It Takes a Queer Village PG. 4 Growing Up as a Gay Youth in Portland PG.6 How to be a Good Adult PG.7
PORTLAND
The Youth Edition PG.12
PQMONTHLY.COM
MAY 2017
PROUD QUEER
FEATURES
GAY SKATE WITH PQ Oaks Park Roller Skating Rink
ADMISSION $7.00
Always the 3rd Monday of every month from 7-9pm THEME FOR MAY IS: 80’S THEME FOR JUNE IS: PRIDE!
The Muttley Crew Giving professionals a new leash on life! • Grooming • Doggie daycare • Premium USA made products • Top rated pet foods including Orijen, Acana, Taste of the Wild, Honest Kitchen Go! Now! and Raw foods. *Best in the Biz 2009, 2010, 2011 by Spot Magazine
Visit us! 806 NW Murray Portland, OR 97229 Mon-Fri 6:45am - 6:30pm Sat 8am - 4pm
Call us:
503-626-8212
THEMUTTLEYCREW.COM
2 • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 MAY 2017
pqmonthly.com PQMONTHLY.COM
PQ TEAM
Melanie Davis
Owner/Publisher melanie@pqmonthly.com
Maya Vivas
Art Director artdirctor@pqmonthly.com
EDITORIAL Ryn McCoy
Editor editor@pqmonthly.com
Monty Herron Op Ed Writer
Shaley Howard Regular Contributor
George Nicola GLAPN Historian
Suzanne Deakins, Ph.D., H.W.M. Regular Contributor GLAPN
Sossity Chiricuzio
Columnist and Feature Reporter
SALES TEAM Larry Lewis
Sales Representative larry@pqmonthly.com
Lynda Wilkinson Sales Representative lynda@pqmonthly.com
National Advertising Rivendell Media 212-242-6863 sales@rivendellmedia.com
Photographers
PROUD QUEER
The Youth Will Save Us When we think of “Youth,” it is most often as something romanticized and coveted and highly marketable. This ideal is, however, presented to us by a decidedly adult world—rarely do we hear about youth from those who are currently experiencing it. As addressed in OQYS’s “How to Be a Good Adult,” (page 7), the young are routinely dismissed, considered too inexperienced to have anything of value to offer in “serious” (i.e. grown up) conversations and movements. But as anyone who regularly spends time around youth will tell you: that’s utter bullshit. I have been wanting to do The Youth Edition of PQ since day one, and I am thrilled that we were not only able to focus on this theme, but also to feature some youth voices in the publication, which you can find in “Babes in Queerland” (page 12). Young writers Dimitri Ivanor and Llondyn Elliot’s stories will resonate with some, and educate others; I know that all our readers will appreciate the honesty and vulnerability they offer. I am also very excited to announce that this edition of PQ serves as the launching point for a new column that will feature a different young writer every month. If you or someone you know is a writer under the age of 21 that would be interested in writing something for the column, reach out to me at editor@pqmonthly.com! As Sossity Chiricuzio notes in “It Takes a Queer Village” (page 4), many of us queers remember our own youth as a particularly awkward, lonely or traumatizing period in our lives. Others in our community began to find our more authentic selves in that same period, like Summer Seasons notes in “Growing Up as a Gay Youth in Portland” (page 6). Perhaps some of us are trying to guide the next generation through their own youth, and grappling with the realities of living in a city that doesn’t do enough for its most vulnerable citizens, like Marissa Bertucci addresses in “Control Me” (page 16). There is just as much struggle for queer youth today as there has been in past decades, but there are more resources than there have ever been, and it is encouraging to see so much of this newest generation of queer folks embrace their identities and flourish. These youth have been lifted up by the struggles of queers that have come before them, which enables them to use their energy to further radicalize our movement and push us all toward a brighter future. They have bold, brilliant, important things to say, and it serves all of us when we decide to listen. Ryn McCoy Editor, Brilliant Media
Dax McMillan Photographer
Nestor Miranda Photographer
Columnists & Contributors
Samantha L. Taylor, Michael James Schneider, Summer Seasons, Marco Davis, Kathryn Martini, Sally Mulligan, Katey Pants, Max Voltage, Queer Intersections
503.228.3139 PROUDQUEER.COM
THE NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE OF PQ MONTHLY BRILLIANT MEDIA LLC, DBA EL HISPANIC NEWS
pqmonthly.com PQMONTHLY.COM
WHAT YOU’LL FIND INSIDE:
It Takes a Queer Village.................................................... Page 4 ICE Raids and Social Media.............................................. Page 8 Growing up as a Gay Youth in Portland............................... Page 6 Babes in Queerland (Cover Story)...................................... Page 12 How to be a Good Adult.................................................... Page 7 Control Me.................................................................... Page 16 AND MUCH MORE! JANUARY/FEBRUARY MAY 2017 • 3
VOICES
Embody
It Takes a Queer Village By Sossity Chiricuzio
I have a confession to make: I am, on occasion, very jealous of Queer/Trans youth these days for their chance to know and declare themselves while still young. For public school coming out stories that end in rainbow banners, and supportive friends, and progressive community programs. Then I remember just how rare that still is, three decades after my own tortured teenage years, and I weep. The number of Queer/Trans youth that are disposed of by parents and communities and societies still clinging to a dogma that doesn’t align with either science or compassion is heartbreaking. No matter whether you consider sexuality and gender to be determined by nature or nurture, they are truths that don’t die out, even when you kill us in the attempt. Those of us that survive usually do so with fractures, faultlines, and far too much experience with maintaining a facade. My experience of public school was overwhelmingly unpleasant, and high school was definitely the worst. I was visibly poor, verbally outspoken, and generally weird with my poetry and hippie parents and general lack of interest in boys. Mind you, I was beyond discreet about my very real feelings for some of the girls I was friends