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  During the holiday season, the Salvation Army bell ringers are out in droves. You may know that the change you throw into their buckets will go to assisting many of the hungry and/or homeless folks in Portland this winter, but what you might not know is that none of those folks will be queer. The Salvation Army, an evangelical Christian charity, is actively homophobic and discriminatory toward LGBTQ people who seek their services, as well as our community as a whole. For these reasons, I urge you not to donate to them. On their website, The Salvation Army speaks to the “standards and principles,” which all members are encouraged to review and reaffirm. Among a slew of position statements, there is one entitled “homosexuality”, which explains that “sexual intimacy is understood as a gift of God to be enjoyed within the context of heterosexual marriage.” They go on to speak about how homosexuality is not “blameworthy in itself,” but that gay people should act “responsibly” by not acting upon our feelings. They explain, “The Salvation Army believes that Christians whose sexual orientation is primarily or exclusively same-sex are called upon to embrace celibacy as a way of life.”
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  Gay square dancing at the Village Ballroom Special one time review from Eleanor Alice, a member of a queer women’s dance group, discusses the return of gay-friendly square dancing to the Village Ballroom. qPDX featured a review back in 2009 but the event has now returned and the Ballroom is under new management. Eleanor’s review is based off Sunday November 6th but it continues every week so check it out this Sunday!
I heard rhythmic live string-band music as I approached the Village Ballroom on NE Dekum Street- and inside I found a roomful of happy people dancing on a very ample, springy wood floor. The dance hall was very cheerful, clean, and well-lit. The caller was an incredibly enthusiastic woman from Seattle and my first square was all-female- eight very happy women dancing in a group.
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  Carla Rossi hosts the Thanksgiving edition of Peep Show this Friday Thursday
Lucinda Williams – Singer songwriter loved by the lesbos takes the stage at the Crystal Ballroom.
Friday
Del Shores‘ Sordid Confessions – Del tries to make up for standing us up last time he was in town. The creator of the cult favorite TV series Sordid Lives (starring Olivia Newton-John, Rue McClanahan, Leslie Jordan and Caroline Rhea) is touring his hilarious new standup show. Raunchy, gay and not for the feint of heart, this seems like a delightfully small venue to catch the outrageous one man show.
Peep Show Thanksgiving with Carla Rossi – Little Tommy may be on vacay but there is no lack of talent in this Turkey day celebration of drag and performance. Hosted by wino Carla Rossi you’ll get to see favorites such as Fannie Mae Darling, Georgia Ray Babycakes and Melody Awesomazing while being introduced to some newcomers with fabulous names like Dionysus, ShpongledHoops and Austin Tatious. (Dammit why did I think of that drag name? I ever have an Austin necklace) Also, make sure you fight the tryptophan and wine induced coma to dance afterword with some of your favorite DJs.
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  For those of you who are not up to date, we are about 3 weeks into Trans Awareness Month. Sunday, November 20th, Portland is recognizing Trans Day of Remembrance. This day is to commemorate those who were victims of transgendered related hate crimes.
Rita Hester was murdered on November 28th, 1998. Her murder started the “Remembering Our Dead” project, which in turn started the Trans Day of Remembrance. According to the TDOR website, more than one person per month, over the last decade, and eight people this year alone, have died due to transgender-based hate.
To help spread awareness, PSU’s Queer Resource Center is having an annual free vigil event. There will be a day of workshops and a march to honor Trans Day of Remembrance.
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Last week, Logo (LGBTQ cable network) announced Portland as “Sexiest Spot” for its third annual New Now Next travel awards. The panel of global travel experts determines the best up and coming destinations and hotels. Added this year, were writers from Lonely Planet, New York Magazine, Travel & Leisure, NY Dailey News and Town and Country Travel. There were two new categories of the awards also added this year; […]
  Corrina Bain performs Friday as part of Q Poetry's Award Open Mic. Thursday
Hot Mess Grand Finale – Whether you’ve been attending religiously for the past 12 weeks or just want to see how it all turns out, tonight’s final contest is sure to be a knock down drag out fight to the hot mess death. With 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prize packages starting at $700 you know these queens are going to be giving their all and putting on a good show. But who will win? Jackie Daniels? Jam N Toast? Allie McQueen? One of the other 6 contestants with or without an odd drag/stage name?
Wild Flag record release show – This one’s a bit of a non-starter. Not only is it the second night of a 2 night set, but it’s already sold out. However, I’m sure there’s a scalper or two out there and with regular tickets a reasonable $12-14 they shouldn’t command too much of a premium. But if you’re not willing to risk it these locals are sure to play again soon. In the meantime check out Wild Flag videos and news in earlier posts.
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 Liz Gold, a New Yorker and part-time Portlander, will be swinging through town to catch some cultural activities for qPDX. She also plans to write an occasional column discussing how to be in a cross-country relationship. So stay tuned!
 The Amp Up.
This is the best part.
My partner, Captain, lives in Portland. I live in Brooklyn.
Think about that for a minute.
It’s far. Like 2,500 miles far. But it’s really when I’m on the plane staring at Iowa on the distance map Jet Blue provides that I realize, holy crap, we really live far apart.
Otherwise it’s pretty normal for us. And he doesn’t ever seem that far away.
We are bicoastal and open/polyamorous. I consider him my primary partner, though I’m not a big fan of that language. Typically we see each other every six weeks – for anywhere between 10 days to six weeks depending on our schedules and circumstances – and we both travel to each other’s respective homes.
The longest time we were apart was at the very beginning of our two and a half year relationship and that was for nine weeks. We both agreed that was too long. As a result, we’ve found a length of togetherness that works for us – just enough to feel we are getting ample quality time with each other, yet not too much where we start to get outrageously itchy for our autonomy.
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  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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  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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  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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