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A weekend of art and music with lesbian softball stories, Fruitillion, the Bathers, Tender Forever, Mattachine and more

Wayne Bund's photo series 'The Bathers' opens Saturday at East End

Check back for our preview of Siren Nation festival, which will encompass the entirety of the weekend. As if you didn’t have enough to work with below.

Thursday

Thursday may not see a whole bunch of new nights but there’s always the stellar, incredibly danceable and Smiths-loving Dirtbag! at the Know (with special guest DJ Ill Camino) and the mellower Bobby Jo Valentine just down Alberta street making his Portland debut and the popular St Johns Thursday night gay hangout Sweet Tea where you can drink in southern style for only 4 bucks.

Friday

Deep Cuts – Only in its second iteration, DP has already become a music conisseurs good time. Good music without pretentiousness this party is hip and fun without being the kind of hip and fun that makes you uncomfortable, nervous and…no fun. I think that’s proved well enough by this week’s DJ of the Week, which profiles Cuts’ special guest DJ L-Train.

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DJ of the Week – L Train

L Train concentrating hard in the DJ booth
L Train concentrating hard in the DJ booth

L Train concentrating hard in the DJ booth

Every week we introduce you to a local LGBTQ party DJ and ask them about their experiences in the scene and feature an audio mix they’ve made. If you’re interested in being featured contact alley@qpdx.com.

DJ L Train has an irreverent outlook to getting behind the decks, as you can tell from both her name and her pictures. This laid back and fun attitude serves her well as regular nights at the gayish venues of the P Club and Aalto Lounge. But the Train likes to make some scheduled stops at other party stations such as this Friday’s Deep Cuts, which stars two former DJs of the Week, Bruce LaBruiser and Kasio Smashio.

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LGBT History Month is dead, long live LGBT History Month (nominations)

All 31 2011 LGBT History Month icons

We didn’t highlight the day-by-day entries of Equality Forum’s LGBT Hisotry Month featured icons. But now that the month is over you can peruse the entire list yourself which included such diverse gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans leaders as Lady Gaga, Dan Choi and Constance McMillan.

You also now have the opportunity to add your two cents on who should be a part of this list. Less celesbians, more ancient Greeks? It’s partially up to you because Equality Forum is accepting nominations for LGBT History Month 2012 Icons. Nominations should be submitted via e-mail to nominations@equalityforum.com by Friday, December 16, 2011.

Some more info:

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A gay weekend of Halloween ghosts, ghouls and cover bands

Zombie cheerleaders are a perfect outfit for 'Haunted Cafeteria' and more proof that Halloween is the gayest holiday

Thursday

Haunted Cafeteria – School daze goes spooky so have your dead cheerleader costumes and Carrie style pigs blood ready for this party that has it’s little neighborhood venue bursting at the seems every month. And the man behind it all? Well, that would be our DJ of the Week, your adorable LunchLady.

Friday

Wicked Awesome cover bands party – This half dance party half cover band show is truly going to be epic. You can read all about it in yesterday’s interview with creator Freddie Fagula.

Q Center & Crush present Mas-Q-Rade – Perhaps more of a gentile or at least community feel to Halloween in the oh-so-swanky-dark tomb of Crush. They always have interesting drink specials so it will be interesting to see what they come up with for Halloween. I’m expecting smoke.

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Interview with Halloween cover band party Wicked Awesome’s creator Freddie Fagula

Wicked Awesome's Freddie Fagula

There’s plenty of gay Halloween happenings this weekend but one of the most different and fun is Friday’s Wicked Awesome. This 2 level party features costumed dancing upstairs and a host of amazing cover bands downstairs. Even the music is in the spirit of dressing in disguise! But it’s still awesome, wicked awesome, because it mixes the skills of our local talent with the fun of past pop songs,  and brings together those who like to dance with those who just like to listen. So basically, it’s the Halloween party for everybody. I had an amazing time last year as well as at it’s similar predecessor All Homo’s Eve. So read the interview with organizer Freddie Fagula below to find out what all the fuss is about and I’ll see you Friday. Because you’ll regret it if you don’t go.

qPDX: What gave you the idea of a Halloween party centered around cover bands?