with. I knew, without anyone telling me, that those feelings were dangerous and deviant. Especially in a tiny town in Arizona, snuggled up to a military base. Even so, it took less than three months into my freshman year for people to sling the word ‘lesbian’ at me to see if it would draw blood. The best defense I had was my sort of high school sweetheart. We were very good friends, both queer, both hiding—though he had a clearer understanding of himself than I had come to yet—covering for each other without naming it. He’d give me the requisite white and red carnations at Valentines, carried through the school halls like a banner of heterosexuality. We would occasionally roll in an awkward tangle of dry kisses, and give each other strategically visible hickies, and then go back to more interesting things. We never spoke of the dual nature of our relationship, but it was our shared lifeboat, adrift in a sea of expectations we couldn’t fulfill. Eventually we had sex because it seemed like we should, perhaps both looking for that final test. It was an uncomfortable twenty minutes that ended in a heartfelt agreement not to do that again. He dropped out of high school not long after, left for California, joined the Navy, and then came out. He lost his commission, his family, his friends, and like many of our beautiful young men in the eighties, contracted HIV. I had sex with fifty cisgendered men and teenage boys while in high school, all but one of those encounters being disguise or assault or survival. I shut down, acted out, endured the invasions of my body, bided my time until college, and then came out as fast and furious as I could. I have a hard time talking about my teenage years. I was skin around shards of betrayal and rage, and I’m still a bit surprised that I made it out alive. The truth is that my moments of jealousy come from what I wish I could have had, what we all should have: the opportunity to discover our gender and our sexuality with compassion and informed consent, free of verbal and physical and sexual abuse from peers and adults. I recognize that this is still the exception, even now. That for every Queer/Trans youth that is listened to, respected, and encouraged, hundreds more are discarded or destroyed. For the simple truth of who they actually are. For being a gift that isn’t recognized. I’ve seen some significant changes affected since I came out in 1989, both in our community and in the world around us. I also see so much more that needs changing, and it feels harder than ever in the current political climate where even those of us who are adults often feel hopeless and afraid. We need to work together, and our youth need us. If you haven’t already, now is the time to find a way to respectfully support and encourage and protect Queer/Trans youth in your community and beyond. Mentorship, sponsorship, fostering, community groups, suicide hotlines, skill sharing, staffing shelters, making donations, showing up. Do it as thanks for surviving your own youth. Do it with respect for their autonomy. Do it now. Here are some resources and organizations where you can get involved and/or make donations:
Exceptional, personalized, comprehensive care for your best friend.
ALBERTAVETCARE.COM
1737 NE Alberta suite 102, Portland, OR 97211 - Call: 503-206-7700 4 • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 MAY 2017
• • • • •
smyrc.org thelivingroomyouth.org lamberthouse.org stonewallyouth.org translifeline.org
• • • • •
glsen.org thetrevorproject.org camparanutiq.org fiercenyc.org isna.org
• • • • •
jqyouth.org truecolorsfund.org nyacyouth.org liveoutloud.info advocatesforyouth.org
Don’t limit yourself to this list or to conventional donations; examine your resources and skills for a way to make a difference, create access, and help them survive and thrive. Sossity Chiricuzio is a writer and columnist based out of Portland, Oregon. She is a regular contributor for PQ Monthly and focuses on social justice, communication, community, and changing the world. You can reach her at sossity@pqmonthly.com or follow her online @sossitywrites. pqmonthly.com PQMONTHLY.COM
HOROSCOPE
LOCAL
Star Trends By Robert McEwen
Mars in Gemini
The planet of intense and passionate action has a strong intention to communicate in the sign of Gemini. A lot of thought doesn’t always go into decisions and actions taken under this planetary influence. Look at your history and thought patterns before you act. Take time to create in fun ways like dance. This burns off excess nervous energy that this carries. Also deep breathing meditations can help out. This aspect started April 21st and goes until June 4th.
Venus in Aries
This has a synergistic effect of passionate energies when Venus goes into Aries until the 6th of June. This creates very passionate love, and aggressive actions in sexual relationship as well as social interactions. It can be great for flirting and sexual fun. One could be too forward in both asserting thoughtless action, not considering the consequences. Ego has to be kept in lockdown in these areas. Donald Trump is Gemini, so this combination could cause more trouble than it has already. Take his personality defects times 10 during this time, tweeting included, and mass media chaos blow-ups to full capacity. War prompted is a possibility.
Mercury is still retrograde Until May 3rd.
It will release the restriction of the delays in communication. It is still in the “shadow” period and will jump into a full direct mode on May 20th. That will be a relief in some ways you will like. So, do the reviewing of ideas you want to move forward on by May 3rd, and at the latest May 20th. Review your important documents and writings. This will pay off if you do. Also back up your files. Car check ups will be in order before summer vacation trips, and have reservation documentation, double checking on the hotel accommodations. Robert McEwen will be joining Suzanne Deakins in the series of seminars, “A Small Revolution,” where he will present Quantum Astrology. Quantum Astrology Readings available via Skype or phone. $95 hr. robbystarman@aol.com. 503-706-0396.
