in an equal way. Also, the decision reads ‘same-gender’ marriage instead of ‘same-sex’. I pushed for that in my arguments. I’m glad McShane used the same language, it’s makes the decision more inclusive.” Perriguey recounts this whole story very anecdotally. A little more anecdotally than I expect, since a few days ago he helped change the lives of thousands of LGBTQ Oregonians. “I recognize the gravity of it. I’m proud that I was able to lay the groundwork for people to trust me to see this through. And I’m just really happy to not have to think about gay marriage anymore.” He sighs, “Honestly it’s great to just sleep a little more through the night.” pqmonthly.com
ARTS & CULTURE
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June/July 2014 • 27
BOOKS BOOKS MARRIAGE
OREGON BECOMES 18TH STATE TO LEGALIZE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE Monday, May 19. Mid-morning. NOM files an appeal with the Ninth Circuit, requesting a stay on today’s ruling. “The National Organization for Marriage, Inc. (“NOM”) has filed an appeal of the denial of its motion to intervene. On Friday, May 16, 2014, the district court entered an order stating that it would issue a decision on the pending motions for summary judgment on Monday, May 19, 2014, at noon. NOM has moved in this Court for a stay of proceedings in the district court. Plaintiffs will file full briefing in opposition to that motion. With this short submission, Plaintiffs request that this Court not issue a temporary stay of proceedings during the pendency of NOM’s motion for stay. A temporary stay of proceedings is unwarranted. The present appeal and stay motion were initiated by a non-party, which seeks review, not of the district court’s forthcoming merits decision, but of the denial of its motion to intervene. In this case, it is clear that there will be no appeal with a potential to alter the judgment.” Monday, mid-morning. Viewing parties are organized and held throughout the city, including at Crush and Oregon United for Marriage Campaign headquarters. Queers are glued to their television screens. The Ninth Circuit turns NOM back. Hit the road, NOM. Mond a y, no on. “It’s a win!” After more than 30 years, countless discrimination measures, the Oregon Citizens Alliance, and more activism than you can shake a stick at, the ruling’s in: Same-sex marriage is legal in Oregon. A last ditch effort to stay the ruling was turned back by the Ninth Circuit. Tears, beaming crowds, hugs and embraces. We’re headed to the Melody Ballroom to celebrate — and watch the first couples marry. Mo n d a y, 1 2 : 3 0 . F r o m McShane’s ruling: “Generations of Americans, my own included, were raised in a world in which homosexuality was believed to be a moral perversion, a mental disorder, or a mortal sin. I remember that one of the more popular playground games of my childhood was called ‘smear the queer’ and it was played with great zeal and without a moment’s thought to political correctness. On a darker level, that same worldview led to an environment of cruelty, violence, and self-loathing. It was but 1986 when the United States Supreme Court justified, on the basis of a ‘millennia of moral teaching,’ the imprisonment of gay men and lesbian women who engaged in consensual sexual acts. [...] Even today I am reminded of the legacy that we have bequeathed today’s generation when my son looks dismissively at the sweater I bought him for Christmas and, with a roll of his eyes, says ‘dad ... that is so gay.’” We’re poring over the ruling. We can’t stop hugging each other. This is huge. 28 • June/July 2014
Monday, 1pm: It seems like half the city’s LGBTQ community is at the Melody Ballroom, marrying and celebrating. Upstairs in the chapel, couple after couple marries, then head downstairs to mix and mingle. Kudos to Samantha Swaim and Co. for pulling off an extraordinary impromptu party. Monday, 3pm: Couples begin streaming downstairs, each one announces to a cheering, joyful crowd. They kiss, they embrace. This is love. Marriage equality is about love. “But just as the Constitution protects the expression of these moral viewpoints, it equally protects the minority from being diminished by them,” McShane writes. Mo n d a y, 4 p m : T h e y (bottom photo, from left) The county commissioners who had the vision to begin issuing marriage licenses to samesex couples in 2004. “Given time, I am confident attitudes will shift,” Lisa Naito wrote in 2004. They paid the highest price. They (from left: Serena Cruz Walsh, Diane Linn, former BRO head Roey Thorpe, Maria Rojo de Steffey, and Lisa Naito) join Monday’s celebration. “I believe that if we can look for a moment past gender and sexuality, we can see in these plaintiffs nothing more or less than our own families,” McShane writes. “Families who we would expect our Constitution to protect, if not exalt, in equal measure. With discernment we see not shadows lurking in closets or the stereotypes of what was once believed; rather we see families committed to the common purpose of love, devotion, and service to the greater community. Where will this all lead? I know that many suggest we are going down a slippery slope that will have no moral boundaries. To those who truly harbor such fears, I can only say this: Let us look less to the sky to see what might fall; rather, let us look to each other... and rise.” From the bottom of our big gay hearts: Thank you, Judge Michael McShane, for being on the right side of history. And thank you to every leader, activist, and volunteer who worked so tirelessly for so long, who paved the way for 2014. And now, onward! Here are a couple of additional facts, courtesy Lake Perriguey, now that the US Supreme Court has kicked the Supreme Wedding Crashers National Organization for Marriage Discrimination to the curb: Oregon is the first state with a federal decision that has not been stayed. Oregon is also the first state with a federal decision for marriage equality in which gay and lesbians can continue to marry since the California case.
--Daniel Borgen pqmonthly.com
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FRIDAY, JUNE 13 - THURSDAY, JUNE 19 (7PM SHOWTIMES): “Before You Know It” at the Clinton Street Theater. These are no ordinary senior citizens. They are go-go booted bar-hoppers, love-struck activists, troublemaking baton twirlers, late night Internet cruisers, seasoned renegades, and bold adventurers. They are also among the estimated 2.4 million lesbian, gay, and bisexual Americans over the age of 55 living in the United States, many of whom face heightened levels of discrimination, neglect, and exclusion. But this film isn’t about cold statistics or gloomy realities, it’s a film about generational trailblazers who have surmounted prejudice and defied expectation to form communities of strength, renewal, and camaraderie. An affirmation of life and human resilience told with a refreshing humor and candor—it’s a film that reminds you you’re never too old to reshape society. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18 Portland Black Pride kicks off. The annual kickoff party is Queens of the Night, hostess by the exquisite Alexis Campbell Starr. Music, guest performers, you’ll need to call in late to work the next day kinda fun. 9pm, Local Lounge, 3536 NE MLK. $5. THURSDAY, JUNE 19 Bites for Rights: Fair-minded businesses around the state will donate a generous percentage of their day’s proceeds to Basic Rights Oregon. On this one day, you can feast to promote fairness for all LGBT Oregonians. In 2013, BRO had their biggest year-todate Bites for Rights with over 100 restaurants state-wide taking part. They also had the biggest amount of buzz with our community via social media posts and photos and the most media coverage for Bites for Rights ever, including a TV commercial. Take a stand for equality by going out for coffee, brunch, drinks, dinner and dessert. With your help, we can send a powerful message to business owners that supporting LGBT equality is not only the right thing to do, but it’s good business too! By dining out all day long, you can help sustain Basic Rights Oregon’s work for transgender justice, racial justice, and the freedom to marry. For a list of participants: http://www.basicrights.org/2014-bites-for-rights-participants/. Portland Black Pride: Ol’ Skool CardParty. 7pm, Kinley Manor, 1731 SE 10. Blackout Party. 10pm, CC’s, 219 NW Davis. FRIDAY, JUNE 20 Pride continues with Hedonistic Decadence. Sexiness and queerness will be seeping from the corners. The theme, Studio 54. Uh oh. That means it’s time to lose control and party like it’s your last night. They want to see gold lame, faux fur, booty shorts, headbands, and skin-tight bodysuits. Come dressed accordingly and get a discount on your cover. Ill Trill, Sophia St. James, Aurora, and much more—dancers, music, all the things. 8pm, Local Lounge, 3536 NE MLK. $7. SATURDAY, JUNE 21 Portland Black Pride: “Dreamgirls” sing-a long. And you, and you, and you, and you’re gonna it. 7pm, Fifth Avenue Theater, 510 SW Hall. $6. Later, Turn Down for What Crossover Party. 10pm, Escape Bar and Grill, 9004 NE Sandy. SUNDAY, JUNE 22 Portland Black Pride: Families of Color Day Out. Free food, lots of socializing. Bring something to share. 2pm, Alberta Park, NE Killingsworth. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25 Queer Leather Dinner: This event is intended for every-
one who self-identifies as Leather and any shade of Queer, or is interested and wishes to learn more. Queer Leather visitors from out of town are encouraged to attend as well. Let’s build the Queer Leather community in Portland! Please also feel welcome to attend without food purchase to join the conversation. 8pm, Crush, 1400 SE Morrison. SATURDAY, JUNE 28 12 Years a Fundie. Help our community raise awareness about the Restored Hope Network Conference this same weekend. This “counter event” is an alternative perspective to what they call the “ex-gay” movement. Since Exodus International shut down in 2013, “Restored Hope” seems to be the major conservative ex-gay group and very few people know it was founded right here in the Portland area—in Milwaukie, Oregon. Restored Hope’s event will feature controversial perspectives and responses from many whom claim to be “successful former homosexuals.” Jason T. Ingram, a Portland native, has been traveling the US for six years, presenting his stories of religious abuse brought on by the ex-gay movement. Ingram came out as gay/bi in 2006 after finishing an anti-gay residential program in 2005, as well as other ex-gay programs. 4pm, doors open. 4:30pm, reception and potluck. 6pm, presentation. 7:15pm, Q&A. Kairos UCC, 4790 Logus Road, Milwaukie. SUNDAY, JUNE 29 Peacock in the Park returns! Maria, Poison, all their friends, all your friends, sunshine, and a gorgeous, rose-filled park. Go read our cover story. WEDNESDAY, JULY 9 Habitat for Humanity’s second annual “Women Build.” (Also a dine-out fundraiser.) Local restaurants will be donating a percentage of their profits to Habitat for Humanity Women Build to help raise much-needed money for building homes. Women Build works in partnership with Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East to plan and build homes in partnership with a crew of women volunteers. Women Build engages women of every race, age, and skill level to plan and build all aspects of a healthy and affordable home alongside a hardworking local family. All proceeds raised from this event go directly to the Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build fund. If you are a restaurant, food cart, coffee shop or bar that is interested in participating in Eat, Drink, Build please feel free to contact Tor Ostrom at 503-287-9529 x12. FRIDAY, JULY 11 Q10: Celebrate Q Center’s 10th birthday this Friday at Q10 – A Decade of Q Center! Hosted by comedian Belinda Carroll and everyone’s favorite drag clown Carla Rossi, with a variety of performances, including one by the Caravan of GLAM. 5pm, Q Center, 4115 N. Mississippi. $10, but no one turned away for lack of funds. SATURDAY, JULY 12 The Mississippi Street Fair is back! The Mississippi Street Fair is a community-building event that celebrates the residents, businesses and organizations from N. Fremont to N. Skidmore on Mississippi Ave. Proceeds go to Boise-Eliot Elementary, the Boise Business Youth Unity Project, and Self Enhancement, Inc. Brought to you by the Historic Mississippi Ave Business Association (HMBA). Find out more at www.mississippiave. com and on twitter @mississippifair.
