PREMIERE bringing the LGBTA Lifestyle of Portland to light.
Note from the Editor
Happy Pride everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed the fabulous month of June and the festivities that came roaring in with it. I for one quite enjoyed #GRANNYTRIGGER with Bianca Del Rio and was really impressed with all the hardwork that was put into Pride at the Waterfront. Its no easy feat, these events and block parties take a lot of attention to detail and time. So if you know anyone that was involved, whether that be in the service industry, a performer, stage directior, DJ and everyone in the background especially Pride Northwest. Thank them, they all deserve a great round of applause. They made Pride awesome this year! This issue highlights important people that make this community worth something to celebrate, each of these people highlighted bring something to the community in Portland. This issue celebrates them. On another note I want to bring up the future of Premiere, we’ve had a lot of changes and are in the process of reogranizing certain aspects of the magazine. Stick with us because WE’RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE! Everyone in the community has shown so much dedication, support and eagerness for something new in Portland, and we will continue dishing out new artists next month! In the meantime continue enjoying your summer, smiling and making the world a better place. Happy Pride Darlings,
Bruce Ross
Editor-in-Chief premierepdx@gmail.com
e t i r o v a F 's d Portlan ! w o h S y t e i r a V e m i t r e m m u S e h t t a 4 1 0 2 , 9 2 e n Sunday, Ju r e t a e h t i h p m A k Washington Par This is an all-ages, family-friendly event that has an eighteen-year history (19872004) of performing to capacity crowds. In 2004, Peacock Productions, Inc. discontinued the event and pursued other fundraising opportunities. However, the community never stopped asking for the return of their beloved Peacock in the Park. So, after several wonderful years at the Portland Performing Arts Center with “Peacock After Dark,� we are finally returning to the Park!
www.peacockinthepark.org
-Performances Start at 12:00pm -No Hard Liquor, Beer/Wine ok -Bring tips for performers donations for scholarships, water, seating, sunscreen and umbrellas -There will be concessions -Have Fun!
Heart behind the I had the lovely oppurtunity to sit down with Ron Withrow and David Kearns with the Oregon AIDS Memorial Foundation one warm afternoon and find out what exactly the foundation was all about. Im extremly excited for this foundation and just want to give you a little background before I share you their stories on why they are so passionate about this great cause. The memorial was established in part by the Imperial Sovereign Rose Court of Oregon with a coalition of indviduals and different organziations dedicated to the recognition and preservation of the history of the AIDS crisis. The organizations main goal is to build a memorial to honor all the victims in Oregon that have succombed to the AIDS virus, commemorating and celebrating the efforts of the caregivers and activtists who responded to fight the disease and recognized the ongoing battle. Not only do they want this memorial they also want to build up this community, educating the youth of Portland and making sure the virus is less of a threat in our beautiful city. Here is one of the hearts behind the foundation and why he is so passionate for this cause. “I was born in 1971 in a small town in rural Arizona, growing up in a home where in 10 years we moved 10 different times. Although my Mom tried her best to teach my sister and I from right and wrong, my step-dad seemed not to care
Being a young boy, I was craving attention from authorative male figures and I was not getting it at home. I found others to fill that gap, men that made me feel acknowledged and appreciated. Like a number of young boys, I began experimenting with other boys when I was about 8 or 9 years old. This felt natural and right, being involved with girls however did not do anything for me. I started being sexually active with other boys when I was 13, when I was 15 the boy that I was dating killed himself instead of coming out and telling his parents and family that he was gay and was in love with another boy. This sent me into a downward spiral for a few years, where I began hooking up randomly with others in my high school. I had no-one to talk to about my feelings, being raised in a Roman Catholic family, knowing that I would be thrown out. So keeping it bottled up inside me and chose to vent in other ways, sex mainly, and rarely using protection. Trying to fill that empty gap inside of me, I would pursue sexual encounters with men that gave me any attention. When I turned 18 and graduated from high school, I was thrown out of the house, because I was told that I should be able to support myself. With a job, some money and nowhere to go, I moved to Las Vegas and was able to stay with my Grandmother.