Robert McEwen, H.W., M Available for astrology readings at robbystarman@aol.com phone: 503 706-0396 pqmonthly.com PQMONTHLY.COM
JANUARY/FEBRUARY MAY 2017 • 5
HOROSCOPE
VOICES
The Secret Life of Summer Seasons Growing Up as a Gay Youth in Portland By Summer Seasons
When I was 16 I was taken to the City Nightclub for the first time with my friends from the drama department. Here was this club that was dark at every turn, but then you walked in and saw the legendary light up dance floor. More importantly, the place was filled with all kinds of gay and lesbian youth. Never had I felt quite so at home in a place as I did here. Here were all these kids dressed in retro outfits just like mine, and a bunch of them were glamorously dressed, with glitter and sparkles everywhere. But it wasn’t until I saw my first Drag Queen, Lady O, that I knew I was going to be coming to that club frequently. Many of my friends and I didn’t have permission to go to the club—I actually seem to remember that at one point my parents expressly forbid it, but we did whatever it took to make it there. We often made up cast parties or sleepovers so that we could go experience the culture that would shape a lot of us into the individuals we are today. Quite a few of those times we’d come home late reeking of cloves and our parents would catch us and ground us forever, but all of it was worth whatever punishment came my way as the joy outweighed the circumstance. As the years passed, the club went through many changes, and when it eventually moved to its last known location it settled on the name of The Escape. The Escape nightclub became the birthplace of Summer, it became the birthplace of Jade Jolie and eventually miss Jinx Monsoon. It was a place where we could foster our creativity and learn how to hone our performance craft. We would do shows entirely dedicated to musicals like Rent, or artists like Kate Bush, David Bowie, Madonna and my personal favorite, Sandra Bernhard. This club gave us a place to create relationships with friends and lovers, many of which are still around today, but most importantly we had a place just to be free and to live our lives authentically. For me, the best part of that era was the afterparties. We’d pile 7 or 8 of us in one car and head out to Jantzen Beach. I remember most of the staff always hated us—we were loud, always changing tables, running outside to smoke cigarettes and mostly always just ordered coffee with no tip so we could stay awake. All of us would just sit there for hours talking about our next show idea, the fierce costume we were gonna put together or who we were gonna invite into our family. We all had become a very tight knit group, and no matter what happened, even through all of our family feuds, we would have been there to help each other in a heartbeat. As I grew older and my performing started taking me elsewhere, my trips to The Escape became less and less frequent. I was on a quest to make it big in the city and I was gonna do it. I’d often pop in to the club late at night to check back in with friends who weren’t of age, and to do the occasional performance, but for me my escape days had come to a close. Shortly after my venture into being 21, I was court ordered to do some community service, for which I chose Outside In. They are a center and housing program for homeless youth, many of which are LGBT. I worked in the kitchen where I served food to the youth, many of whom I’d grown up with. After many meals I’d sit with the kids and listen to them tell me stories about their shows and outfits that they had planned. These kids were resourceful and knew how to take garbage and turn it into beauty, but it also reminded me that they needed to have a safe place where they could be themselves. Because of the work that I was doing at Outside in at the time, I ended up being on the first planning committee for the Q Center. They wanted my opinions because they knew I was good friends with the youth at the time. Today, with the club being closed and LGBT youth not really having any place to go to dance, it’s important now more than ever that we include them. The Q Center and SMYRC provide them with places to congregate, but they no longer have a permanent space to live out their artistic fantasy. Tatyana Lovely Lavicious is giving them a place to perform once a month, and Kenty Truong and the ISRC gave them a place to hold Rosebud and Thorn, but we all must work together to come up with more permanent solutions. These young adults are wickedly talented and remind me very much of myself not so long ago. These folks are going to be our future, and it’s up to us to guide them into it. 6 • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 MAY 2017
pqmonthly.com PQMONTHLY.COM
RESOURCES
How to Be a Good Adult A Helpful Guide by Young People By the Oregon Queer Youth Summit
Join Us! PQ Press Party / Pride Kickoff Party Theme: We Are the Change! Tuesday, June 13th, 6pm.–9pm. Lagunitas Community Room 237 NE Broadway St Suite 300, Portland
So you’re an adult in a youth space, and maybe you have some questions about how to be a really kickass adult ally. That’s terrific. Let’s define a term first: ADULTISM. According to Wikipedia, ADULTISM is “the power adults have over children. More narrowly, adultism is prejudice and accompanying systematic discrimination against young people. On a more philosophical basis, the term has also been defined as bias towards adults and the social addiction to adults, including their ideas, activities, and attitudes.” All of us—youth and adults—are socialized to protect and perpetuate this paradigm. Here are some tips to undermine it:
+
Listen. We live in a society where the voices and experiences of young folks are routinely ignored and dismissed. Young people have knowledge. Actively listen and ask questions. How are your actions validating their thoughts, feelings and experiences? Learn. If you’re an adult in a youth space or routinely hanging out with young people, chances are you genuinely enjoy spending time with youth (we hope). Listen to how youth are defining their economic, cultural, political, and social realities and challengesas articulated through social media, artmaking, and whatever forms the information takes,and learn about their lives from them directly (rather than mainstream media representation). Strength First! Understand that the capabilities, ideas, priorities, and communication styles of young people are rooted in their own lived truth. Expect and honor that their skills might be different from your own strengths. Practice respect and humility. As adults, our words and tone can all too easily slip into patronizing patterns when engaging with youth. Self-reflect on what strategies work best for you to challenge these default tendencies. Be honest and gentle with each other. Share resources and power. Withholding information and skills from young people makes equitable partnerships impossible. How can you be creative in sharing knowledge, ideas, resources and power with young people? Are youth equal participants in decision m aking? Is their input valued? Is the decision making process itself welcoming to youth participation and leadership? Be sure to differentiate between the role of being a Mandated Reporter and being a co-creator of content, vision, etc. Mistakes happen. We all make them. Often. Adults have to practice skills to engage with youth differently and young people have to practice skills to develop their own leadership. We all have to take risks and learn from our mistakes, which means we need to build enough trust to be vulnerable with each other in the first place. Challenge Adultism. Part of our role as adults is to support our peers—a.k.a. other adults—in learning to recognize and unlearn adultist behavior. Support young people themselves who are speaking back against messages that undermine youth agency, knowledge, and power. Find your people! Talk with other adults who also work with youth. We are here to support and learn from each other. ***This is a living document. Please email oregonqueeryouthsummit@gmail.com if you have ideas on how to contribute to this list, especially if you’re a younger person. [Updated May 2016].*** pqmonthly.com PQMONTHLY.COM
JANUARY/FEBRUARY MAY 2017 • 7
CALENDAR LOCAL
LOCAL
ICE Raids and Social Media Posts cause confusion by blurring between informative and panic inducing By Cervante Pope