JUNE 25-26: Enjoy the premiere reading of a bold new addition to the canon of queer theater when defunkt theatre presents a staged reading of No More Candy, written by PQ Monthly’s own Leela Ginelle, directed by Andrew Klaus-Vineyard, and presented as part of the 2014 OUTwright Theatre Festival. When college students Belinda and Desiree find one another, their match stirs demons in both. Belinda, a confrontational activist, starts to trace her anger back to its sources, while self-destructive transwoman Desiree learns to shed her masks. Praised as a sexy, political, heartfelt and raw look at riot grrls in love, you will kick yourself if you miss this premiere. June 24 and 25, show begins at 7:30; defunkt theatre, 4319 SE Hawthorne, Portland. Tickets are free, but space is limited — RSVP to defunkt.theatre@gmail.com.
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MUSIC NEWS Want more? We’ll give you everything. Head over to pqmonthly.com and check out our online calendar of events, submit your own events, and peruse photos from your reporters-about-town. Also, remember to carefully examine our weekly weekend forecast — with the latest and greatest events — each Wednesday (sometimes Thursday), online only. --DANIEL BORGEN
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DANCE IT OUT
FIRST SUNDAYS Bridge Club. A slew of stellar deejays play music on the city’s most treasured patio. Old Boys Club regularly welcomes special guests. Snack, mingle, get down. Bridge club is delighted to announce its permanent new home—Vendetta! 3pm, Vendetta, 4306 N Williams. Free EVERY SUNDAY. Superstar Divas. Bolivia Carmichaels, Honey Bea Hart, Topaz Crawford, Isaiah Tillman, and guest stars perform your favorite pop, Broadway, and country hits. Dance floor opens after the show. The Drag Queen Hunger Games are over, and the shows must go on! Check out the newest and freshest Diva hits. 8pm, CC Slaughters, 219 NW Davis. Free! 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 hiphop-heavy soiree night every Thursday night at CCs. Midnight guest performers and shows. 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. 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 TUESDAYS Bi Bar—every second Tuesday at Crush, and it’s an open, bi-affirming space for music and mingling. Correction: Bi/Pan/Fluid/Queer. 8pm, Crush, 1400 SE Morrison. SECOND FRIDAYS Slo Jams is a Queer Modern R&B & Neo Soul Dance Night at Local Lounge. DJ II TRILL (TWERK) and DJ MEXXX-TAPE lay down everything from Mary J // Jagged Edge// Keyshia to Badu//Lauryn Etc. 10pm, Local Lounge, 3536 NE MLK. $5. SECOND SATURDAYS Hot Flash: Inferno. (Second and Fourth Saturdays) In the heart of Portland is where the women are—dancing the night away and burning up dance floors the second and fourth Saturdays of every month at Trio. Welcoming all women, queers, and their allies. 6pm-10pm, Trio, 909 E. Burnside. Mrs.: The queen of theme welcomes its new hostess, Kaj-Anne Pepper! And dynamic DJ duo: Beyondadoubt and Ill Camino. Costumes, photo booths, all the hits. 10pm, Mississippi Studios, 3939 N. Mississippi. $5.
THURSDAY, JULY 10: The Hollywood Theatre will screen the award-winning film, “Call Me Kuchu.” This will be the film’s Portland premiere. “Call Me Kuchu” follows the lives of David Kato and other Ugandan LGBTI activists as they work to combat increasing anti-gay legislation and homophobia after visits to Uganda by radical Christian evangelical activists (Scott Lively, a former Portlander, foremost among them). Along with the screening, The Hollywood Theatre, along with event organizers, will bring two Ugandan LGBT activists who are featured prominently in the film to participate in a Q&A panel following the film. 7pm, Hollywood Theater, 4122 NE Sandy.
SECOND SUNDAYS Beat It at Black Book: Samuel Thomas has a beautiful new night all for you at one of the city’s most exciting new(ish) venues. A monthly event celebrating everything from beards and tattoos to butch queens. Mark your calendars: second Sundays. Hosted by JC Powers, killer deejays. 7pm, Black Book, 20 NW Third. $3 (free if you have a mailed invite) THIRD WEDNESDAYS Comedy at Crush: Belinda Carroll and a slew of locals rustle up some funny. Special guests, and Crush’s signature cocktail and food menus. Donations, sliding scale. (Comics have to eat and drink, too!) Crush, 1400 SE Morrison. 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 no idea what to do with us when we pour in. Hint: it’s always the Thursday we go to press. 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 Burlescape! Burlesque & boylesque wrapped in a taste of tease! Zora Phoenix, Isaiah Esquire, Tod Alan. (And there’s more than that, kids.) Zora is a treat and a treasure—and so are her shows. Try one out! 9pm, Crush, 1400 SE Morrison. $10. Gaycation: DJ Charming always welcomes special guests. Be early so you can actually get a drink. Sweaty deliciousness, hottest babes. THE party. 9pm, Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison. $5. FOURTH FRIDAYS Twerk. DJs ILL Camino and II Trill. Keywords: bring your twerk. The city’s longest-running queer hip hop/ R&B party--where artists, deejays, performers come to mix, mingle, and move on the dance floor. Established fun, all night long. 9pm, Local Lounge, 3536 NE MLK. $5. FOURTH SATURDAYS 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. LAST THURSDAYS Laid Out, Bridgetown’s newest gay dance party. Seriously, the posters read: “gay dance party.” I. Love. This. Party. Thursdays are a real thing again. Deejays Gossip Cat and Pocket Rock-It, with photos by Eric Sellers. 9pm, Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison. $3 after 10pm.
MONDAY, JULY 21: The days are getting longer, brighter, and warmer, and it’s an excellent time to get your active socializing on. Seriously, Gay Skate is a joy. Meet queers and mingle with them outside the bar setting — maybe your dream lover will ask you to hold hands during couples’ skate. And there are themes now! Themes! True story. Come dressed to impress and wine prizes. And, you know, you’ll probably get a date. Food drive for Take Action Inc. 7pm, Oaks Park, 7805 SE Oaks Park Way. $6.
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PERSPECTIVES
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VOICES
THE SECRET LIFE OF SUMMER SEASONS Reading is Fundamental, but Being Hateful Isn’t.
By Summer Seasons, Special to PQ Monthly
I’ve always said I was raised by wolves when I was first becoming a drag queen. They taught me how to do everything—hair, makeup, the works, but those girls were mean.