During the time there, I once again began to search for someone to fill that emptyness.
e Ribbon.. www.oregonaidsmemorial.org
facebok.com/OregonAIDSMemorialINC
With numerous male friends, and a few encounters along the way. I starting dating one man specifically. We dated for almost 4 years, until he was killed in an automobile accident. This once again sent me into that downward spiral, where I moved back to Arizona became employed and found my own place. I spent those next 4 years in Arizona, having a few flings with nothing really satisfying myself. Later moving to Oregon, I finally met a guy that I dated for 10 years in which without my knowledge was cheating on me. Thats when I found out that I contracted HIV. The day I was diagnosed with it, was the same day I found out that he had been cheating on me for the last 3 years with a number of guys. He was tested and also came back HIV positive with the same strain. He refused to deal with the responsibilities that comes with contracting HIV, and after a short while an incident occurred between us and we split. Since then, I have watched a number of friends contract HIV and along with them and others pass away from complications from HIV/AIDS. With an infection rate of around 2.7 million people worldwide each year, with about 29% of those dying from complications within the first 2 years of contraction. Its very disheartening and a huge eye opener. Some of those, if not most of these people who contract HIV, do so from a partner or a sexual encounter with a person that either doesn’t know they have it or do but doesn’t care. Living with HIV for the last 3 years, learning and researching things affiliated with the virus, I know there needs to be more action. Not just to educate people about what HIV/AIDS is, or bring the awareness of these statistics up, but to inform every one of the history of HIV/AIDS and honor not just those men, women, and children who have passed away from HIV/AIDS complications, but those people who helped, love and provided care to those who were and still are infected with HIV/AIDS.” -David Kearns
e v o L e h T hind e B ns e L e v o l e w h c u s i m v a w s D s o o y R H t e r c a M by Bru
So for as long as we can remember theres always been that one indivudal at every event, and every historic moment, snapping away taking photos, documenting everything that has happened in our coummunity for that we are forever grateful for Marty Davis. So Premiere asked around and asked people what their found memory of this wonderful community leader.
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Poison Waters
“When I think of Marty Davis I have to smile. Never have I met such a mystery of a woman, all at once aggressive and forward in her speech and sharing of onions as well as quiet, reserved and spotlight shy. Her penchant for taking pictures allows here to observe and study, mostly folks who are behaving as though they are not being observed or studied. She’s been around forever and now with her departure on that wild and wacky adventure, our Community is realizing the treasure that we held and maybe took for granted is now not ours to rely on. She taught me a lot and not just through words but also through pictures. Our friendship was fun and our lunch dates were chatty and only a little catty. She is one of the few who says it like it is and called me out on the notorious behaviors of my past a time or too. I’ll always appreciate the unique individual and the adventurous spirit, the honest Community leader who now leads her own way out in the world. Already the pictures and tales are book worthy and I for one cannot wait!”
Marty Da Logan Lynn
“In the very early days of my career Marty Davis was absolutely instrumental in providing a platform for me and my music to be noticed and for my story to be told in the pages of Just Out. Marty really understood what it meant to represent all of the letters in the LGBTQ acronym years before it was the thing to do. By always being out in all different types of community herself, Marty’s paper really succeeded in being something of a mirror for all of our communities. When real people see themselves in the stories you tell, you have succeeded as a publisher. At the end of the day, truth is all that really matters -- even when it’s unpopular to say. Marty really gets that.”
avis kimberleeVan Patten Marty Davis has been a treasured friend since the mid 90’s. She has been there for every major function I’ve produced and/or participated in. She has recorded our lives through the lens of her camera from a caring, humorous and unique perspective. Marty has educated, challenged, and entertained us. She has a heart as big as the outdoors and a soul that runs as deep as a river. Even now, from her solo pilgrimage, she has us hanging on her every word through frequent and insightful facebook posts. You are loved Marty Davis. Thanks for an amazing 20 years. Here’s to many more.