The advent of social media has changed the way information is shared and absorbed. Posts by users on Facebook, Twitter, or even Instagram have the potential to go viral by continual reposting—without fact-checking or confirmed truth being a requirement. This type of knee-jerk information sharing has already stirred controversy in the political world, but when it comes to spreading information that may be crucial to people’s livelihoods, the morality of “better safe than sorry” comes into play. In Oregon, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids were the topic of recent social media post propagation. On February 9th of this year, a copypasta (the internet term for a piece of text that has been copied and pasted from another source) began circulating on Facebook regarding raids by ICE agents on the Trimet bus line #9, which runs on Southeast Powell Boulevard. Users scrolling through their timeline repeatedly saw friends and acquaintances posting a block of text, which read: Copied and pasted. BE CAREFUL IN SE TONIGHT **CONFIRMED: ICE raids on public transit in deep SE Portland. Trimet ticketers just came on to bus line 9 on Powell and SE 102nd, where there were many
immigrants, and checked tickets. Kicked immigrants off the bus who didn’t have valid tickets. It was not ticketers that met them outside, but federal agents. *SHARE WIDELY! HAVE VALID TIXS ON TRIMET!* Update Two: This is happening in LA as we speak right now and there are protesters blocking certain highways. *SHARE WIDELY! HAVE VALID TIXS ON TRIMET!* Call ACLU OF PORTLAND: (971) 412-2258 Do not sign form 407, abandonment of green card, even if pressured by ICE! Update Three: Other reports coming in from se 82nd. (Copy/paste) For many, this message was one to be taken seriously. For others, especially those who read Trimet’s statement rampantly denying any involvement with the raids, the feeling of being duped was overwhelming. “It’s always embarrassing to be taken in by misinformation, especially when it turns out there’s a good chance it’s been spread by right-wing trolls,” says Zach Stamler, a Facebook user who reposted this warning at the time. “I typically don’t [repost], but in this particular case I felt that if there was a chance this was actually happening because it seemed plausible at the time and I would rather lose a little face than someone gets deported so I could feel cool.” Stamler has since deleted the post, replacing it with a link to Trimet’s response to it all. In their public statement, Trimet addressed the social media rumors with their own blog post, titled “You Can Sit With Us.” Aside from saying the rumors are “completely false,” they also restated their values. “We are proud to offer everyone in our community a connection to the things that matter most, like family, friends, education and work. To some this is a convenience; for others it’s essential. For many, it’s a connection to opportunity, a value inseparable from the American dream,” part of the statement read. Crystal Cordero-Sarabia, a social justice activist and Facebook user that also reposted the copypasta, didn’t delete it off her page despite Trimet’s denial. She looks to social media for updates in this particular realm of news and feels it is an important tool over mass media. “I would rather share these ‘unsubstantiated’ posts than not, since a lot of people’s lives are at stake here,” says CorderoSarabia. “I envy that a lot of people go on living without this fear that one day your family and friends could be all taken from you, and you have to go on making these decisions on what to do if/when it happens.” With alternative facts and fake news plaguing social media feeds, it may come as a surprise that this particular story was real. Zeloszelos Marchandt, the Director of Evening News and Public Affairs at community radio station KBOO, also caught wind of these posts. They know someone that personally bore witness to the ICE raids, and
“
became the basis of another Facebook post on the subject by nearly falling victim to it as well. “There’s so much sensational news coming to us that it obfuscates the grains of truth that are in there,” says Marchandt. “There’s lots of evidence now that what’s happening isn’t imaginary.” Marchandt was integral in sifting through all of this evidence, along with the rest of the KBOO news team. As the first to really break the local ICE story, Marchandt was up for nearly 24 hours straight, updating social media post and checking in on reports that were coming in for full accuracy. “It’s a double edged sword today, where we’re utilizing platforms like Facebook and Twitter to document, but no one has actually been educated how to do that,” they said. “The mass amount of audience in Portland and the nation at large doesn’t really know what they’re looking for or what their rights are.” The Facebook post involving Marchandt’s friend posited agents almost took her away for looking latinx, though she is fair skinned and was eventually left alone. Also documented in the post was the rerouting of her bus to another checkpoint, as well as the entire Powell garage being raided. Marchandt found out through their research that these tactics were indeed more likely than not being employed. Despite Trimet blaming the bus rerouting, delays and unaccounted 25 mins of lost time on a shooting in the area, Marchandt describes the agents who were checking ticket fare as looking in riders’ faces to determine ethnicity and challenging their English skills. Riders who didn’t meet the criteria are said to have been placed in unmarked vans by federal agents. “There’s just a lot of obfuscation and very specific lack of policy and transparency [in immigration] that goes back before the Bush administration,” Marchandt says. “It’s something that was strategic and slowly compiled over a period of administrations until today, where we have our journalistic rights being eroded also, or discredited via corporate money involved in journalism.” When social media posts are giving truth to news and situations that organizations deny, how does one decipher the real from the fake news? Marchandt suggests paying close attention to the Facebook and social media feeds of known activists, journalists, activist lawyers and justice organizations. “Facebook as a tool has been conflated with fake news, which is really undermining to journalism at large,” says Marchandt. “People’s right to information is really embedded as part of the first amendment.” In terms of finding and sharing accurate information on immigration specifically, organizations like OPAL PDX, organizing and leadership development nonprofit Voz Hispana Cambio Comunitario (VHCC), the ACLU of Oregon and journalists of color are all good venues for finding the most correct information.
There’s lots of evidence now that what’s happening isn’t imaginary.
Always have supported LGBT rights, Always will.
8 • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 MAY 2017
pqmonthly.com PQMONTHLY.COM
NEWS
pqmonthly.com PQMONTHLY.COM
JANUARY/FEBRUARY MAY 2017 • 9
CALENDAR
VOICES CALENDAR
1 TOP PICKS
2
COMMUNITY EVENTS
Red Dress Party 2017: Red Queen
Join Red Dress PDX for one of the largest and most anticipated fundraising events in Portland, the 17th annual Red Dress Party! Take a trip down the rabbit hole with this year’s theme, Red Queen. Tickets to the event include entrance to the party, dancing, and food and drinks all evening. All proceeds from this year’s Red Dress Party will benefit Bradley Angle and Q Center. Saturday, May 20, 8 p.m. – 12 a.m. at the Old Freeman Factory, 2638 NW Wilson St, Portland. $55 General Admission, $155 VIP Experience. 21+ only. Tickets at reddresspdx simpletix.com.
Constellations
Portland Center Stage invites you to enjoy some out-of-thisworld theatre. This spellbinding, romantic journey begins with a simple encounter between a man and a woman. But what happens next defies the boundaries of the world we think we know delving into the infinite possibilities of their relationship and raising questions about the difference between choice and destiny. Runs May 13 – June 11. Sat, Sun at 2 p.m., Tues–Sun at 7:30 p.m., Thurs at 2 p.m. Portland Center Stage, 128 NW 11th, Portland. Tickets run $25–45. Recommended for ages 16+. Learn more at www.pcs.org.
DayDreams: An All Ages Jam
We’re taking over Holladay Park with grubbing, dancing, chilling and hella art making. Live performances by Rayawnie Paris and Lisa Vazquez with DJ set by Lamar LeRoy. Art table hosted by DUG, live screen printing by Portland YouthBuilders, sound and dance floor provided by Friends of Noise. Thursday, May 18, 3:30 – 7 p.m. at Holladay City Park. 1100 NE Holladay St, Portland. Free admission.