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Somehow, however, I escaped most of their wrath as I seemed to be a fun little project for them. Soon I inherited their traits of reading people when they came for me—and how to be mean to people as a way to avoid letting anyone get close. I used it as a defense to cover my own insecurities and, after a while, it seemed people were afraid of me, but finally starting to respect me. To me, I had finally made it; I earned the things I was looking for in the drag scene, and I was ready to conquer the world. Everyone hated me, however, because I was such a hateful person. Nobody wanted to work with me because they knew I was just going to be rude for no reason. I didn’t know any of these people, and I talked so much smack about them because I figured I was better than them. It turns out, I wasn’t at all. I figured relying on pretty was what was going to take me places, but if you couldn’t become friends with the cast, they didn’t want to work with you. Nobody liked being around the person who didn’t want to say hello, who snickered in the corner about you with their friends, and who laughed at you for trying hard. One fateful day, my dear friend Monica Boulevard sat me down, and asked me why I was so angry. I didn’t have a good answer. I couldn’t figure out why I had so much negativity inside myself or why I was trying to make life miserable for everyone else. She said to me, “If you let go of the negative, and focus on only pushing positivity back into the world, it’ll eventually come back to you.” After
some hesitation I decided to try it. It worked and it worked well. From that moment forward, I made a promise to myself to purge the negative and focus only on positive. My life has been full of wonderful blessings and career advancements since. I’m not saying the art of reading is over for me, I’m just saying I look at the whole thing differently now. My friends now love me for the fact that I can be quick witted about their or my own faults without taking it to the place of being mean. I now joke with them instead of about them. There are plenty of days when the Library is open, but the hateful store is now closed. I don’t go give unsolicited critique to people I don’t know. I don’t speak hate speech to people because I feel them inferior. Instead I choose to build this place, my friends and my community, up. By all means please don’t stop laughing, and please keep on joking, but stop being hateful. Say hi to a stranger, hug someone you just met, volunteer your time for charity, then tell your best friend his shoes don’t match his purse. You’ll have a much better day because of it. There is never a perfect amount of success, and heaven knows I struggle, but I’ll be the first in line to make fun of myself and you should be too. Ms. Seasons is a regular performer at Darcelle’s—you can see her all weekend long—and a regular hostess at a variety of charity events around the city.
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PERSPECTIVES
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VOICES
ID CHECK
PERSPECTIVES
Hate Didn’t Win By Leela Ginelle, PQ Monthly
A year and a half into my transition, the HR Director from my work informed me that people had threatened to protest outside my workplace because of my presence. They’d seen a picture of me, taken surreptitiously, and, infuriated that their complaints did not lead to my immediate removal, announced their intention to picket. My temerity at not presenting as male after having been assigned so, was clearly too much for them. In attempting to explain this to co-workers, I realized it was my identity, my insistence on inhabiting a life in which I reflected my inner self in my outer expression, that my detractors found objectionable. Perhaps realizing they’d lost, that their petition had not found sympathetic ears, the “protestors” never showed. Their specter shocked me, though. It may even have eradicated the last of my internal transphobia. “You and your ignorant, smallminded rules, your cowering, slavish adherence to received norms, deserve none of my patience or consideration,” I thought, in retaliation, and in a voice that’s grown in volume and conviction as time has passed. While I’ve felt correct, though, and cheer at being on the seemingly victorious side of the culture wars, I weary of feeling chained to those who hate me. “Religious freedom,” “bathroom bill,” “privacy.” Those words trip some lever inside me that says my autonomy is threatened, and peak my ire. Wouldn’t I be happier, I ask, ignoring conservative types, who appear to value rules more than people? Isn’t society evolving? Isn’t my life, my actual life in which I interact with humans rather than websites, marked, with few exceptions, by complete tolerance and acceptance? A brush with actual hatred had sparked the same in me. It’s probably worth reclaiming the real estate these phantom enemies have taken up in my mind. I grew up at a time when transgender children told their parents who they were, and were told by those parents, in no uncertain terms, they were wrong. All of society privileged “the rules” above those of us whom they harmed and deemed the suffering this caused us a byproduct of our “illness.” In my lifetime this has begun to change. Warily, I’ve watched “the culture,” from behind my screen, mistrustful, as, growing up I’d only ever seen “the culture” express the most vile, bigoted transphobia imaginable. Daily I tracked it, like one with PTSD, in disbelief that it might actually become more tolerant and enlightened. Parents listening to and affirming their children? Comedians apologizing for hateful
jokes about transw o m e n ? Tra n s gender celebrities? Witnessing previously unimaginable occurrences such as these, a swelling tide seemingly greater than the backlash that accompanied them, optimism grew in me. All the while, my surveillance felt vital, as though if I didn’t know the daily activities, the advances and setbacks of “the movement,” I might be caught off guard, and, as I was with the threatened protest, perhaps imperiled. From time to time, too, I struggled with the question of why I wasn’t perpetually enraged with everyone around me for the losses our culture’s transphobia had cost me, in terms of fulfillment, self-esteem, peace of mind, and decades I’d spent more or less forcibly misgendered, which I’ll never recover. While I could occasionally access that kind of all-encompassing rage, though, it was always momentary, unlike the festering resentment I felt toward those on the conservative side of the culture. Fixating on people who make an occupation of opposing my existence, though, and viewing my life through the lens of a trench war with them, has lost any attraction it might once have had. Over and over in my early transition, I was told by people how courageous they believed me to be. Inside I felt they had no idea how difficult what I was doing was, and, in my sensitivity, regarded their comments as condescending. Upon reflection, though, I’d guess their compliments were an expression of sympathy, of both admiration and of admission at the very incomprehension I’d been resenting. I don’t think it’s lost on anyone how transphobic our society is, and, until meeting someone who’s transitioning, it probably never occurs to anyone how painful it might be, at times, to be transgender. My pride today lays in the humility with which I’ve been able to live my life in my transition, pursuing it as though I was no better or worse than any other person. Self-acceptance during my transition was often difficult, as I was facing things about myself I’d hitherto hidden, and my very concept of self seemed so unstable. Slowly the belief that my equality, in every sense, existed beyond question grew inside me, though. The people who mirror that belief are the ones who helped sustain me through my transition’s darkest moments, and proved to me that love and acceptance are stronger than any hate.
Leela Ginelle is a playwright and journalist living in Portland, OR. You can write her at leela@pqmonthly.com. pqmonthly.com
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VOICES
Steve Strode, Realtor®
• Accredited Buyer’s Representative • Certified International Property Specialist • Portland metro & global real estate services
WHISKEY & SYMPATHY
Dear Monika and Gula:
I’ve been dating this guy for a few months now--he’s sweet and lovely and we mostly get along. I’ve met his friends and we’ve started socializing in each others’ groups. But something strange happened last Saturday night. We were at his apartment with his friends, drinking and being merry, when he asked me to open my Facebook page and “tell him who had topped me.” I refused, clearly, and it became this whole thing. I’ve been the exclusive top so far, sort of accidentally, and I was informed he has “no interest” in ever topping me, and he might lose all respect for me if he does. Huh? I tried to talk to him about it and it started to escalate, so I dropped it. But what the fuck am I supposed to do? I like this guy a lot, but am I never to be penetrated again? Do I kiss the joy of versatility goodbye for emotional happiness? Help!
Versatile on NW Vaughn
Cut through the noise with Sage advice
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Dear Versatile:
Versatile,
Monika MHz
I ain’t got no time for someone who doesn’t have time to expand their horizons and make sex about both of our pleasure. Let’s talk this out. He enjoys getting plowed. You enjoy farming. You enjoy getting nailed. He is 100% against the construction industry. He is unwilling to hammer with his, uhh, hammer, or a fake hammer, or his fingers — OK, admittedly that one got away from me. If you can feel Jerry McGuire levels of sexual fulfillment with living the farm life in the long term, then I suggest taking a go at this. However, if, as I suspect, you don’t think you’d be sexually fulfilled without some construction work in your future, he is being awfully selfish with his power tool. Sex is about two people in the moment, but a sex life in a committed relationship is about two people’s needs and desires over the sexual arc. And while that arc is long, it should bend towards justice — or in some cases a bit to the left. If he isn’t committed to sexual justice in the relationship, then his boner is being awfully selfish. Sex is all about him and his needs, and when you brought up your needs it turned into a fight. Fuck that. Get someone who will be versatile. If he liked it, then he should have put his thing in it. I know, that felt like the end, but there’s one more thing. He told you to open your FB page and tell him who topped you? He told you he’d lose all respect for you if he topped you? Girl, he has some issues. There is something deeper going in here, and I do not like it — no pun intended. His extreme discomfort with the idea of you being topped to the point of trying to examine your past for evidence and to erase it from your future sounds like some internalized homophobia, and femmephobia with a smattering of my abusive and controlling ex. Beware the man that wants to control your b-hole in past, present and future. Which is why I recommend you both don’t vote Republican, and that you let this guy lapse like a gym membership. Even if he turns a 180 and gets behind you on the sex thing, he’s still got some warning lights flashing. This is a construction zone, and it’s time for a better metaphor.
