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 Sam Adams In a press release issued today by the Mayor’s office Sam Adams has said that he will not be running for re-election, turning the 2012 race into wide open contest. After a soul-searching staycation Adams has come to believe that this choice is better for both the city of Portland and for him personally. He acknowledges that it would be a tough race, though not un-winnable, saying that it would take away too much time from making the city a better place while he is still in office. He also takes some time out to point out what he has done for the city, and to thank those who have helped him along the way.
Adams has not endorsed any other candidate, although two have already thrown their hats in the ring, New Seasons co-founder Eileen Brady and former city commissioner Charlie Hales. Last week Multnomah County Chairman Jeff Cogen announced that he will not enter the Portland mayoral race, ending months of speculation.
Despite the many trials and tribulations of Sam’s time as chief Portlander I gotta say I will miss having a big gay bike rider in the big city seat.
You can read the entire press release after the break and listen to Adams talking with Willamette Week in the podcast player below.
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  SlutWalk Portland Organizers! If you’ve been reading qPDX or any other local news website lately, you’ve been hearing a lot about the Portland SlutWalk. You may have read my article in which I bashed back against Jack Donovan’s critique of SlutWalk as a “lesbian parade” for “fat” “whores” and “feminists who are embarrassing themselves”. You may have been handed a flyer for slutwalk, the pre-party, or the decompression/after party, along with a smile by one of SlutWalk’s principal organizers: Ryan Basille, Sterling Clark, Sophia St. James. You may have heard some of the backstory – namely that SlutWalk was founded in response to a police officer in Canada doling out nuanced and socially aware advice to trainees, such as: “If women want to avoid being raped, they shouldn’t dress like sluts”. You may have heard that SlutWalk itself as gone through permit, funding, and personnel difficulties, only to triumph, like we knew it would. It’s coming. It’s almost here. And what are you going to wear? This Sunday, July 31st, SW 4th and Jefferson (Terry Shrunk Plaza), 1pm.
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  The infamous Lady Bunny performs Friday at Red Cap Thursday
Sugar Town queer soul night – Rotture’s soul night has become a staple in Portland nightlife both gay and straight. But as with many popular nights the douchebags inevitably catch on, and it can be even worse at a “straight” night. I’m not sure if this happened to the beloved soul night, but it was time for us to have our own anyway (Pansy Soul is great but Sloan’s is more for hanging out than dancing). Anyway, all of this to say I’m more than a little excited that one of the best dressed butchies I have ever seen, DJ Action Slacks, will lead us all in a little soulful 70s love starting this Thursday, and hopefully forever more. It’s free but donations for Q Patrol are welcomed.
Cafeteria turns 1 – Oh my god Freshman year is over! Now we can give swirlies to all the new queer club nights in town. And guest DJ Girlfriends will be spinnin’ in your parents’ back yard (i.e. the Vendetta patio) ’til 11, just like at the popular kids’ parties. We’ve made it folks. Sophomore year is gonna rule.
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  Samuel Thomas, the man behind the music Portland may be known for both its music and its queerness but the two have never come together in quite the cohesive way that this Saturday’s Portland Queer Music Festival aims to. A full day and two stages of back to back acts at Red Cap Garage for only 3 bucks is one of the most reasonable prices I’ve ever heard too, in true PDX fashion. Plus, despite the dive drink prices, Red Cap’s bar menu is quite delicious, with that unpretentious but slightly upscale goodness that Portland bars are starting to do so well.
Bands, producers and DJs of multiple genres and genders have come from our own backyards as well as across the country to participate. You can see a lineup of all 30 in an earlier post for just a taste of the days never-ending aural pleasure.
And the man behind it all? That would be Samuel Thomas, director and founder of the Portland FREE Music Project and an organizer of the (nearly) weekly Maricon dance party. This hard workin’ man booked all 30 acts himself. He’s hopeful that the fest will be a success, anticipating over 800 attendees over the course of the day. Here’s what he had to say on the eve of his inaugural summer celebration of queer music.
qPDX: What made you want to start a queer music fest in Portland?
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  Jack "Macho Slut" Donovan slings mud at SlutWalk, qPDX, women everywhere but he can still manage a sneer An editorial note:
Right wing homosexual blogger Jack Donovan (otherwise known as Jack Malebranche) has spent a lot of his summer trying to discredit women who believe that suggestive attire does not invite rape. His histrionic rants are so blatantly misogynistic I’m tempted not to even address them. But he calls out Portland, he calls out individuals that have contributed to qPDX, and he calls out qPDX itself, so how can I not?