Assembly 2017 – Art + Social Practice Conference
Assembly is a co-authored social practice conference that includes presentations, discussions, interventions, and activities that address topics 10 • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 MAY 2017
2017 QDoc Film Festival
QDoc is the only festival in the U.S. devoted exclusively to LGBTQ documentaries. Documentaries offer a unique vehicle to creatively engage core issues of queer identity—politics, history, culture, diversity, sexuality, family, aging, and coming-out issues. Documentary as a form of expression is as vital and energetic as it has ever been, and QDoc brings the highest caliber of films— and their makers—to share with Portland audiences. Thursday, May 18 – Sunday, May 21 at the Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland. Tickets at www.queerdocfest.org.
UO Pride Keynote Speaker: Miss Major!
The University of Oregon LGBTQA3 is very excited to welcome Miss Major to our campus to be our 2017 Pride Week Keynote Speaker, visiting all the way from Little Rock, Arkansas! Miss Major’s personal story and activism for transgender civil rights, from mobile outreach and AIDS prevention to fighting the prison industrial complex, intersects LGBT struggles for justice and equality from the 1960s to today. Tuesday, May 23, 7 – 9 p.m., Erb Memorial Union Ballroom, 1395 University St, Eugene. Tickets free for UOaffiliated, $8 general public, free tickets available for non-UO qtpoc (contact events.qa.uo@gmail. com).
related to art and social practice. Participants shape the collective experience by contributing to dialogue, group projects, and publications. Classes are all ages, lunch is provided, and childcare is available.Friday, May 19 – Sunday, May 21 at Portland State University School of Art + Design, 2000 SW 5th Ave, Portland. Free admission. Details and registration at www. psusocialpractice.org/assembly.
Altar Building Workshop: Intention Setting
Queer Rock Camp PDX Benefit Show
Dismantling Machismo Panel with Xicanisma & Queer Xicano Chisme
Come support QRC’s third session! Your Older Friend Productions Presents: Kids’ Table: indie emo queer pop rock, Shortline: three piece dancey punk band, Non Binary Child: emo synth queercore, spoken word from Ayita, MC’d by Rob! $5-10 sliding scale, no one turned away. All profits go to QRC PDX! Saturday, May 20, 6 – 10 p.m. at Marrow PDX, 7025 N Lombard Street, Unit 100, Portland. $5–10 sliding scale.
Portland Women of Color Launch Event
Portland Women of Color is an empowerment movement to connect, inspire and share through conversation and event-based networking. Join us for a celebration of connecting, inspiring and sharing. Between sips and nibbles, learn more about Portland Women of Color and shop local with onsite vendors. Guest Speaker: Antoinette Edwards. Sunday, May 21, 1 – 4:30 p.m. at June Key Delta Community Center, 5940 N Albina Avenue, Portland.
In this workshop we will explore how and why we build altars and how they help us set simple intentions for whatever is happening in our lives. Instruction provided by Iris Misciagna. Iris is a tarot reader, teacher, priestess, and painter and has been studying the craft for more than ten years. Friday, May 26, 6 – 8 p.m. at Sea Grape bath + body, 319 NE Wygant St, Portland. $20–40 sliding scale.
This panel titled “Dismantling Machismo in Chicanx Communities” will have Cassandra Alicia of ‘Xicanisma’ and Ruben Angel of ‘Queer Xicano Chisme’ share their experiences as social media activists and how social media platforms can be used as tools to dismantle systems of oppression such as misogyny, machismo, homophobia and sexism. Friday, May 26, 4 – 6 p.m. at PSU Native American Student Community Center, 710 SW Jackson St, Portland.
Miyazaki Nights
Join the Portland State Anime Club for a weekend of films by acclaimed director Hayao Miyazaki. Free admission and popcorn! Priority admission to PSU students. Our line up: Friday – Princess Mononoke, Saturday – Spirited Away, Sunday – The Wind Rises. Friday, May 26 – Sunday, May 28, 7 p.m. at 5th Avenue Cinema, 510 SW Hall St, Portland. Free admission. pqmonthly.com PQMONTHLY.COM
CALENDAR
Storytell Your Abortion!
3 GOOD TIMES
The best way to end the stigma and shame regarding the subject of abortion is to talk about it. Our brave, amazing, comedians telling their true abortion experiences are: Amber Clenaghen, Wendy Weiss, Alayna Becker, Julia Ramos, Rochelle Cote. With your host, me, Mary Numair! Saturday, May 27, 7 – 10 p.m. at Black Water, 835 NE Broadway, Portland. Free admission.
Mondays, 9 p.m – 2 a.m. at Swift Lounge, 1932 NE Broadway St., Portland. Free and open to the public, 21+ only.
Stag Karaoke Mondays
Weekly karaoke night for the queer community. Mondays at Stag PDX, 317 NW Broadway, Portland. Free and open to the public. 21+ only.
Amateur Night
Amateur Night in the main bar hosted by the gorgeous Godiva DeVyne. Interested dancers should arrive by 8:45 p.m. Wednesdays at Stag PDX, 317 NW Broadway, Portland. Free and open to the public. 21+ only.
XRAY.fm Presents OHMME / Alina Bea / Amenta Abioto
Join us for a night of bold, inventive pop sounds from an all-female line-up presented by XRAY.fm. In the vein of St. Vincent and tUnE-yArDs, OHMME’s resulting sound is at once familiar yet beautifully unconventional. Alina Bea combines the sophistication of Bjork and St. Vincent with artists like Kate Bush and Fiona Apple. Thursday, May 18, 8:30 p.m. – 12:00 a.m. at Holocene Portland, 1001 SE Morrison St, Portland. Tickets $7.
Blowpony Saturday May 27th w/ Thorgy Thor (RPDR season 8)!
The Glow: Presented by Beat Parlor/YGB/The Hustle
With THORGY THOR from Ru Paul’s Drag Race season 8, hosted by Draven (PDX). DJs: Arick X, Aurora & Just Dave! Doors at 9 p.m. Saturday, May 27, 9 p.m. – 2 a.m. at Bossanova Ballroom 722 E Burnside St, Portland. $15 cover. 21+ only.