Love, MHz
Gula
This is the classic story of “Tales of Two Bottoms” Actually, this is a story about sex – not a relationship. The yarn I’m about to weave may help you get fucked by your power/hungry bottom boy. You are a prince, adapting your preferences to please your partner. Once upon a time, there was a verse prince in a relationship with a greedy little bottom. This bottom (we will call him Greedy) needed to awaken to the splendor of a sexually adventurous, open, non-judging and non-self-hating, homophobic sex life. Greedy was happy with the power of being the top in the relationship and getting the fulfillment of bottoming in the sheets. Night after night, the prince would find himself wrapped in the arms of his beloved, performing his“masculine gender role” while feeling a bit empty. He longed for the night he might get ravaged and share in his partner’s delight. At a feast, drunk Greedy embarrassed the prince by wanting him to point out any knights in the kingdom who had jousted him. Mortified by the tacky inquisition, the prince wondered if he was in a union with a succubus. One day, our prince called out to the heavens for an answer—and who appeared in a flash of purple and black smoke? Gula! In a fitted, sparkling gown with a flawless, beat face that appeared to be glowing; it was his fairy god monster. “My child,” Gula hissed. “It’s time for you to follow my directions! So go wash your butt. Then you need to plan a date with Greedy, make him a bit of dinner and pour him a few of his favorite brews. Unbeknownst to him, you are treating him like a king, powerful and taken care of. When it’s time to retire to your bedchamber, that’s when you will cast your tantalizing spell. Play your role as normal, treating him like you are going to pillage his village. Chant mantras of his hotness; tell him you’re burning for him. Instead of him on his back with his legs wrapped around your waist, you will lay on him, slithering like a snake and letting your naked flesh rub. Kiss and caress him. When you’re ready, raise his hands over his head, and hold them. Sit up and start rocking on his sword. Use your taint. Then repeat. This spell is a slow builder, so you might need to wait a fortnight to try it again. In time, he will succumb to your powers and hopefully put it in you. You just sensually took charge like a top, but planted a seed in Greedy’s head that you can still be powerful, ‘manly,’ and it can be hot if you both share the pole and the hole.” With a wink and a pat on the butt, Gula turns to the mirror, raises an eyebrow, and she is off in another cloud of smoke. Versatile on NW Vaughn, if this story doesn’t help, maybe it’s time to just tell him you want some dick too! Or it’s off to the stocks with you. There are other handsome heroes, leading men, and warriors out there that can TAKE you happily ever after. THE END. Love,
Gula
Need some advice from Monika and Gula? Send your query — with “Whiskey & Sympathy” in the subject line — to info@pqmonthly.com.
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Monika MHz is a DJ, queer trans Latina, and a feminist/Xicanista whose relationship status is “it’s complicated” with dubstep. Kinky, prudish, sexty, or cyber; survival, straight, queer, gay, double queer (with a trans woman), or lesbian — if it’s sex, or a mistake, she’s been there, done that. Monika is an activist working hard for marginalized populations and runs a program offering in-home HIV testing for trans women. When not writing, she’s probably off somewhere making a dick joke or peeing while sitting down, like a champ.
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.
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June/July 2014 • 35
GAY SKATE WITH PQ Oaks Park Roller Skating Rink
For Gay Skate July we will meet on the 21st from 7-9pm
THEME FOR JULY IS: Madonna & Michael Jackson THE THEME FOR AUGUST IS: Summertime at the beach Follow us on Facebook for details
ADMISSION $6.00 PQ Monthly is proud to partner with Take Action Inc for their “Backpack program.” This program fills backpacks, utilizing YOUR Gay Skate food donations, for Oregon kids pre-kindergarten to 8th grade, so they do not go hungry over the weekends. Thank you for donating to this most worthy program. Please visit www.pqmonthly.com/ partnerships and click on “Take Action Inc” to view their list of preferred foods.
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VOICES
STANDING TOGETHER: REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS AND LGBTQ RIGHTS
Our progress is rooted in the same principles that underlie reproductive rights: that politicians should not get to decide what you do with your body or what your family looks like, and that rights in this country should not depend on the state you live in. By Jimmy Radosta, Special for PQ Monthly
In the 45 years since the Stonewall riots — where the modern LGBTQ movement was born —we’ve seen extraordinary progress on LGBTQ rights in this country, including last year’s historic ruling against the Defense of Marriage Act and 2011’s repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Here in Oregon we finally achieved marriage equality in May, and we’re one of only five states that have affirmed that transition care for transgender individuals should be considered an essential part of medical coverage. This progress is rooted in the same principles that underlie reproductive rights: that politicians should not get to decide what you do with your body or what your family looks like, and that rights in this country should not depend on the state you live in. We at Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon believe that reproductive rights are deeply connected to civil rights for all Americans. We have long stood with LGBTQ people in the struggle for full equality — many of whom turn to Planned Parenthood for health care, information and education. Members of the LGBTQ community face greater obstacles to obtaining and benefiting from sexual and reproductive health services than non-LGBTQ people. In addition to high rates of stress due to systematic harassment and discrimination — which has been shown to affect physical and mental health — LGBTQ people face low rates of health insurance coverage, high rates of HIV/AIDS and cancer, and high rates of discrimination from medical providers. LGBTQ people of color are at an even higher risk for these disparities. This is why Planned Parenthood health centers throughout Oregon welcome LGBTQ patients for STD testing and treatment, lifesaving cancer screenings, and other preventive services. Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette’s “Equal Access Fund” helps provide gynecological exams for women and trans men who aren’t covered by state pregnancy-prevention funding but meet the same economic requirements. Planned Parenthood also delivers sex education that covers the full range of topics affecting sexual health, and we propqmonthly.com
vide sensitive and accurate information on sexual orientation and gender identity to Oregonians of all ages every day. Oregon is one of only 12 states to require its sexual health curriculum to be medically accurate. This means that, in the rest of the country, young people are receiving false information about birth control’s effectiveness and the right way to prevent STDs. While this country has seen significant strides in the LGBTQ movement in recent years, there is still work to be done. This year Oregonians faced the possibility of a ballot measure that could have allowed corporations to deny services to same-sex couples. Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule this month on a lawsuit that could allow corporations like Hobby Lobby to deny their employees insurance coverage for birth control because of their personal beliefs. This could create a slippery slope and let bosses deny a whole host of other medical procedures based on their own personal beliefs – such as vaccines, surgeries, blood transfusions and mental health care. The bottom line is this: When secular, for-profit corporations hire and serve the general public, they shouldn’t get to pick and choose which laws to follow. Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon vows continued support for any future legislative efforts that will allow for greater access to health care and information for the LGBTQ community in our state. At Planned Parenthood, we realize that our incredible patients and supporters don’t comprise any one identity, and we’re grateful for the many volunteers, staff and supporters of all genders and identities who work every day to ensure that Oregonians get the health care and information they need. This year, 45 years after the birth of the modern LGBTQ movement at Stonewall, we are committed now more than ever to fighting for LGBTQ rights. We know the only way we can move forward — all of us together — is by standing side by side.