Freddie Fagula: Olympia!  Halloween cover bands show every year at the Capital Theater. So fun. All the punks and the queers and hipsters together.  I moved here and had some lack-luster Halloweens in Portland and decided that was what was missing. Wicked Awesome is gay-er, but has a lot of the same spirit.

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New Wild Flag video for ‘Electric Band’

Another release from Portlandia darling Carrie Brownstein‘s new band Wild Flag, the video for “Electric Band” is another fun and Stumptowny exercise in hipster comedy. The concert on the softball/baseball diamond is pretty gay, and reminds us all of the recently lost summer. All the ladies are visions in their (modified or not) vintage tees and Brownstein is especially hot behind home base as the catcher of a bursting water balloon.

Timony also takes a bigger vocal role in this song, which is a nice change of pace, and a lovely reminder of her lilting Helium voice.

A little insight into the video from Brownstein comes via NPR:

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LGBTQ Community Creating and Sustaining Families Parent Support Group

Adoption Mosaic, a Portland-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting the adoption community, announces the launch of an LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning) parent support group for prospective and current adoptive parents.

LGBTQ Community Creating and Sustaining Families is awarded a $5000 mini grant through the collaboration of AdoptUSKids and the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC). The grant funds the creation of new parent support groups for LGBTQ individuals considering and creating family through adoption.

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The Blow Pony controversy and who is allowed to use what words

Blow Pony in the summer of 2010

Our little queer community of Blow Pony organizers, DJs/performers, attendees and others have gotten into a big row this week, and many have been asking me to comment. Truthfully, forming a a clear opinion has been rough. I’m very much still in process about it all, but I do think it is important to address here, so I’m going to start a community conversation. I think it is also important and ok, to admit to having mixed feelings and/or evolve your opinion and I am open to discussion and refutation of my points. I may even change my mind! But I will also acknowledge my process. But this is not about me. It’s about all of us, so mostly I just want to continue the discussion. I want you, as the reader, to feel like this is a safe space to discuss and learn.

In case you haven’t been following some community members voiced concerns that Blow Pony was using the term “tranny.” Many trans and other folks consider this derogatory and there followed a heated argument about who has the right to use it, if anyone does, and who can “reclaim” it, if anyone can.

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A weekend of SugarTown soul outfits, Hard Times Halloweens and a Blow Pony Night of the Living…

Little Tommy Bang Bang during a Halloween of less hard times?

Friday

SugarTown outfit October – So there’s your actual Halloween costume, and then there’s just the Halloween theme itself. You can dress a pumpkin, your house or yourself but this party is a chance to bring out your worst Halloween brooch as much as that ugly Christmas sweater party is. This party is mostly about soul music, a welcome break from dancey pop, but it’s also about fashionable expression. DJ Action Slacks embodies that and the desire to match her enthusiasm for the music, the fashion, the dancing the party inspires me, and I suspect all the ST attendees, into creating an incredibly fun queer night.

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DJ of the Week — Action Slacks

DJ Action Slacks. Photo by Annie Maribona

qPDX is starting a new feature! Every week we will introduce you to a local LGBTQ party DJ and ask them about their experiences in the scene and feature an audio mix they’ve made. If you’re interested in being featured contact alley@qpdx.com.

This week’s DJ of the Week is something like a repeat. This is for two reasons. Firstly, I’ve had a busy week and a bit under the weather. More importantly, however, DJ Action Slacks‘ profile was one of the most popular so far and definitely the most shared when it was originally published. This weekend she’s at the helm of a bigger night. Only in its third incarnation, SugarTown queer soul party is the best new queer night with a distinctly non-pop music focus.

As I said previously the Slacks distinct music and fashion sense is pretty much my favorite right now and I have a sneaking suspicion that this party might turn out to be 2011?s best new night.

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