Contgressman Early Blumenauer, who represents a large swath of Portland, poses for the No H8 campaign
We love our bowtie wearing Congressman Earl Blumenauer for many reasons including his bikey liberal ways and staunch support of LGBT rights. Now we have even more photographic evidence that he’s super awesome and has great, if eclectic fashion sense that a Portland queer can get behind.
He, along with 9 other members of Congress, have posed for those iconic No H8 pictures in support of gay and lesbian equality. (And his yellow and pink bowtie goes great with the silver of the duct tape over his mouth). These 10 members of Congress may come from mostly blue states (and they were all Democrats) but there’s a Mountain and Midwest state in the mix of reps from California, Oregon, Colorado, Ohio, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. Four are men, six are women, and only one identifies as LGBT.
Although I’m a little disappointed that only 10 representatives took part, the organizers of the shoot seem thrilled. And in this election year it is still a big deal, so I’d like to echo their gratitude to those who took part, especially Rep. Dennis Kucinich, whose early commitment to taking part gave the team “…the confidence to go ahead with the shoot,” when he stood for the first portrait.
You have your own chance to participate in a professional photo shoot for No H8 when the Jupiter Hotel hosts an open photography session for No H8 on May 4th. No need to make reservations; it’s first come, first served and expect to move fast. When you arrive, you will receive a numbered model release to fill out, followed by receiving your NOH8 tattoo. We will call numbers throughout the day, and your corresponding release number will signal your time to line up to have your photo taken. If you’re in line by 8pm you’ll be accommodated and proceeds go to the No H8 campaign.