Exceptional, personalized, comprehensive care for your best friend. 1737 NE Alberta suite 102 Portland, OR 97211
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Jimmy Radosta is the Communications Director for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon. For more information visit PPAOregon.org. June/July 2014 • 37
EVENTS
JASON STUART RETURNS TO BRIDGETOWN FOR PRIDE By Belinda Carroll, PQ Monthly
When I was a tiny g a y b a by, l o n g before I became a stand-up comic, I watched a lot of stand-up comedy. Especially LGBT comedy. So in 2007, about a year before I tried stand-up for the first time, I saw Jason Stuart on LOGO’s “Wisecrack.” I was instantly in love. A gay Don RIckles, he both spit the truth and charmed; his razor sharp wit kept the audience laughing throughout. Fast forward to about six months ago: My friend Tere Joyce, a comedian who was a finalist on “Last Comic Standing,” emailed me. A friend of Stuart, she heard he wanted to perform in Portland. She thought I’d be a perfect fit because I have been producing a comedy show for Portland’s LGBT Pride festival for the last 5 years. Past performers have included Kelli Dunham, Vicki Shaw, Gloria Bigelow, Sandra Valls and the illustrious ANT. I knew that Stuart fit the bill for the 5th anniversary to a tee. I have to admit, as a comic that is a Portland native, I feel lucky to work with the people I work with (#humblebrag). So, when I called Stuart to pitch the show, I wondered what was going to transpire. Was he going to be as acerbic as his stage persona? He has over 175 TV and film credits, is he going to demand 120 obscure things in his rider and 500 million dollars in small bills? (I read a lot of SmokingGun.com.) To my surprise, as we spoke, he was soft-spoken and almost apologetic about his fame. Or as he puts it, his “kinda maybe fame,” while in the same breath talking about working on his newest project, “Love is Strange,” with luminaries like John Lithgow and Marisa Tomei. Because of course, we all do films with John Lithgow every day. What transpired was a fast friendship (although we haven’t met in person), and lot of laughs. It ends up Stuart is as funny offstage as he is on. So when I sat down with him to talk about is various film projects as well as our upcoming shows, I felt like I was talking to a close friend. PQ Monthly: I am so excited about having you here, because we just passed got marriage equality, so this should be quite the Pride. Jason Stuart: Oh, that’s exciting. The only the thing is a lot of people are going to have to get remarried. PQ: Oh I know! I have a lot of people that were married in 2004 here, and they’re going to have to redo their marriage. Those who have been married for ten years but have to get remarried. And it’s the 20th anniversary of Dyke March. JS: There’s so much to talk about! PQ: I know, it’ll be great. So what do you 38 • June/July 2014
have coming up? You have like 100 films coming up right now. What do you have? Like Gay is Good? [Stuart laughs] JS: No, just a couple [of films]. One is called “Big Gay Love.” I play a Republican gay guy and I’m the put upon husband with a kid I don’t really want. [Belinda Laughs] And of course, “Love is Strange” as well as “DIRTY” with Roger Guenveur Smith, Tony Denison and my pal Alexandra Paul, and my web series “MENTOR” which is coming soon. PQ: So you’re not busy at all. What are you looking for as far as Portland? Have you looked up things to do? JS: I’m single and ready to mingle. I just hope to find some boy that is ready to do what he’s told. [Belinda laughs] PQ: I get that. I was in Eugene at University of Oregon this weekend and there was this girl in the front row, and she was a cute little butch, and I said “How old are you?” and she said ‘19’ and I said, “Oh, you are soft and tender, like veal.” [Stuart laughs] JS: That’s funny. PQ: I have to tell you why I wanted you to do this show. JS: Go ahead. PQ: Because my friend Tere [Joyce] contacted me and as soon as she told me I was like “Oh my god, I’ve loved him since I saw him on Logo!” JS: Aww, really? PQ: Haven’t I told you that? JS: No! PQ: Oh yeah, I had that [Wisecrack] on TiVo and watched it several times. I loved it. JS: And now were doing Boise Pride too! Our big two city tour. [Belinda laughs] PQ: Yeah, our big, big city tour! But you’re also a mentor to gay youth, you have your podcast Absolutely Jason Stuart, and you’ve had people on like Carrie Preston and Nelly from “Little House on The Prairie.” [Alison Arngrim]. JS: Oh yeah, I just had her on! PQ: I was raised in a religious household, so we could watch anything with Michael Landon, so that was special to me. Because at that point, TV was magic. JS: I still get excited. PQ: I am a huge fan girl actually. Like I just worked in Eugene with Edna Vazquez. She’s an extraordinarily talented Spanish guitar singer/songwriter, and she’s very quiet. But she’s got this other worldly voice. And I am just, “I can’t talk to you, because I like you.” JS: Now I’m nervous because what if I don’t live up to your expectations? PQ: Don’t worry about it, now we’re friends, and I won’t be as nervous. JS: You promise? Well, I couldn’t be more excited about this show. PQ: I’m excited too! JS: I’ll see you on June 12. You can check out more with Jason Stuart at http://www.jasonstuart.com. And join us at the show June 12 at Funhouse.http://www. brownpapertickets.com/event/685671 pqmonthly.com
THE GOOD LIFE
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FEATURE
CASCADIA EXPANDING LGBTQQ ADDICTION AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES On February 11, Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare announced plans to increase their alcohol and drug treatment services to Portland’s LGBTQQ community. “The LGBTQQ population is greatly underserved and requires a culturally-specific approach,” according to CEO Derald Walker. “Cascadia has offered services to the community through the Triangle Project for 30 years. Our plan is to expand the Triangle model.” The Triangle Project is staffed by certified counselors who are members of the LGBTQQ community. It offers a safe place for sexual minorities to explore personal and societal issues as well as offering support and treatment for addictions of all types. Services include individual and group counseling, alcohol and drug treatment, mental health services, diversion and DMV certification, and ongoing recovery support. Few dispute our community’s occasional over-reliance on substances to “celebrate,” and the queer population tends to be more prone to addiction and substance abuse than our heteronormative counterparts. “In reading what others have written regarding the high rate of prevalence of substance abuse and the causes for it among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual identified people, I can only agree,” says Emma Nichols, addictions counselor and Triangle team member. “I agree with the dynamics underlying the vulnerabilities towards addictive behavior, such as bars and celebrations where substance use is a big part of those activities. Also, the stress of oppression will seek relief, healthy or unhealthy. Among the trans population, however, determining how widespread the use of psychoactive chemicals and behavioral addiction is becomes more problematic.” For example, according to Cascadia, transgender is studied as “disease outcome,” rather than as a population of persons with their own particular health determinants and concerns. Also, trans folk are far more likely to be studied as vectors of HIV and other STIs. Acknowledging that services are needed in a queer-specific, queer-friendly environment gets a little tricky, according to Nichols. “At one extreme there are those individuals who are so deeply in the pre-discovery stage of their gender expression or have internalized an intolerant and negative social dynamic of their immediate social influence group that they are unable to admit to themselves, much less others, that their internal gender experience is in direct conflict with the conceptions of the significant people in their lives. It would be surprising to find anyone at that stage of discovery anywhere near anything which might even passingly pqmonthly.com
indicate even the slightest hint that they are anything other than a member of the social binary to which they were mandated to be. It is conceivable that someone of this mind would go out of their way to avoid a ‘queerfriendly environment.’ And it would not be uncommon for somebody in that state to moderate that significant internal stress with chemicals, or behaviors such as hypermasculinity. At the other extreme are those individuals who have fully realized who they are and live confidently in that knowledge. Oddly enough, much of the motivation to distort an untenable reality is eliminated for persons in that level of self-actualization. However, for many people in the community, going to a provider who has little awareness of trans, or queer, experience will certainly have an increased chance of a negative experience. And there are many providers that are actively hostile to the LGBT community, though they advertise themselves as compassionate and healing. And for those people referred to in the previous paragraph, should they encounter one of these providers, the potential for serious adverse consequences it not small; think reparative therapy and suicide.” Another benefit of receiving services at a LGBTQ welcoming, safe, and knowledgeable environment is that those individuals, if they are able to attend groups more specific to their respective expressions, then there is the empowerment of connection, shared experience and developing a common language and culture. At this time there is an evolution in the social construct, and I would say especially as it applies to the trans* population, this is the early stages of defining and redefining, on our own terms, what our culture and tribe are going to be. There is much more power of liberation when it involves the people who are struggling for that victory working as a collective.” Cascadia provides a critical safety net for about 12,000 people each year who struggle with mental illness, addictions, and who as a community are disproportionately impacted by physical health issues, poverty and homelessness, and other disparities. Cascadia provides a continuum of crisis intervention, a range of residential treatment, supportive housing, homeless services, and independent housing, integrated mental health and addictions outpatient services, and much more. For more on Cascadia, including more perspectives from staff members, stay with PQ online. Or visit them at http://www.cascadiabhc.org/.