Ask Boliv Dear Bolivia, I have gotten myself onboard in a seemingly dead-end project. The people I am collaborating with seemed very genuine at first, but as time has passed, it has become more and more apparent to me that not everyone is 100% on board. Some have other projects that are more important, while others just lack the drive to hold up their end of the deal. I feel that I have done my best to pull my weight in this endeavor, but if the others aren’t pulling their weight, it feels like I’m onboard a ship with no wind in it’s sails, no compass, and a sick crew. What should I do? Should I stick it out and see where it goes, or do I jump ship while land is in sight? Yours, Capt. Frustrated
via...
Dear Captain F, I’ve been in a lot of different types of shoes before, and your shoes are familiar! You should ask yourself a few questions before you make a choice, either way. First, how passionate are you about the project? If you just jumped in willy-nilly, then “jumping ship”, as you say, can be just as willy-nilly. (I hope you have a life raft, otherwise Swim to shore my friend!) However, if you fully believed in the project at the onset, then jumping ship isn’t going to be that easy. (Shut your mouth and swab the decks!!!) Second, how much time have you put in already? If you’ve already invested a shit ton of time, you may want to reach for a little more patients and hang around to see what happens. Otherwise you might be giving up two seconds too early. It would be a shame to put in so much work to watch someone else reap the benefits. On the other hand, if you’re fresh onto the scene, and you already have these seasick feelings, I would say follow your gut and get the heck out of there!!! And finally, ask yourself if you were getting any joy out of the project itself. Remember. getting there is half the fun. No matter what, you do what’s right for you.
Yours, Bolivia
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My name is Amanda Russel, and I have probably met a great deal of you reading this issue of Premiere- not just because they were kind enough to feature my artwork in Issue 3, but because I show up to a lot of stuff. That’s probably what my tombstone should say:
Amanda Russel: She showed up to a lot of stuff. It is so apparent that I show up to a lot of stuff that the staff of “Premiere” asked me to start writing a column, all about the stuff that I show up to. These past couple of months, I have seen a lot of drag, almost as much singing, some incredibly flexible dancers, aerial acrobatics, and a guy who let the audience staplegun their dollar bill tips directly to his body.
” o T p -To quote Portland’s darling queen Jinkx Monsoon, “Drag inspires all this happiness between people that doesn’t exist a lot nowadays.” That’s a huge reason I love frequenting drag shows in particular, besides the community-building and social aspects: the energy. I fully recognize that there can be bitter competition between performers that does turn a lot of people off to drag shows, particularly when titles are involved or there is a prize to be won. To me, though, the bottom line of being an audience member at drag shows is that there is cheering, there is happiness, there is a lot of laughing, and there is an energy and electricity in the air that I’ve never experienced anywhere else.
bhotsid ylty.
! ! y t r a P n o i t a r b e l e C Decision Day
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Monday, May 19th marked the decision day for the ruling whether same-sex marriage would finally become legal in Oregon, and I intended to celebrate, because I was fairly certain that if Utah and Arkansas finally gave in to progress, Oregon would follow closely in their footsteps, hanging its head in shame at taking this long. My day began at Crush Bar in SE, which opened early just for folks to be able to hang out together and watch the ruling announcement live. There was a limited menu but a full bar, and snacks were set out when I arrived just about fifteen minutes before noon, which was the set time for the final decision to be announced. Leave it to the queers to turn this into a brunch. The back room had a large projector showing the news on the wall, and in the front room, all the small TVs were tuned to the same station. The mood was joyful and tense and excited. I was so grateful to be there, sharing this day with friends and community. Someone was kind enough to fetch me a cup of coffee since I was woefully under-caffeinated, and I sat at the end of a long string of tables that had been shoved together near the door. Since I am writing this in retrospect, you know how this story ends already.The moment the news was announced on liveTV,the entire bar erupted in cheers and crying and hugging and celebrating.I congratulated and highfived complete strangers.We all rejoiced.It was a beautiful moment of victory. As people began to file out, Daniel Borgen (from PQ Monthly) asked me if I was going to the wedding party down the street. I hadn’t heard of it, but ventured down to the Melody Ballroom with him and a group of friends, where we found a barricaded-off industrial block, news cameras, and people milling around.
