Gay Cat
Wow – what a weekend. I don’t know about you, but I’m still recovering, and finding glitter in unexpected places. This year’s Pride was an amazing experience for me. Five nights, ten parties, two marches, and zero gay bashings or homophobic incidents (as far as we know). A vibrant, powerful and peaceful pride despite a lot of changes this year – to the Pride route, to step-off times…and weather that wasn’t quite what we’ve been hoping for. This also marked a change for us here @ QPDX.com as we slowly grow from a little website that could into the bigger, badder, and more powerful queer community media hub that we want to become.
We do what we do for you, our community, and we want to thank everyone who has supported us over the past year and a half in so many ways: Holding banners, running errands, making connections, t-shirts, costumes, stealing copies, blogging/photographing…all of it. Thank you for inspiring us to do more and do better, every day. Thank you for giving us hella gay stuff to write about.
Alright, enuff wishywashing. Let’s get down to the dirt!
Freddie Fagula at work @ Do The Dark
WEDNESDAY…
Portland Pride 2010 got kicked off at FAME/GAY PIZZA at party o’clock. Unawares of the newly implemented five dollar cover (is this every week? That’s kinda steep considering most Portland parties are less!) we did a little grooving on the dancefloor, while Alley sported a grass skirt made of QPDX.com stickers. This also marks the debut of our new merch – we still have plenty of buttons and stickers! All our friends were there, and it was a great way to start Pride week. Lovers played – I don’t remember much else.
Thursday saw us kick it at DO THE DARK, which is quickly becoming a fave alterna-queer night, especially for those of us who live south of the gayborhood. Freddie Fagula and friends spun dancey house, pop and allkinds, while the pierre et gilles’esque Pink Narcissus illuminated the dancefloor. The smoke machine was having fun that night, with two options – “extra smokey or extra fuckin’ smokey”. Thanks for that line Freddie. <3 Fun was had, and DO THE DARK seems to be creating quite a few missed connections ads lately…
our mother still dresses us alike
FRIDAY was the BIG ONE, and saw me hitting up a grand total of five parties – starting at Gaycation with the queer movies. I can never tell whether arty little films are really my thing, but some of the films were totally rad and entertaining – a great, chill addition to the established Pride canon. Gaycation heated up with Mr. Charming and Jodi Bon Jodi on the decks – wearing massive cat heads. The music was pumping, the drinks were tight, yep, hscene is the homoscene. Next stop was Crave – which was completely packed to the gills. Strangely enough, I barely recognized anyone I saw…where do these girls usually go? Where do they come from? I’m a little confused. Everyone was having a great time though, and Steve and his co-staff were holding up admirably. Jungle Juice was had, and it came with big slices of pineapple and other funkyness, and we danced a little before hitting the road.
Next stop on the list for me was MENZ ROOM @ ROTTURE...despite the DJ lineup and screen printing offered the crowd was a little thin on the ground. Shame – but at least it was nice to not have to wait in line to go to the loo or get a drink! I bumped into ponyblower extraordinaire Airick Heater on the back deck with Blow Pony performers Christeene and Jer Ber, and the relaxed atmosphere was conducive to bumping into friends and having a nice chat. The screen printing was really cool though! Kudos to the printer who was doing it all by herself!
ROBO BOGO vs. ONE NIGHT STAND @ Red Cap / BOXXES
The ROBO BOGO / ONE NIGHT STAND at Red Cap / boxxes was the complete antithesis to the more relaxed atmosphere at MENZ ROOM…Kaki Marshall, Freddie Fagula and DJs Sarah/Seth Gottesdiener (and others) played set after set of great music. The both clubs were packed, and the crowd was a great mix scene queens, dykes, alterna-queers, and drag stars. I had a great time and $590 was raised for both TransActive and the Gender (Free) For All March. Awesome work, freddie and co! It was a high energy stomper of a night. I got to dance on stage which is like, my favourite thing, next to the colour red.
After kicking it at Red Cap / Boxxes our little crew of timeless party warriors headed to the Bling IV afterparty where we drank keg, danced to classic rock and got stuck to protein bars until 4am. Success all round!
SATURDAY saw us withdraw and regroup until hitting up the dyke march, which began an hour early this year. I got there at the appropriate time, but everyone else was seemingly running on extended/daylight savings GST (gay standard time) because nobody was there. Nevertheless, we managed to get a sizable group of folks together and marched down to the waterfront. Shame it was such a small group though. I’m thinking the Dyke March needs to step it up a little-otherwise people will stop coming!
Dyke March Portland 2010. Photo by CROD
After the Dyke March it was time to chill and plan outfitz for the night, before trekking down to Blow Pony, where the line was a block line by ten thirty pm. Luckily enough it moved quickly, and the inside stayed pretty navigatable until 1am, at which point the crowd bottlenecked at the downstairs door. Lines, especially bathroom lines were pretty massive, even though there isn’t really much that organizers can do to fix that one. Music was good, although a little heavy on the hip hop. Christeene and Jer Ber performed, as did BOY JOY, and we kicked it Blow Pony style until 230am, which is when i ponied my exhausted little behind home to bed.The hardcore gay boy porn that was basically just dicks in assholes all night long at the fry truck was bit much, but overall the event was classic Blow Pony: Great music that breaks with the classic gay boy party soundtrack, awesome outfits, cool people, and a packed but friendly atmosphere. I’m also super excited that there was zero trouble this year. Good job!
qPDX.com marching crew!
SUNDAY…time to march. Our little crew of QPDX.com dancers was amazing, despite the drizzle (which was kind of refreshing actually). We got to march dance around to the music of the Last Regiment of Syncopated Drummers, which was funn. Crowd seemed a little thinner and a little more subdued than last year (I blame the rain), but we had a fantastic time, and spotted tons of you in the crowd! The waterfront was crowded as usual, and I didn’t spend much time there, opting for lunch near stark street and some chillout time instead. I left our merry band of warriors for a few hours to relax at home, but rejoined the crew at RECESS @ THE REPORT. I’m not sure about those skittles infused drinks, but the small but dedicated crowd was still going when I left at midnight, with Malice on the decks spinning classic rock and dance…and there was more underwear dancing, I swear.
Check out a kajillion photos Mike Burt & others took this wknd.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
Best club night: ROBO/BOGO vs. ONE NIGHT STAND
Runner Up: BLOW PONY
Best new entry: Movies @ Gaycay
Better luck next year: The Dyke March, MENZ ROOM
Best party accessory: Those cwazy cat headz
Best trooper: Emily “Meat Sox” Gibson
Prettiest Dress: Marissa Johnson
Best underwear dancing: Diana Edwards (second place goes to Emily G)
Best Co-SuperGay-Flyer: Amy Michet
Prettiest drink: Jungle Juice @ CRAVE
Best Hero: Leslie (& Janel) for bringing it. (poles)
Damn Perry you really caught it. And it was really nice that we had enough help to be able to hang out with each other. I’ll try and think if I have anything to add but you really summed it up perfectly. I’m so excited to be doing it all again with you this weekend!
what’s an alternaqueer?