--Compiled by PQ Monthly Staff
PQ Podcasts! MONTHLY
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VOICES
THE LADY CHRONICLES Like Margot, Lady at the (Group) Wedding, Part 2 By Daniel Borgen, PQ Monthly
May 2014: It’s a sunny Monday morning; I’m sitting at a table at Crush, manning my trusty laptop, scouring news sites and waiting, like the rest of the city, for the court’s decision on marriage equality. I look around the bar — the very full, emotional bar — and see all manner of queer in attendance. They’re guessing what might happen; everyone has a story to tell. The thought of marriage is still so foreign to me, but it’s an historic moment, one like most of us haven’t seen in our lifetimes; the anticipation causes my nervous sweats to go into overdrive. I always run hot; it’s a curse. May 2006: It’s springtime; Alan and I are settling into our quaint cottage home in downtown Vancouver. My brother, sisterin-law, and I had just finished a cross-state trek to southern California; we swooped down, picked him up, packed his things into my brother’s truck and, before our long journey home, we met the rest of my family in Monterrey for vacation. Alan and I have known each other for years — over five, to be exact; our romance has conquered time and state lines, and it’s the first time anyone with whom I share blood relation meets anyone I share my bed with. To top it off, I had a pair of dear friends meet us there, too. Monterrey was a blur of beaches, sunshine, grilled meats, and celebrity sightings. (Fabio!) I realize I never really gave Alan enough credit for that trip; that took some guts. May 2014: Back in the bar, I’m near so many close friends I can’t count them. Our eyes are glued to the television screen, and we see Jeana Frazzini approach a podium — behind her we see the plaintiffs in the case, and a large throng of familiar faces. She leans into her microphone: “It’s a win!” The crowds around both of us erupt, and I’m in a sea of strong, tights hugs and tears. I make my way around the room, kissing everyone in my path. I’m elated and relieved. The feeling is difficult to explain; it’s not like I won a million dollars — one more thing is now on an even playing field. Life just feels more equal. Like how it was always supposed to be. May 2009: About a year ago, after two great ones that included holidays with families, nightly meals together, and trips away, Alan and I talked seriously about marriage — what it would mean for us, if we could ever do it. Since it wasn’t a real option, we took measures to protect each other, with health insurance, life insurance, car titles, bank accounts. All the things that were so automatic for half our peers were not for us. Now, though, our relationship has started to deteriorate. We spend months verbally retracing our many failed steps: Did we move in together too soon? Were we
friends for too long — or not long enough? Is living in downtown Vancouver making us unhappy? Did we even try? May 2014: After the big announcement, hundreds gather at the Melody Ballroom to celebrate and watch couples marry and re-marry. Some first made it official in 2004, had it taken away, and get to do it again, without a lingering fear of take-backs. Wedding paraphernalia is everywhere: Décor, cakes and goodies, champagne and all manner of adult beverage, and revelers. Upstairs in the chapel, it’s a more somber affair, with sniffles and tears and vows. One by one, couples come downstairs, each one announced as they cross the threshold into the reception hall. A couple is announced; the crowd roars. May 2009: To date, spring of 2009 is the most painful and difficult of my life. Alan and I waited far too long before deciding to see a therapist, and the damage done is irreversible. Our sublime, happy coupling morphed into spying, half-truths, and distrust, and it is a far cry from where we started. Too ashamed to admit to my family I failed, I rely on my friends and put on a brave face. Though my life is upended and I can’t make heads or tails of a thing, I am regularly thankful I don’t have to hire a divorce lawyer; we can split everything far more casually. What I save in fees, I pay for tenfold with heartache. Perhaps not a marriage by name, it certainly felt like one; it will be years before I date again. May 2014: Although therapy and time have provided a safe distance from my most serious, failed pairing, I can’t help but think of Alan today. It’s been a long time since my mind has gone there. What outside forces played a role in our demise? How did societal pressure and norms play a part? Impossible to say now — and when you’re in the thick of romantic disaster, it hardly matters, but of one thing I’m sure: Equal footing can only give us a better shot of surviving life intact with our loved ones. Things can only improve with one less obstacle in our way. And marriage is just the start. Last week, an old lover returned to the city for a quick, pre-Pride summer jaunt. We dated fairly regularly last summer, and toyed with the idea of becoming an item. My war wounds and battle scars have long faded; they’re a part of me, but they’re so faint I have to squint to see them. My lover and I are great in private, less so in public. “You just need someone to calm you down, to tame you,” he tells me. “You are so big and loud sometimes.” I’ve heard that one before, and correct him: “Loud, proud, and unapologetic. You and I should stick to the bedroom.” And I wish him well on his journey.
Daniel@PQMonthly.com 42 • June/July 2014
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VOICES
In This Heart By Nick Mattos, PQ Monthly
7) I step down the stairs, out of the light of the bright spring day into the basement of an event space in inner Southeast Portland. The air is thick with excitement — all around me, people hug one another, bunches of balloons hang on the wall, obscenely large trays of food beckon. It isn’t even 2 PM yet this Monday afternoon, and half the room has champagne flutes in hand. “Are you one of the officiants?” a woman holding a clip board asks me with the weary joy of someone happy to be doing a difficult job. “Not today,” I say, smiling back at her. It is May 19, 2014. Marriage equality has finally come to Oregon, and I am in attendance at the most natural celebration for such an occasion: a mass gay wedding. 8) In “Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage,” writer Elizabeth Gilbert explains a peculiar but eminently logical wedding tradition from Laos. Everyone invited to a wedding returns the invitation they received to the marrying couple, folding it into an envelope and filling it with a gift of cash; the newlyweds then keep an exact ledger of how much each person gave. The reason for this is where the elegant reasoning comes in: when a wedding invitation arrives in the future, the couple consults the ledger and then gives back the exact amount of money the people in the couple gave them, plus a tiny bit more as interest, at their wedding. “The wedding money, then, is not really a gift,” Gilbert explains. “It’s an exhaustively catalogued and ever-shifting loan, circulating from one family to the next as each new couple starts a life together.” 10) A great roar passes through the room; I look and see two newly-married men walking hand-in-hand down into the reception room. “They’ve been together seventeen years!” I hear one of their friends exclaim with tears in his eyes. “Now, they’re finally married!” 11) The first exposure that most Americans had to large-scale group weddings came in 1982 when the Reverend Sung Myung Moon, the leader of the Unification Church, held a “Blessing Ceremony” for 2,075 couples in Madison Square Garden. Frank Kaufmann, a leading scholar of the Church, explained the context for the mass wedding: “Unificationists believe that all the problems on Earth… are fruits of the fact that self-interest crept into the family… since the beginning, there has never been even one family whose members were not dominated by some significant degree of self-interest.”
(Part 2)
To mend this tear in the cosmic fabric, Unification Church members get their marriages blessed en masse to remove themselves from the lineage of self-interested earthly marriages. Instead, in sublimating themselves and their weddings into a larger communal experience, they dedicate themselves and their marriages to the establishment of the kingdom of Heaven on Earth. 12) The entire room breaks into cheering again — I’ve lost count how many newlywed couples have stepped down the stairs into the reception hall. “I wish that the people who were against marriage equality could see this,” a handsome man beside me says between sips of his champagne. “If they could see how much love was in this room, how happy it’s making a whole community of people, I couldn’t imagine they could keep believing this was somehow a bad thing.” 13) “This entire social contract was built on the collective understanding that, as a young bride and groom, your wedding money doesn’t belong to you,” Gilbert muses about the elegantly sensible Laotian tradition. “It belongs to the community, and the community must be paid back. With interest. To a certain extent, this means that your marriage doesn’t entirely belong to you, either; it also belongs to the community, which will be expecting a dividend out of your union. Your marriage, in effect, becomes a business in which everyone around you owns a literal share.” 14) I break free of the crowd downstairs, walk up to see a ceremony in progress: two brides holding hands, an officiant standing before them in her ceremonial robe, pronouncing them married. The couple turns to kiss one another; instinctively, I place my right hand upon my heart and feel it beating fast. I know that everything in this heart is something I will have to give back, every cell of muscle on loan from the earth, every electrical impulse zapping through on its way somewhere else, every emotion an heirloom I will have no choice but to pass along. In that moment, I am struck that the same is true for our relationships: they are sacred, certainly, great storehouses of resources and hope and love. They are also temporary, and ultimately we must pass along those resources we gather, the hope and love we collected, back into the community that gave them to us. Ultimately, our relationships, just like our hearts, aren’t our own. I turn towards the door of the ballroom, the bright sun of the afternoon streaming in, the joyous sound of the crowd below cheering for the newlyweds. Silently, I push the door open and step out into the light.
Nick Mattos is more freaked out than ever about officiating a wedding; find out how it went in the third installment of “In This Heart.” He can be reached at nick@pqmonthly.com. And before you ask: no, he’s definitely not a Unificationist.
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VOICES
The Bi Line Finding My Pride, or Lil’ Booblets McGee By Ginger Millay, PQ Monthly
FEATURES
Pride: A feeling of self-satisfaction, a mortal sin, a grouping of lions, an exuberant acceptance and celebration of one’s identity. The final definition is a focal point for many this month, as June 1 heralded the opening of Gay Pride. Strap in kids, we’re going to discuss a different kind of pride. Join me for a little trip through the nipple-studded history of yours truly. Today’s particular tale is very personal to me: My own pilgrimage to discovering the joy of having the itty bitty titties that stand proudly before me. I was in awe of boobs as early as I can remember—a pint-sized perv. I used to steal my father’s Playboy magazines, stick them in my pants, and climb a tree. I carefully flipped the pages, infatuated with the buxom beauties before me. I was thrilled for the day I would finally sprout my own boobies, and so perfectly fill out a bikini. But I had to be patient. Someday my tits would come. Fifth grade. I, and every boy in class, had a crush on Meg, the first girl to have anything to put in her training bra. I was envious, but mostly enamored, reveling in any interaction with my grade-school Aphrodite. Over the next year, more girls began to boast their own adolescent sets, but I was sadly left behind. Why, God, why?! I deduced that between my completely flat chest, my interest in girls, and the strange hair I was sprouting downstairs, I must be a hermaphrodite. It seemed logical that I must have a penis too, maybe on the inside. I avoided touching myself for fear of getting myself pregnant. When I told my pediatrician of my discovery, he let me know in no uncertain terms that I was absolutely female-bodied, that pubic hair was normal, and that some girls just grow breasts later than others. Well fuck. That year, I placed two cotton squares in each cup of my tiny bra, so I’d have at least a hint of shape. By eighth grade, still flat as a board, it was time to upgrade to a padded bra. By high school, I cowered in a water bra. My booblets, my dirty little secret. I’d already found my pride in my Sapphic inclinations, but anyone knowing I was flat? Quelle horreur! I was living in Florida and avoiding bathing suits like the plague, wearing bras at slumber parties, and careful to never ever hook up with anyone I went to school with, so word of my deficiency wouldn’t get out. I lived in utter shame, with the hips of a teen and the chest of a child. My youngest sister, who I had teasingly called “Booblets” when she was first beginning to blossom, had now turned it around on me. I became “Booblets,” and she, with her enviable C+ cup, was “Tits
McGee.” Oh, the cruelty of genes! At eighteen, I lost a lot of weight and became filled with an overwhelming feminist fury. I stopped wearing a bra all together, got my nipples pierced, and wore shirts that showed off my fuck-you to the expectations forced on women. My mother bugged me about looking too disproportionate, and perhaps she was right, but being unhealthily thin due to a bout of depression, it was the first time I ever felt anything close to proportionate. Moving to the Pacific Northwest kept me comfortable in my braless-ness, and I had almost accepted my fate until I dated a stupid boy who made me feel incredibly self-conscious about what I lacked. Budding confidence crushed by a dumb, defective dong. Women are often so much more accepting of each other’s bodies, because we know what we have to work with. The images in the Playboy magazines that had enraptured me in my youth, but I’d learned were not a reality, are still the expectation of many men. Needless to say, the bras and the shame returned in force. When the next person I was intimate with complimented my breasts, I flew into a rage and accused them of being condescending. The Wrath of Booblets. When I relocated to New York City and immediately found my way into the fetish community, I began to feel good about my body again. I had never felt as sexy and appreciated as I did sauntering around a party in latex or a bustier. With my new-found swagger, I acquired a slave who loved to lavish me with gifts and, after hearing a stoned recitation of my boob biography, he offered to buy me a pair. Eureka! I’d never really considered this option…I could have the rack I always dreamed of, albeit a bit less fleshy. Then Burning Man happened, and the world unhooked its bra. The yoke of society was undone, and any type of body was free and appreciated and beautiful. I joyfully ran around, rode my bike, danced and jumped on trampolines topless. My tiny titties were unleashed on the world, and it was glorious! Their shape and size allowed me to run and bounce and play without their needing to strapped down. These breasts I’d always loathed afforded me a special kind of freedom! Now every time I go to a festival or party or anywhere where I can run around in my underwear, I’m all over it. I’m the proud owner of a perky pair of booblets. I am reclaiming this term that haunted me for so many years. My gals will never sag, I’ll never experience the back pain associated with large breasts, and I have damn cute nipples. I will happily be the president of the Itty Bitty Titty Committee, seventh grade boys be damned! This is my booblet pride.