” o T p ! ! y t r a P n o i t a r b e l e C y a Decision D The ballroom was not terribly crowded yet this early in the day, but it was by no means empty. Upstairs was a room where couples could get married, and downstairs was a suite of rooms, that housed an array of wedding-reception festivities. Oregon United For Marriage, in anticipation of a positive decision that day, had really gone all out. Everywhere were little round tables with flowers and tablecloths, and in one room was an impressive spread of desserts and small-plate foods, and a full bar. Another room had a sunken dance floor, a Photo Booth, and DJ Anjali and the Incredible Kid were supplying dancing tunes. As soon as I arrived into the downstairs reception suite of rooms, someone handed me a long-stemmed rose and said “Here you are, my dear!” Also important to mention: There was free champagne. After receiving my own tiny flute, I milled around sipping it, and watched newlywed couples begin coming down the staircase, one at a time, from upstairs. Each time a couple came down, a man standing in the wide doorway would announce their names, and sometimes how long the couple had been together prior to this day (often in the teens and 20s!) and the whole room would break out into cheers.The room was electric with celebration and joy. I sampled various small-plate foods, and cupcakes, and rice crispy treats. I may have taken more than one glass of free champagne. I couldn’t stop grinning all afternoon.
Its that Time Of Year!
g n i n a v a r a C c u r B h t i w g o Al s i h h d n t i a s s w o R s l e v tra m a l G The day started off like any other Friday in Portland. Cloudy, with a threat of rain looming over our heads with the weekend dead ahead. I chose to escape and head to Newport with the glamourous drag troupe ‘The Caravan of Glam’ who I’ve been following for the last couple of months and was very eager to see what other people outside our community thought of their performance. With that Friday, into early Saturday morning, the trip was chock full of laughter, acceptance, great talent, Jaylas breasts, more laughter, most overall quite a trip to remember. Caravan of Glam started out with Justin Buckles of Justin Buckles Productions and Ectstacy Inferno, drag queen extraordinaire whose hosted numerous events in the LGBT community. During a trip down to Central Oregon Pride last June finding out the only gay entertainment was in fact Pride only once a year, Justin saw this wonderful opportunity to bring a little culture and entertainment to small cities around the state. Going to Ecstacy with his idea, the Caravan of Glam became a reality. After arriving to Newport and having a quick cigarette, i followed them to the venue Apollos Nightclub. A cute little club with dance floor, bar, comfortable seating, and the most friendliest of staff, you could tell that this was going to be quite a night for this establishment. After all the performers dropped off their bags we headed on over to Mo’s for lunch having an interesting discussion on the responsibilities of being an entertainer and what makes drag entertainment such an important cultural influence in these small cities all around the west coast. I remember expressing excitedly how happy I was that these cities who that would normally NEVER see anything like Caravan of Glam would get such a good taste of what Portland takes for granted. With lunch over we headed out and enjoyed the fresh air until the club was reopened a couple hours later.
