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  Brad Usselman Brad Usselman, a Vancouver high schooler, recently (along with two friends) started a blog that is aimed at altering perceptions of LGBTQ athletes. They describe themselves as,
…3 young adults wanting to change the way LGBTQ athletes are viewed in the sports world. All of us are varsity athletes in high school who are on our own paths to being who we truly are. We invite you to take the stand with us and begin walking the road to equality.
Brad, a sophomore, has been on his school’s varsity track and cross country teams since he was a freshman, and his goal is to run for a Division 1 college team. I recently conducted a short interview with him.
Aly Sneider: What specifically inspired you to start the blog?
BU: The thing that inspired me the most to start this blog is wanting to help out the younger generations and make sure that they do not go through the internal struggles of acceptance that I went through. I also wanted to start a community where gay high school athletes are able to go and realize they that they are not alone.
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  Openly gay athletes are few and far between, especially in the highest levels of competition. Thanks to small-mindedness and discrimination, we queer folks have been systematically discouraged from participating in athletics. The number of openly gay professional athletes in America can literally be counted on one hand.
Three Pacifc Northwest teenagers are looking to change the queer-athletic landscape by launching a blog devoted to discussing their lives as gay high school athletes. Outsports.com recently published a coming out letter written by one of the kids to his parents.This letter (and its posting on a public website), and the blog that is to follow, are remarkable in that they come from an athlete who is so young, especially given that when elite gay athletes do come out, it is generally after they have retired.At least one of these kids fully plans on continuing his athletic career at the Division 1 college level. The fact that he doesn’t see being openly gay as any sort of impediment to his goals is a sign that our culture is changing, at least in our corner of the country, slowly but surely, one athlete at a time.
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  Best Pride backup crew! Photo by Diana Edwards So it’s been quite a week of reliving 2010. Truthfully I’m a little burned out. But before you shed all your summer skin and head into the depths of 2011 fresh and new here are a few last looks back at some of the “best” random sh** of the year…
Most asked question
What time is the dyke march? (A wink and a nod to the amusing insights of Katey Pants).
Best LGBT quote of the year
“You know if I could go back in time, I would lez it up 24 hours. Believe me, one thing I would not miss? Balls. Terrible little things.”
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  Johnny Weir at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver I begin this year’s best of roundups with an unlikely choice: sports. I’m not sure if I’m bucking the stereotype or playing along with it but qPDX has never been particularly strong in our sports coverage (that’s an understatement girl…) but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some really important stories that emerged in the world of gay sports. And even I was pretty glued to the screen for the Winter Olympics, being virtually blinded by Johnny Weir’s sequined outfits.
So begins the countdowns, mostly the top 5 news and arts stories, although I could only narrow the top 10 when it came to music. And you get 2 each day all week long!
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  Coco is kickin' it off this Saturday. Woot! Thursday
Depending on which 90s you want to remember most this weekend you can start it off right with either the RuPaul inspired Work! featuring synth pop, new wave, cold wave, dark wave, goth, post punk, pulse music, italo (whatever that is) or the riot grrl listening party Rebel Grrrl at Sloans. Choose wisely.
Friday
Dining with the Divas ChiChi Chonga edition – Current it girls of the irreverent drag scene ChiChi and Chonga will guide you through a munchy-fulfilling escapade at Hamburger Mary’s.
The Envelope Project: An Astrological Art and Music Show – Release your inner woo with art inspired by planetary alignments of the last several months. Can’t think of a reason you were in such a funk last Friday? Blame it on the moon. Plus there’s music by TraumaDom, a queer astrological metal band, which is a genre so new I’ve never even heard it. New new new! Excitement.
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  Sheikha Moza, wife of Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad stands next to FIFA President Sepp Blatter. Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters When the The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) announced that the 2022 World Cup would be held in the Middle Eastern country Qatar gay soccer/football fans were not only upset but angry, announcing boycotts and talking of protests.
Homosexuality is illegal in the tiny Middle Eastern country — reports indicate that Qatar residents who are caught engaged in gay sex receive the death penalty. The punishment for foreigners, while not fatal, is also severe: in 1995, an American citizen was sentenced to six months in prison and 90 lashes for violating Qatar’s taboo against homosexuality.
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  Cazwell (and some jocks?) plays Sunday Thought you couldn’t fit any more in with the Portland Lesbian and Gay Film Festival along with Butch Voices? Well…you can try…
Tonight
Cafeteria‘s Jocks and Nerds edition – Fantasies about the high school quaterback are back but I’ll take some Daria nerd glasses too. Either way let’s fetishize all those hot jocks and nerds we still dream about at this hot (literally, it’s a small venue) new queer night in the hood.
Homo Deluxe – The ladies that bring you the wildly successful Gaycation and Bent (Mr Charming and Roy G Biv) are here to rock your Thursday. You know, even Gaycay used to be on Wednesdays. It’s going to be tough to choose between these two really great parties.
 Although one night a week at CC Slaughters is hardly akin to subsisting on nothing but bugs in the jungle, I’m sure there will be trials aplenty for the 12 contestants participating in Portland’s Gay Survivor season 2. Hosted by Kevin Cook aka Poison Waters, Survivor promises bizarre foods and complex puzzles in a race against time every Tuesday. And to the winner? A thousand dollars and the knowledge […]
  Let's have a gay ol' time at the Washougal River! Tonight
Do the Dark – Yes, do it. Guest DJ Nolita (Fruitcake) is in town from Oakland and it’s gonna be sick. Oh yeah, and weinie roasting on the back deck. What more could a summer queer ask for? If you don’t already know this party you should.
Friday
Need and Bangs reunion benefit – I know a lot of you will be here earlier in the night, but you can still dance it up after right?
No Shade – Yes, just keep going. No drama-rama party with a great mix of fabulous peeps. And I really love that they include some mixes to get you in the spirit. I’d totally play it at the pre-funk. Oh yeah, and in case you didn’t have enough Nolita already, she’ll be here too. And you can never get enough.
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  It's Kaj-Anne Peppar vs Blow Pony...who's gonna win? I know yer tired…so am I…but we persevere…cuz it’s Saturday night y’all
The Dyke(ish?) March – Despite all the confusion and disorganization the Dyke March will trudge on in 2010. But be careful because it’s an hour earlier this year! Gathering at 5pm with a 6pm step off this parade of “dykes” is really more about celebrating Portland’s appreciation for and power of otherly gendered peoples, women, dykes, transpeople and other non-conformers. So what if it’s run into your ex-girlfriend march. You live in Portland. Get over it.
SMYRC’s Gayest Day of the Year Bike Ride – We get so wrapped up in our alcohol-fueled debauchery that we sometimes forget that wholesome activities that include youngsters can be just as amazing and Prideful. Not that I’m always so innocent when astride my trust lavender Bridgestone roadie Lola, but at least I can pretend.
Pride Pet parade – I’ve never been a good lesbian, as I have never owned by own dog or cat, (I mean, I’ve walked a dog so that cute girls will talk to me) but a queer lubba puppy and a cuddly kitteh so you know the folks will be out. Even if my favorite happen to be the Prideful goats, one of whom won the Just Out Pet’s category that I helped judge (oops! Is the cat out of the bag?)
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