Ginger Millay is in love with NYC, where she works independently as an event producer, party planner, and Dominatrix. Follow her on Twitter at MyGingersnaps 46 • June/July 2014
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As an investor in Real Estate for over 15 years, I have often contemplated and envisioned becoming a Realtor…”one day”. During Christmas vacation, as I sat writing my goals for 2014, contemplating 2013, I realized just how many deals I had given my personal Realtor; I decided that “one day” was upon me. I took the exam and chose to work with Keller Williams Realty Professionals. I love it! It is a wonderful profession for an LGBTQ person…lots of freedom to be who we are. There are many LGBTQ Realtors in the Portland area. Many of these seasoned Realtors/Mortgage Brokers were Out & Proud before being so was accepted and cool. This is Pride Month and this is PQ Monthly’s Pride Edition. I would like to mention as many of my fellow LGBTQ Realtors/Mortgage Brokers and a few Ally Realtors as possible. The awesome thing is that there is plenty of room for all of us to make a healthy living and in fact, we can all make a great living and support each other in the process. This is both a great time to buy (low interest rates and lending is loosening up) and to sell (low inventory of properties).
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If you are happy with your home and don’t want to move, how about purchasing an investment property OR collaborating with some friends and purchase a vacation or investment property together? When purchased smartly, Real Estate is a great investment. All you have to do, dear PQ Reader, is pick a Realtor or Mortgage Broker that jives with your personality and chat with them about Real Estate… if only to ask questions about your home or if you qualify to buy a home. With the high price of renting in Portland, you might even qualify to buy your own home. It does not hurt to ask. Connect with one of our community’s best… the professional will answer your questions. Remember they are here to serve your Real Estate needs. I have lived in Portland since 1983 and have met many Realtors and Mortgage Brokers through the years, many who are still rockin’ it and still supporting their local LGBTQ newspaper amongst newer professionals. Please check the new “Curb Appeal” section in PQ along with our Business Directory for Realtors, Mortgage Brokers, and featured listings. This section will be growing. Please look here first for your Real Estate needs — support your LGBTQ Realtor and Mortgage Broker — especially those who support PQ Monthly. There are many amazing professionals in our community. Coming to mind right away Celia Lyon of Meadows Group 503-238-1700; Robert Hogg of Red Hills Financial 503-781-4181; Dale Schiff of Inhabit Portland 503-449-1023; Shawn Baeschlin of NW Mortgage Group 503-528-9800; Ray Massini of Keller Williams Portland Central 503-8630686; Terri Popejoy of Bella Casa Realty; Steve Strode (look for his column in PQ’s Curb Appeal Real Estate section) of
Sage Pacific Living 503-490-4116; H.Dwayne Davis 503-3194057; Joel Hamley of Meadows Group 503-416-7630; Kim Trip of Realty Trust; Shelly Casteel of Oregon Realty; David Krause of ArchitectureTEN Properties; Michael Young of JMA Properties; Cary Smith of Oregon First; Shea Steel, Bonnie Roseman, Jake Planton of Rose City Mortgage; Gary Horton, and Thom Butts of Remax; Annette Hadaway of Exit Realty; Nathaniel Bachelder of John L. Scott; Brian Flatt of Legacy Realty Group; Bob Harrington of Lee Davies Real Estate; Harry Martin of Keller Williams Realty Professionals; Tina Schafer of Urban Nest Realty; Craig Olson of Urban Pacific. We have several Realtors that work both Oregon and Washington: Corey Eubanks of Premiere Property Group and Kelly Stafford of Home Sweet Home Realty 503-515-2986. I am sure there are many more, as we are everywhere! I would like to make mention of a few Ally Realtors too, Cary Perkins of Windermere and David Caldwell of Hillshire Realty Group—these two Realtors I have known for years and are awesome. Each and every one of us are available to help you with your Oregon/Washington (and beyond) Real Estate needs. Portland is a great place to grow a home! Gabriela loves riding her Harley but she loves Real Estate even more! Here to help you with your Real Estate needs.” RealtorGabriela.com Gabriela@KW.com 503-481-9870
Gabriela Kandziora RealtorGabriela.com Gabriela@KW.com
June/July 2014 • 49
ART BRIEFS
First off: PQ Monthly’s own TJ Acena just self-published his first novella, The Trials of Jude. If your interests include doomsday cults, media criticism, climate change anxiety, and the strangeness of modern gay courtship rituals, The Trials of Jude is a necessary addition to your summer beach read list. Pick up your copy in the small press section of Powell’s Books in downtown Portland or direct from TJ’s web store at TJAcena.com. Sure, not everyone is into show tunes — but if you are, there’s a high likelihood that you’re extremely rabid in your love for Cole Porter. Those who are hot with such a fever should be certain not to miss the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus production of Night & Day: The Music of Cole Porter. Running for one night only on June 14, the show presents a selection of the seminal songwriter’s finest pieces, showcasing the elegance and verve that PGMC brings to each of their performances. If you’d like to prolong your magical evening, pick up tickets for The Afterglow Experience — a post-show reception next door at the Heathman Hotel where the cocktails will flow, the soloists shall trill, and the festivity shall be at an all-time high. Night & Day: June 14, 7 PM; the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, ADDRESS. Tickets $15-$45. The Afterglow Experience: June 14, 9:30-11:30 PM; The Heathman Hotel, ADDRESS. Tickets $50 each or $75 per couple. All tickets available from PDXGMC.org Enjoy the premiere reading of a bold new addition to the canon of queer theater when defunkt theatre presents a staged reading of No More Candy, written by PQ Monthly’s own Leela Ginelle, directed by Andrew Klaus-Vineyard, and presented as part of the 2014 OUTwright Theatre Festival. When college students Belinda and Desiree find one another, their match stirs demons in both. Belinda, a confrontational activist, starts to trace her anger back to its sources, while self-destructive transwoman Desiree learns
to shed her masks. Praised as a sexy, political, heartfelt and raw look at riot grrls in love, you will kick yourself if you miss this premiere. June 24 and 25, show begins at 7:30; defunkt theatre, 4319 SE Hawthorne, Portland. Tickets are free, but space is limited — RSVP to defunkt.theatre@gmail.com.
Body Story panel discussion, Authentic Movement, Deep Play practices, and open performance salons. Sounds mysterious and intriguing, right? July 7 through July 12; For a full schedule of events and their descriptions, visit Be-Space.org.