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With the entertainers upstairs getting ready, I started walking about the club asking the patrons who arrived early about Newports LGBT community. One couple in particular, Peanut and Janet of Newport, been living there for many, many years, expressed how welcoming Newport has been for them. Peanut: “We’ve been together for over 22 years and walk down the street all the time holding hands, not even a second glance.” Asking them what type of entertainment they get at Newport the answer was quite a downer. “We had a great Valentines Event, but that was about it. Besides the Pride Event in Lincoln City, nothing goes on around here.” Continuing to talk about how important it is for their community to step forward and party hardy more, bringing more entertainment to the city, and advertising it more. From “Girls Night Out” to enjoying a drag show that never comes their way, Newport was revving up for a fun night. After harassing the locals i continued on my way back upstairs to where the Caravan was stretching, applying glitter, makeup and getting into their zone. Sitting down telling them how excited the locals were for them to get on stage. I could tell that the performers were just as excited to get on stage. Harassing the locals, I of course in turn had to harrass the Caravan, turning to Ecstasy i asked her, which of the places she has performed, which one was her favorite: “All were different, each were their own. Bend were good times, Eugene was an actual eye opener with Latrice Royale, the audience actually ran up the performers afterwords with tears in their eyes with the outlet we opened. It was awkward for us because we had no idea what to say.” “Isaiah whats the toughest part of being a part of Caravan of Glam?” I asked, knowing full well how busy Isaiah is. “Scheduling and the limits. With traveling being the hardest part, I’m really not a huge fan of car rides. Especially with my claustrophobia and injuries I have. But I love doing what I do because it all makes up for it in the end.” Continuing my questions I asked Jayla where she wants to see Caravan of Glam in the future, replying “All over, the sky is the limit with lots of opportunity on the way. It would be amazing to perform across the country, even on the east coast working with different walks of life.” Interviewing these performers even the main consensus was that the performers really enjoy the family quality of working with each other, meeting new people and letting the audience push pause from their daily lives to enjoy a moment of theater. Loosening up inhibitions, transporting you from your cares and just enjoying the talent that is being dished up on stage, they want you to have a night to remember. With that being said, it was just about showtime. The show didn’t disappoint, with Ecstasy at the helm, stirring the crowd up with raunchy jokes. Roxxy dazzling everyone with her elegance and prose. To Isaiah serving up a powerful stage presence with Jayla twirling and dancing across the audience. I was exhausted, the energy they were bringing was wonderful. I was impressed, i could never dish that out. The audience was just eating it up, craving talent and culture they for sure went home well fed. That night at Newport was quite memorable and I truthfully cant wait to go with them again. Be very proud of Caravan of Glam, the talent and management behind it are bringing a little taste of Portland life to a wider community that wont get it like we do on a daily basis. Next
time you see their show, stand up and applaud them for being a true example of what community should entail.
4 1 0 2 / 9 1 5/ a r e l i u g A w e r D by
There is nothing more beautiful than the expression of love. Whether with a kiss, a touch or exchange of vows, love is something that should be expressed. With that in mind, our nation is finally coming to terms that love is love and has a right to be shown and recognized. On May 19th 2014 US District Judge Michael McShane stuck down the state ban on same sex marriage, and declared that it was unconstitutional and discriminates against same-sex couples. In his 26-page ruling on the matter, Judge McShane concluded by stating: “My decision will not be the final word on this subject, but on this issue of marriage I am struck more by our similarities than our differences. 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. 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.� Since no state official of Oregon objected to the obvious, Oregon has become the 18th state in our nation to legalize same sex marriage after 10 year ban due to the 2004 state ban, in which over 3,000 same-sex couples in Oregon were able to enjoy a brief moment martial bliss only to have it become invalidated later. Invalid no longer, this is a beautiful mark in the history for the LBGTQ community and for basic human rights. Since the legalization of samesex marriage in Oregon over a 100 couples have joined together and have been revalidated in matrimony. Slowly but surely the idea that love has no bounds and should never be banned or hidden for any US citizen due to religious persecution, fear, ignore and intolerance. Other states including Idaho, Oklahoma, Virginia, Michigan, Texas, Utah and Arkansas also have deemed their bans unconstitutional, which means love will soon be recognized by not only by individual states but our beautiful nation Marriage is something that everyone should have the right to have, whether you’re gay or straight, it should be a basic human right. In given time, the whole nation will understand that when you truly love someone, you love him or her for who they are, not just for his or her sexual orientation or preference and that to bind said individuals in matrimony is something sacred and needs to respected. Congrats Oregon, we did it!
EQUALITY WI
ALWAYS INS
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