Throwback Thursdays
Throwback Thursday hosted by the always fashionable Drexler. The house DJ spins the best pop, hip hop, and R&B hits of the 80s, 90s, and 00s. Thursdays at Stag PDX, 317 NW Broadway, Portland. Free and open to the public. 21+ only.
Testify Brunch
Testify Brunch hosted by the fabulous Alexis Campbell Starr from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Show starts at 12:30 p.m. Sundays, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. at Stag PDX, 317 NW Broadway, Portland. Free.
We are honored to host Dj Elbert Phillips in his first appearance in Portland. He will be bring all those deep Chicago House vibes for us. PLUS we have an amazing crew of Portland based DJ’s holding down the decks all night. Casual Aztec, Survival Skills and DJ Pr11me! Friday, May 19, 10 p.m. – 2 a.m. at Jade Club, 315 SE 3RD AVE Portland. Tickets $5. 21+ only.
Gay Skate
Come join us for our monthly Gay Skate night. Gay skate happens the 3rd Monday of every month. Third Mondays, 7 – 9 p.m. at Oaks Amusement Park, 7805 SE Oaks Pkwy, Portland. Tickets $6.50.
Last Wednesgays
Get through hump day with a bonus LGBTQ drink or two. This hip, rustic-industrial hangout offers a patio, fireplaces, and ping-pong. Last Wednesday each month, 6 – 9 p.m. at Century, 930 SE Sandy Blvd, Portland. Free and open to the public. 21+ only.
Pants Off Dance Off
Body positive, bare-as-you-dare dance party that happens every first Saturday of the month. First Saturday, 9 p.m. at Crush Bar, 1400 SE Morrison St., Portland. $7 cover, clothes check included.
CALENDAR SPONSORED BY
Whoopee! A Sex-Positive Variety Show
Whoopee! A Sex-Positive Variety Show is produced and hosted by sex educator and comedic storyteller, Amory Jane, and will feature Portland’s best sex-positive entertainers all under one roof. There will be burlesque, stand up, music, poetry, bellydancing, short erotic films, storytelling, mini sex ed lessons, and more! Sunday, May 21, 7:30 – 10:30 p.m. at The Secret Society, 116 NE Russell St, Portland. Tickets $12. pqmonthly.com PQMONTHLY.COM
Legendary Mondays
Every Monday, Bart Fitzgerald curates one of the most refreshing events of the week. If you make it through a Monday, you deserve to attend. Music by Dubblife.
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 send photos for your event. Have an event you want considered? Submit your events at calendar@pqmonthly.com. Events for the June issue must be submitted by May 19st. JANUARY/FEBRUARY MAY 2017 • 11
CALENDAR NEWS
COVER STORY
babes in Queerland The youth edition
Dimitri Ivanor
12 • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 MAY 2017
Llondyn Elliot
pqmonthly.com PQMONTHLY.COM
CALENDAR
inbetween fond
by dimitri ivanor
By dimitri ivanor
in my house, the name that embraces me is a name that i no longer recall fondly. it is a name that was given in hopes of creating a better future for me than what my parents had: a future where my name appeared more european and less hindering towards my potential due to the backlash of racism. but how do you tell your parents that not only do you wish to go by a different name, you also wish for them to refer to you as another gender, and should expect for you to bring home partners that may resemble you in expression, but maybe not race. my parents traveled through racist remarks and limited opportunities because of their names and the colour of their skin. but my parents do not understand trans. they do not understand my full identity; their main concern is that i grow into a life they never experienced—that is where our disconnect began. and how do you confide in your parents about your romantic and sexual interests, when the language of your parents doesn’t fall off of your tongue as easily as the language that you were trained in since you first stepped into a classroom full of white students, white students who couldn’t understand why the english words didn’t make home in my mouth, and could never understand why my skin wasn’t as pale as theirs.
“
i can count the number of queer people of colour i know on both hands. and queer asian people? i don’t even know.
Dimitri Ivanor. Photo by Maya Vivas
pqmonthly.com PQMONTHLY.COM
when i began my education, i was confused: why did NONE of the students look like me and why did they insist on relentlessly pointing this out? i also couldn’t understand why i got the same funny feelings for my peers no matter their gender. i wouldn’t encounter someone who had these same funny feelings until sixth grade, and by some miracle, they were also asian. meeting this person helped open the doors i thought didn’t exist, and they are a huge contributor in shaping who i am today. they also help make up the small number of queer people of colour in my life. i can count the number of queer people of colour i know on both hands. and queer asian people? i don’t even know. i didn’t start looking for other queer asians until my sophomore year. i couldn’t believe that anyone like me existed. everyone around me was white. they were all either really straight, or “indulged in homoerotic” tendencies. i didn’t have much to work with, i didn’t know where to start. but i wanted to find something, anything, that could help me. so i began the journey of navigating both my asian and queer identities- not as two separate claims, but in the hopes of bringing them together. i’m proud to say that i’m beginning to find my balance. i’ve poured over social media websites, events, and articles to connect with strangers through the web, to understand that who and what i am is not wrong. just because i am one thing does not mean i can’t be another. i am proud to say that even though i do not continuously cry for rebellion, my existence is rebellious enough. i am still learning this, but i am hoping that as i attempt to navigate through these means, other, younger people, are having a better time accessing their identities. i hope not only for these youth to have better access to resources when attempting to understand their identities, but also meet or help whoever is in need, the same way i received help. i received help by seeing older queer people of colour exist, at qsocc, oqys and more. i wish for more of these events to exist, to help shape what younger me didn’t have, for youth who need it now. it may have helped me understand earlier rather than later, but yaknow, as of yet i’m still experiencing this, still learning. and i couldn’t be more ready to explore. JANUARY/FEBRUARY MAY 2017 • 13
CALENDAR HEALTH
COVER STORY
Culture Vultures A Commentary on White Theft By Llondyn Elliot
I grew up in Portland. Some of my first experiences with “queers” was the liberal, weed smoking, dread wearing people of Portland; liberals who vote for gay marriage, but not for affordable housing, weed smokers that perceive every Black man as a drug dealer, dread wearers who...wore dreads. I could never identify with or be in the same spaces as these “queers,” and they were part of the reason that I felt Queer was a label that was not for me. I experienced a different sort of queer movement as I grew, one that was enriched with culture and was not an overly glorified second wave of hipster. These were the college students that went to Coachella, and would rather eat expensive hipster food than the bland locally sourced tofu of their predecessors. Walking into these queer spaces is like walking into a room of Black teenagers. You hear cries of “bae,” get told your “eyebrows are on fleek,” and get told to “work” followed by a finger snap. All of these words and phrases originating in the Black community, including the voices, and body language accompanying the stolen words. I found myself increasingly uncomfortable with these Queers. While the culture of these spaces was closer to the culture of my own, I knew it was nothing more than a stolen facade.