Do you believe in signs and omens? Do you like your storytelling raw, true, unscripted, and unpredictable? If so, it’s a must that you attend Back Fence PDX: Signs & Omens, featuring special guest Moon Unit Zappa. You may recall her delivering the valleyspeak monologue on her dad Frank Zappa’s 1982 hit “Valley Girl;” since then, she’s acted in numerous films and television shows, written for publications including the New York Times, and published the bracingly great novel America, the Beautiful. Also featured in this night of unscripted storytelling: Brian Koch of Blitzen Trapper, New York Times bestselling author Daniel H. Wilson, Intisar Abioto of the Black Portlanders Project, and crowd favorite Jessica Lee Williamson. BUNK Sandwiches and Tamale Boy will be on hand to sate your hunger — but remember, if you spill the salt, throw it over your shoulder to avoid bad luck. June 27, doors at 6:30; The Hollywood Theater, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland. Tickets $13-20 in advance, $16 at the door. For more information and tickets, visit BackFencePDX.com
In local arts news, The Portland Art Museum has announced that it will be the first U.S. Museum to present Richard Mosse’s powerful video installation The Enclave (2013). The work, which premiered at the 2013 Venice Biennale, was produced using a recently discontinued military film technology originally designed in World War II to reveal camouflaged installations hidden in the landscape. This film registers an invisible spectrum of infrared light, rendering the green landscape in vivid hues of lavender, crimson, and hot pink to document an ongoing conflict situation in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. This humanitarian disaster— in which 5.4 million people have died since 1998—is largely overlooked by the mass media. Frequent massacres, human rights violations, and widespread sexual violence remain unaccounted for. In a kind of advocacy of seeing, The Enclave attempts to cast this forgotten tragedy in a new spectrum of light, to make this forgotten humanitarian disaster visible. The video installation will open on November 8 and run through February 8, 2015. Several of his monumental photographs from the Democratic Republic of Congo will also be on display.
Explore the state of oneness at life.art.being: Integrative Arts Festival, cohosted by Be Space and the Portland Shambhala Meditation Center. “Engaging Joanna Macy’s framework of deep ecology,” explains the promotional materials for life.art.being, “we will follow the Spiral from gratitude to compassion for the living earth, to recovering a sense of belonging, then offering our gifts to the world. Each step of the way we will rethread our ecological awareness through the senses, the embodied presence, and the creative process.” The festival includes Active Hope Practices, Shambhala Art, Earth Body/
Finally, Strap on your mala and pile your dreadlocks on top of your head, because MC Yogi is coming to the Pacific Northwest. The prolific, conscious rapper brings together hip-hop, reggae, electronica, and bhajan into a mix that you’ve almost definitely heard in a yoga class recently. July 23, 9 PM; The WOW Hall, 291 W 8th Ave, Eugene. Tickets $16.50. July 24, 9:30 PM; The Star Theatre, 13 NW 6th Ave, Portland. Tickets $20. Tickets and more info (including information about yoga workshops offered by MC Yogi in both Eugene and Portland) available at MCYogi.com
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DYKES ON BIKES® & FRIENDS
June 15, 2014 - Portland Pride & Meeting #12, Sandovals for breakfast 8am June 27, 2014 - Central Oregon Pride, Ride on Sat 6-28-14 Meeting #11 -Sunday May 18, 2014 at 9am Escape Bar&Grill June 28, 2014 - Corvallis Pride, Paradise HD at 10am July 12, 2014 - Vancouver, WA Pride, Paradise HD at 10am July 13, 2014 - Poker Party, Escape Bar&Grill 5pm $5Cover July 20, 2014 - Meeting #13, Escape Bar&Grill July 22, 2014 - Sprung Party for Butch Voices Contact: President@DykesOnBikesPortland.com COME RIDE WITH PORTLAND’S DYKES ON BIKES® www.DykesOnBikesPortland.com Dykes&Allies on Bikes
Please email President@DykesOnBikesPortland.com to get on mailing list
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RIDE LOUD & PROUD WITH US! pqmonthly.com
Curb Appeal Gorgeous Ranch Home in McNary Heights - $499,000
Stylish Richmond Cottage $349,000
5100 sqft on lush acre. Hardwoods, bright & open, Addtl 1176 sqft buildable space/sep entry. New siding/exterior paint. An entertainer’s dream! This won’t last long! Gabriela Kandziora, Realtor, Keller Williams Realty Professionals Cell: 503-481-9870 Office: 503-546-9955 Gabriela@KW.com
Tastefully updated 3bedroom/1 bath cottage with contemporary flair close to Division street restaurants, great coffee, and bars galore. Easy stroll to Hawthorne makes it hottest urban location in town. Walk Score of 89! Bike Score 94! Call Dale Schiff at Inhabit Real Estate (503) 449-1023
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For open houses visit: RealtorGabriela.com 9755 SW Barnes Rd #560 Portland, OR 97255 Gabriela Kandziora | Gabriela@KW.com | Cell: 503.481.9870 | Office: 503.546.9955 Each office independently owned and operated
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GARDEN
CULTIVATING LIFE Jam Pride
By LeAnn Locher, PQ Monthly
Photo caption: Jam on it, jam on it! This is not meant to be a boastful column. But I’ll just put it out there now. My berry jam won a first place ribbon at the 2013 Oregon State Fair. And now, I’m full of pride. Jam pride, to be exact. My partner and first started making jam five years ago, beginning with the entry level drug—I mean jam—of freezer jam. Freshly picked Oregon strawberries, sugar and pectin; the ingredients were simple and we followed the directions on the little pink pectin box to a T. Processing for freezer jam is easy: pour into freezer containers and freeze. No hot water baths or canning required. Following on the heels of this success came tayberry, blueberry, blackberry, apricot, peach and fig jam, and learning how to can properly and safely on the stove. Soon we had a basement full of jam jars and not nearly enough pieces of toast to use all of that jam up. So we’ve pulled back the reins a bit on the jam making frenzy in our summertime kitchen, but still, it’s a summertime must and one we look forward to every year. In my book, simplicity is the key to good jams. Pick the produce yourself at a u-pick the same day you make the jam, using produce at its tip-top of perfection. Use a low sugar pectin option like Pomona’s Pectin, and even mix fruits to achieve the flavor combinations you like best. Our first place jam was a mix of Marion and Sylvan berries, based on tasting them in the field that day. A little bit of sweet, a little bit of tart, and a whole lot of Oregon yum. To prevent having a basement full of sweet jams, consider planning your jams based on how you can best use them. Apricot jam is great for savory uses, such as glazes on meats or served with a soft cheese and crackers. Berry jam is my favorite for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Peach jam with cinnamon is wonderful mixed
with plain yogurt and granola for breakfast. And then there’s fancy jams. At SlowJamz (www.etsy.com/shop/slowjamzpdx), a Portland company run by Galadriel Mozee and Lisa Brown Bersani, they make jams that are complex and interesting, using their kitchen as a lab for unique combinations. “I like to choose two or three flavor combinations,” says Mozee. “Things that are in season together often taste the best together.” Some of her favorite flavor combinations are strawberry and basil, and pear with jalapeño. Last year her favorite to create was their Berryoncé jam made with strawberries, black pepper and balsamic vinegar. Mozee waxes poetically remembering a limited run jam she made once, combining peach, brown sugar, blueberries, coconut and cinnamon. “I like the jams to match the musician’s names we name them after,” she says. The peach jam was titled Apeacha Armstrong. Ja m making is an art and a craft and a little bit of magic, stirring the pot in a steamy summer kitchen. All of the work is worth it when you gift those jars at the holidays, or crack open a bit of summer on a cold January morning to brighten a grey dark winter day. And then there’s basking in the pride of a blue ribbon at the Oregon State Fair. Get jammin’, people!
MONTHLY
LEANN’S JAM SECRETS: Pick your produce. My favorite places to pick are strawberries at Columbia Farms U-Pick, berries of all kinds from West Union Gardens, and peaches (and lots of other great stuff) from Sauvie Island Farms, and blueberries from Sauvie Island Blueberry Farm. If you can’t pick your own, buy your produce direct from a farmer at a local farmer’s market. Talk to them about what’s coming into season next so you can plan to be ready when the fruit is at its best. Use Pomona’s Pectin, a pectin that allows you to use as little or as much sugar as you like. Learn the basics of proper canning techniques and follow them carefully. Ball Blue Book of Canning is the classic guide for steps, directions, recipes, and equipment needs.
LeAnn Locher is a home arts badass and loves to connect with readers at facebook.com/sassygardener or leann@pqmonthly.com. pqmonthly.com
June/July 2014 • 53
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? Wolfgang
Favorite book? Confessions of a Window Dresser, By Simon Doonan
How long have you lived in Portland? 8 years
Favorite movie? Doom Generation
What is the first time you noticed that Gayness existed? I had a crush on Picard when I was 8
Favorite word? Fancy
What would you consider a guilty pleasure? Clothes shopping or pizza Your having a dinner party of 6 , whom would you invite? Cher, Kate Bush, Charles Manson, Bjork, Valerie Solanis and my Grandma What would you consider a perfect meal? A giant cake with extra frosting What would be a perfect day off? Getting on a train to Seattle
Least favorite word? Lazy Favorite swear word? G*d Dammit What is your profession? Store manager/ Stylist/Go-Go Dancer If you could with a snap of a finger what would be another profession you would like to do? Magazine Stylist Whom would you like to meet dead or alive? Cher
PHOTO BY JEFFREY HORVITZ
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