Ivan Coyote, Anna Camilleri and Lyndell Montgomery perform Swell
Bringing together a grand spectrum of masculinities Butch Voices Regional Conference comes to P-Town this weekend as part of its four state tour. The gathering butchies celebrate a vast array of identities.
We are woman-identified Butches. We are trans-masculine Studs. We are faggot-identified Aggressives. We are noun Butches, adjective Studs and pronoun-shunning Aggressives. We are she, he, hy, ze, zie and hir. We are you, and we are me. The point is, we don’t decide who is Butch, Stud or Aggressive. You get to decide for yourself.
This convention is part party, learning experience, performance and part art. It opens tonight with a A Taste of Butch Flavor art exhibition at the Q Center (4115 N Mississippi) with live music featuring a reunion of Portland’s all-womyn percussion troupe, The Rhythm Givers, with special guests. The exhibit will be up throughout the month.
Friday night things heat up with a meet and greet at Scandals (1125 SW Stark) during happy hour followed by Swell – So the Story Goes, a queer tale spin session from the brilliant minds of Ivan Coyote, Anna Camilleri, Lyndell Montgomery that is described as, “Queer tales. True, except when they’re not. Stories that swell and implode the spaces between cultural institutions and queer landscapes; between female and male; between tightly produced performance and kitchen table talk.”
One can only hope that number 6 on the hot butch list Coyote will be attending the later nighttime fun Love Hurts play party. Not just for the kinky but the kink curious as well this seems like a friendly introduction to the world of BDSM. There’s even a ‘Come and Get Me Board’ for those too shy to make the first move.
Saturday gets a bit more intellectual with workshops on topics such as genderqueer identities, parenthood, fashion, geekery, porn and more in addition to Keynote Speaker Kathleen Saadat. The night is capped off by amazing performances of music, dance, drag, and even some short film from the likes of Ivan Coyote, ‘Dapper Dyke’, ‘America’s Got Talent’s Sally Cohn, Annie Vergnetti, Johnny-O and too many more to go through. Oh yeah, and boot blacking. But don’t stop yet because the party keeps going at the E Room (3701 SE Division) for Butch Dessert.
Joe LeBlanc and Kathleen Saadat on OutLoud
On Sunday you can begin to wind down (sort of) with a Gender/Queer Poetry and Art Show followed by the BV Karaoke and Costume Contest. The afternoon spoken word at In Other Words (8 NE Killingsworth) brings the exciting talent of SugarButch Sinclair Sexsmith in addition to hometown favorites Sossity Chiricuzio, Tash Shatz and Alex Stefanova.
To hear some of the organizers talk about the conference check out their appearance on KBOO’s Queer Culture.