“
The jarring anti-blackness of queer spaces is often overlooked by White Queers even when explicitly called out.
Llondyn Elliot. Photo by Maya Vivas 14 • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 MAY 2017
White gay men steal from Black gay men, who in turn steal from Black women—their mothers, sisters, and friends. We see this in voguing, make-up practices and phrasing. Yet, when there is a CisHet appropriation of terms, the community cries, “this is ours, give it back,” before acknowledging they stole these cultural practices to begin with. I look to the history of erasing Black Queers, especially femmes, from queer history, a different but connected form of misogynoir mainly perpetuated by White gay men. Those same White gay men that I know voted for Trump, because despite being from one marginalized community, they were from mostly a place of privilege. They believed, wholeheartedly, that Trump would never come for them—he was going after the bombmaking Muslims, the job-stealing Mexicans, the criminal Blacks and the whining women. Besides, they had likely rationed, Trump and Caitlyn Jenner were friends. Their queerness would not be threatened. This is nothing new. Yet, the jarring anti-blackness of queer spaces is often overlooked by White Queers even when explicitly called out. “But Black people are so homophobic,” they cry. Or even worse, they simply refuse to acknowledge their racist actions. We can no longer be content to deny where cultural appropriation exists, and we need to acknowledge where our words, actions, and general culture comes from. If you all fail to acknowledge the ways queer culture can harm POCs, especially Black folx, we will deepen the fractions in our community. Anti-blackness and racism are rampant in our community. The only clear solution is making Intersectionality a priority in all of our spaces. We need to not mush all of our queer experiences into a single narrative, but compare and combine our stories. We need to be able to acknowledge and appreciate our cultural differences, or the most vulnerable will continue to suffer injustice even within our own communities. pqmonthly.com PQMONTHLY.COM
HEALTH
pqmonthly.com PQMONTHLY.COM
VOICES FEATURES
JANUARY/FEBRUARY MAY 2017 • 15
LOCAL
Control Me The plot thickens on housing and rent control in Oregon By Marissa Yang Bertucci
Maybe you’re one of the 40% of Oregonians who rents their home or apartment. You know your one-year lease ends soon, so you exchange sketchy and unsuccessful G-chat conversations with your landlord trying to ascertain whether they will raise rent or evict you. You spend your lunch breaks trolling Craigslist to see if your dream house might be attainable in the event that you get booted. You ponder whether you will ever make three times rent for a place with a bathtub that’s beautiful, not just serviceable. And it’s dire. Maybe you have kids and you want to make sure they stay in the same school because you’ve read the data that shows how difficult it is for kids to stay on track when you remove stability. Will an untimely eviction force you to move just before state testing? Prom? A breakthrough in their school counseling services? Will you have anywhere to go?
“
Marginalized families who have little trust in the school system are best served when long-term relationships are built with schools to repair that trust.
Many families who are evicted so that landlords can flip the property go to incredible lengths to keep their kid in the same school. I work in a school where families take the bus for two hours from Gresham because they’re finally getting the resources they need from the school. Marginalized families who have little trust in the school system are best served when long-term relationships are built with schools to repair that trust—it can take a long time for admins and teachers to prove that they’re on the same team as kids and families. And then miracles can happen—families will tell us what they need, and we can connect them to clothing closets, energy resources, food pantries, stuff that translates into long term stability for the entire family. Schools often act as gatekeepers to these kinds of services, and if a family must move, they would be forced in many cases to totally restart the process. Meanwhile, the US Census Bureau estimates that the Portland Metro area grew by 111 people per day from July 2014 to 2015. Progressive critiques of of gentrification in Portland are both commonplace and common sensical, so I won’t bore you with a treatise about how dire the need for affordable housing is. You know. And so does our government. As a result of our clear housing crisis, Portland City Council unanimously passed an ordinance in February that would require some landlords to pay the housing costs for tenants who are evicted without cause or whose rents are raised more than 10% in a 12-month period. A more aggressive ordinance could have been brought to the table were it not for Oregon’s longstanding 1985 ban on rent control, itself a response to outdated WWII policies on rent control that weren’t flexible enough to accommodate rapidly changing realities for population and housing. 16 • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 MAY 2017
Now, in 2017, a number of statewide bills regarding housing will hit the floor. For example, Representative Tina Kotek, the queer, bespectacled rising star in the Democrat rankings, sponsored HB 2001. It passed an initial reading and was referred to Human Services and Housing for review in January. This bill, in its own words, “[r]epeals statewide prohibition on city and county ordinances regulating rents, [permits a] city or county to adopt rent stabilization program with certain restrictions, [imposes a] moratorium on rent increases greater than five percent for residential tenancies, with exceptions…[and declares a state of emergency], effective on passage.” This fundamental challenge on a city’s ability to figure its own shit out and employ rent control if they want to is present in this, and most other bills hitting the floor in Oregon. Most recently, HB 2004, which blocks a landlord’s ability to to issue a no-cause eviction on a month-to-month tenancy after six months of occupancy, passed in the Oregon House 31-27 on April 4. The bill allows for certain exceptions where 90 days’ written notice and a payment of relocation expenses in the amount of a month’s rent would allow a no-cause eviction. It also features that key element of repealing rent control: the bill “[permits] city or county to implement rent stabilization programs for rental of dwelling units.” In order to be ratified in the State of Oregon, HB 2004 must pass in the Senate as well. It stood for public hearing with great hullaballoo on May 3. In the coming weeks, we will see a vote in a Senate that has a Democratic majority of 17-13—but many of these Dems are moderate and may be difficult to sway. Opponents fall in line with most conventional arguments against rent control— their supply/demand market logic argues that that more stringent controls on evictions and rent increases would throw too many hoops in front of property owners. As a result, landlords might rinse their hands of the increased regulation, choosing to sell their properties instead of renting them out. Landlords would have little incentive to renovate their properties if they couldn’t pass the cost of repairs onto renters in the