What strikes me most is his need to consistently ridicule the efforts of self-identified sluts across the US and Canada, even creating a new blog dedicated entirely to cataloging the Slutwalks. He proclaims how useless these efforts are, claiming they wouldn’t benefit the “average woman,” (as if there were such a thing) while simultaneously spending his entire Saturday making “WhOregon” t-shirts. My instinct as a blogger tells me that spending a lot of time railing against the “useless” is particularly useful in increasing his page views.
He equates not being taken seriously with rape, but between assault and a bit of mockery, I’ll take the latter. Most of us have learned to deflect hate speech, though that doesn’t afford physical safety. Even I have, on occasion, laughed at the ass crack bearing plumber, but it would sound absurd to suggest that he should have some something hard and painful shoved up his nether regions for the crime of bearing skin. So, of course, I won’t do that.
What I will say is that not everyone’s standards of beauty match Donovan’s, and all kinds of people experience sexual violence.
I will say that Portland, and any other city, is entitled to have as many parades for “lesbians,” “sluts,” “women,” and any other group, as we want.
I will acknowledge that though our writing is not always perfect, our efforts are sincere. And our ability to call each other out and yet work together again in the future may be seen as a weakness, but it is also one of our greatest strengths.
And I will give space in this blog to hear from my colleague, Perry Eising, as well as you, the reader, and my whole, diverse queer community, of which even Donovan is, for better or worse, a part.
-Alley
Perry says please note: the following opinions are mine except where indicated.
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 Vegan cheese from Heidi Ho Organics
I’ve applauded the effort of the newly formed Market Q, a community farmer’s market on busy Mississippi Ave lovingly presented by the Q Center, Ali Williams and the LGBT community. Whether because of the cool, rainy summer (I have yet to see tomatoes in my yard or in my neighborhood) the produce offerings have been slim, but the prepared food delicious. […]
  Tina Kotek offers up a challenge on the mic Oregon State Representative, and out lesbian, Tina Kotek is a good sport. She wants to help raise money for Basic Rights Oregon as part of their summer organizing campaign. So here’s to hoping that our Mayor Sam Adams is also a good sport (and from what I’ve seen I think he is), because Kotek has thrown down the gauntlet, saying,
…I’ve decided to up the ante. I’m laying down a challenge – if you help raise $7,500 by next week, I will challenge Mayor Sam Adams to a Karaoke contest at a Basic Rights Oregon summer garden party!
It’s a lofty goal for 7 days or less to be sure, but even meager contributions help get us on the path to 7500.
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  As we’ve mentioned here before, high-level athletes and team personnel have been coming out more and more lately. While this is of course great news (understatement), it’s hard not to notice that basically all of the stories we’ve been hearing are about dudes.
On the flip side of that, we have a true pioneer in terms of queer women in sport right here in Portland. Sherri Murrell, the head coach of PSU’s women’s basketball team, is the only openly gay division 1 basketball coach in the country. The Oregonian ran a profile of Murrell earlier in the week — front page, above the fold. It’s a great article, but it would be even greater if being gay and having a successful sports career didn’t constitute major news.
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  Cat Fancy performs Saturday at Fat Fancy Thursday
Reclaiming Pink a short performance by Max Voltage – The co-creator of Homomentum and Homo’s Got Talent hasn’t been heard from all summer (oh my god so long!), but Max is back with a free performance that is part of the JAW Playwrights Festival. This journey through gender and back again is sure to be the colorful and expressive performance we’ve come to expect from Voltage and I’m particularly excited to see how the Men’s restroom plays out as a stage for the piece. It continues throughout the weekend so make sure you spare a half hour somewhere along the way.
Friday
Mantrap@RedCap – Fridays at Red Cap just got a lot better with the introduction of current It Boys DJ Lunchlady and photographer Wayne Bund. Surprise performances round out the part. This week it’s Sweat/Shine and Devan McGrath, making any guy’s dream team.
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  There’s an exciting opportunity coming up for women who love basketball!
HRC’s annual 3 on 3 tournament is on Saturday, July 23rd in NE Portland’s Irving Park. Registration is open until 2pm on Thursday, July 21, and costs either $20 for an individual or $80 for a team.
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