form of raised rents. And “risky” tenants might be denied a chance to rent if landlords become pickier, wanting to avoid the messy for-cause eviction process. Ultimately, some of these harms do come to pass in certain cities, and in others, exactly the opposite happens. An article by Michael Mandel in the ‘89 Brooklyn Law Journal challenged economist conventions that condemn rent control, finding that there wasn’t much evidence to support the idea that rent control leads to worse maintenance. Economists at MIT found in 2012 that getting rid of rent control in Cambridge caused prices to rise significantly over 20 years, about which Ryan Lue concluded, “Removing [rent control] may be a kiss of death of mixed-income neighborhoods.” I’ll warrant that no city has enacted rent control perfectly, but I’ll also warrant that the increasingly urgent nature of housing crises require stabilization legislation that might inconvenience the market but ultimately do more good than harm. If cities like Portland are willing to start tossing legislation onto the table that smells like rent control, the outdated statewide ban shouldn’t supersede a city’s ability to try shit, see if it works, and then change ordinances if it doesn’t work out. The status quo is deeply untenable. Ride the bus for two hours from Gresham to North Portland so your kid can hang out with their best friends at recess and tell me we don’t deserve to try something new. pqmonthly.com PQMONTHLY.COM
pqmonthly.com PQMONTHLY.COM
JANUARY/FEBRUARY MAY 2017 • 17
NATIONAL CALENDAR
VOICES
Political Morality Decoding Our Moral System as a Country By Suzanne Deakins
There have been two articles in PQ Monthly which laid the foundation for this article. If you would like to receive these please email me at theqpress@gmail.com. Morality is non-physical, abstract, and based on what we have been taught. The strict father sense of morality is based on the idea that the world is fundamentally a dangerous place and life is difficult. You must be disciplined to succeed and be a good upright person. In the strict father governess system a city or group of people who disobey the father’s (President, governor’s, or mayor’s rules) there is a punishment, such as the withholding of funds to sanctuary cities. The Rules are to protect the people and help citizens become selfdisciplined, such as the campaign by President Reagan to just say no to sex and drugs. Saying no would imply that the individuals had self-discipline etc. The Strict Father Goals are to 1) maintain order,
18 • MAY JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 2017
2) support and preserve the system of authority, 3) use authority to protect those under their authority, and 4) using authority to help people become better through discipline. Evil is anything external or internal that is contrary to the rules set by the authority. Good is that which defends the rules and is disciplined. Moral Strength, being good is being upright, evil is falling. Morality is strength. Moral strength is seen in two lights. You must have moral strength in order to stand up to evil and the moral strength creates (defines) the evil. This concept of morality dismisses social energies, social classes etc. If you can say no to sex, drugs, and rock and roll, you are morally a good person with self-discipline; all else is a failing. Rules and laws are put in place to reward and protect those good people. Hence the idea that those in higher income bracket deserve tax breaks (rewards for being good people). Rewards are based on competition and playing by the assumed rules. The moral order of strict father is: God is over people; People are over plants, animals, and natural objects (this has broad indication on environmental laws and enforcement); Adults are over children, and Men are over women (implications about women’s health concerns are indicated here). The Nurturant Mother model has similar goals to the Strict Father model, such as protection and helping others to become self-reliant. However, how this modality works is based on a very different perception of morality. Protection is seen as caring for the individuals or social class to protect them from external danger. A successful life for the nurturant child is one where they learn to care for others (empathy) and the earth. Crime and drugs are still seen as dangers, but dangers also include ideas such as cigarettes, cars without seat belts, dangerous toys, pollution, asbestos, etc. Included in this long list are unscrupulous businesses and persons. Children respond to the nurturant parent out of love and respect rather than fear of punishment. It is important to note that the nurturant parent does not see happiness connected with the accumulation of worldly goods, but rather the ability of the child to establish empathy and compassion with family and social ties.
Morality is empathy, but empathy is more than the Golden Rule. The Golden Rule requires you accept others value system in order to have empathy. If a nurturant person is to have empathy for a strict father person whose values are quite different from the nurturant mother’s values a paradox is created. This situation of course is not reversible, as the strict father model does not need to consider the values of the nurturant mother’s values. For the strict father’s values are seen as absolute and irrefutable. In government we can see how laws and rules play out through Nurturant governance. Programs and laws are initiated in areas such education, care (health coverage for all) , social security, financial aid, and fair immigration policies. In the nurturant parent model of government all people are seen as equal and good, and capable of empathic acts. Immigration: The nurturant parent will say see how much they give to the community (family) they are good upright individuals.” The strict parent says “they have broken the law and must be disciplined (deported).” For the nurturant parent: Morality is empathy; morality is taking care of oneself; self-development of human potential; Morality is happiness (one must be happy to help others achieve happiness); Morality is fair distribution. Moral failings for the nurturant person are: Lack of social responsibility, lack of empathy, selfrighteousness, narrow-mindedness, inconsideration, aesthetic insensitivity, meanness, uncommunicative (lack of response avoiding honest conversation), and selfcenteredness to name a few. Our goal is to understand our self and others so the lines of communication can be opened. Suzanne Deakins, Ph.D. is a publisher (One Spirit Press and The Q Press) and author. Her books may be found on amazon.com. She teaches seminars on straight thinking and ontology, as well as Radical Forgiveness. She maybe reached at theqpress@gmail.com. Watch for her new blog site www.a.small.revolution2017.com will be available soon.
pqmonthly.com PQMONTHLY.COM
Business Directory FEATURE
PQ Monthly is published the 3rd Thursday of every month. Please contact us for advertising opportunities at 503.228.3139 www.pqmonthly.com
INSURANCE
Young Queer Writers: Write for Proud Queer Monthly PQ Monthly wants to feature writers under 21 in our publication!
FOLLOW US!
facebook.com/ pqmonthly
Email Ryn McCoy at editor@ pqmonthly.com for more info.
pqmonthly.com PQMONTHLY.COM
JANUARY/FEBRUARY MAY 2017 • 19
NATIONAL
20 • MAY JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 2017
pqmonthly.com PQMONTHLY.COM