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What are the best of 2010? qPDX wants your opinion

Written by Alley Hector ||

Year end “best of” posts are already well underway, but I keep discovering more and more gems and I want to make sure I don’t forget anything. So I’m enlisting you, my queer brethren to lend me your opinions on the most interesting, appalling and appealing of 2010 in the categories of:

Most heated issues
Biggest local news
Best television moments
Best movies
Best albums

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A weekend with bears, Bent, Big Freedia and Jackie Beat

Written by Alley Hector ||

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Big Freedia will make sure the azz is ever'where on Friday

Thursday

Claudia Meza presents New Musics: A Night of Modern Classical and Avant Garde Exploration – Explode Into Color’s Claudia Meza helms this foray into experimental musical hipsterdom. Can queer drummer extraordinaire usher in Portland’s own version of a John Cage era? Tomorrow’s first night of acts including bearded electro-knight Copy, internationally renowned and absurdly prolific sound artist Daniel Menche, and Classical Revolution PDX, who will tackle Philip Glass’ dizzying String Quartet No.5 suggests so.

Cabin Project CD release party – Two experimental music happenings in one night? We are a blessed city. The yearlong “cabin project” comes together this night to showcase the amazing congregation of cello, synth, drums, banjo, violin, and lots of voices.

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Jiffy Lube coupon addressed to ‘Turd Burgler’ makes headlines, spurs lawsuit

Written by Alley Hector ||

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The coupon in question

In a news of the weird what may have been anything from homophobia to a childish prank to a mistake has taken on a life of its own when a $16 coupon for Jiffy Lube’s “signature service” addressed to a “Turd Burgler” sparked a $150K discrimination lawsuit.

Laremy Eck, who received the piece of mail, recently went to his local Jiffy Lube and believes the coupon was sent to him because he’s gay. The Jiffy Lube claims the coupon was sent by mistake and was intended for the resident’s previous occupant, an acquaintance of the shop known as the “Turd Burgler” (their spelling, not ours). Even though the incident could be a mistake the suit pressed on in a court filing in late November.

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An update on Tuff Luck and the Deli

Written by Alley Hector ||

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I knew that the unfortunate dissolution of the Tuff Luck Deli would cause quite a rift in a tight need community. I hesitated to publish Tuff Luck’s detailed letter to the community but in the end decided that they deserved to be heard even if it did come with a cost.

Indeed it did, and many discussions on Facebook showed clearly how upset people were. Some comments were thoughtful, others merely angry, but they were almost all passionate. I had hoped some of that discussion could happen here on this blog, as it is a more public forum but instead it was mostly confined to the semi-public gossip realm of FB.

So I would like to say, once again, that not only do I welcome discussion, but would happily publish and opposing editorial. I had hoped this would be a discussion starter and not a proclamation.

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Portland Rescue Mission rejects invitation to co-sponsor coat drive at queer event

Written by Alley Hector ||

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Now in it’s 4th year, local drag icon and former Sissyboy Fannie Mae (Jefferey) Darling is putting on a holiday themed performance called Queer Quistmas later this month. This year she decided to add a philanthropic element with a food and coat drive for the homeless. But when she contacted the Portland Rescue Mission, a group that provides food, shelter, recovery and other vital services to homeless men, women and children in the Portland, Oregon and southwest Washington area, she was told they didn’t want her help. Darling transcribed the message for the Mercury below:

Hi Jeffrey. This is Brian Merrell with Portland Mission Rescue Mission. We spoke yesterday, um, about, um, connecting for the, um…queer Christmas event, um, and I just wanted to get back to you and, um, let you know that um, I have ran that up the ladder here and unfortunately, I think we are going to need to respectively decline, um. Let me preface this by saying that we don’t, do not, discriminate services to anyone, either outreach services or recovery services, meals or anything. But we are a faith-based organization and there was some concern with how it might come across to some of our donors. That, so, um, with that we are going to have to respectively decline, although I greatly appreciate what you want to do for us.

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Presumed gay SE Portland man beaten in hate-crime

Written by Alley Hector ||

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Sketch of the suspect in the anti-gay beating

Although the assault happened over a month ago on November 1st the Mercury has just broken the story of a SE Portland man who was gay-bashed while walking home after police issued an alert today.

According to the Portland police alert that went out today, a man was walking home alone from a friend’s house just after midnight on November 1st and had to cross over the scary, barbed wire-encircled pedestrian walkway that goes over the train tracks at SE 16th and Brooklyn. This is an unsettling area—there is not much light at all and neighbors built an unpermitted skatepark at the base of the walkway, in part because the land was derelict and a magnet for crime.

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Portland’s official holiday drink presented by Darcelle

Written by Alley Hector ||

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Well, it looks like Darcelle may be P-Town’s (drag) Queen of the Holidays. She’s already appeared on daytime television explaining how to stuff a bird and now she’s back to present us with our official drink of the season.

Watch as she joins Clyde Common‘s Jeffrey Morgenthaler as he makes her a drink she has named the Darcelle Holiday Delight. Recipe below.

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Tuff Luck coffee and the Deli part ways…and not amicably

Written by Alley Hector ||

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Business dealings are always a sticky wicket, especially in this economy. And when the boys who ran Tuff Luck coffee moved into the queer collectively-run Deli it seemed like a perfect synthesis. I frequented the place myself, both before and after the merge and was glad to have a queer-friendly neighborhood space.

I was never aware of the business practices or inner conflicts that were happening so I can’t add my own opinion, but I received a very detailed explanation of events from Tuff Luck owners Choriko Bogues and Ryder Richardson, who wrote a very explicit and transparent explanation of what happened to cause the rift. I feel it is important to share it with the community so I have reproduced it in its entirety below.

Both they and I encourage comments and I hope the community can have a real discussion about this.

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World AIDS Day events in the Northwest

Written by Alley Hector ||

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Today is the 22nd Annual World AIDS Day, a time for communities to come together to ensure we not only that we recognize the 25 million individuals lost to HIV and AIDS, but the 33 million global citizens living with the HIV virus today.

In the US, there are over 1.1 Million Americans living with HIV and more than 20% of those infected do not even know they carry the virus. It is estimated by the CDC that 56,000 new infections are occurring annually, that’s one new infection every nine and a half minutes in the US due to a disease that is completely preventable.

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Holiday Gift Guide is out – This year give the gift of gay

Written by Alley Hector ||

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All I want for Christmas is you

I’m super excited to announce that this year qPDX teamed up with Ally Picard and a host of local queer run businesses to present you with our First Annual Holigay Gift Guide. With gift ideas for the, Art Fag, Bibliophile, Fashionista, Foodie, Fun Lover, Music Nerd and the Well Groomed Health Nut you can’t go wrong.

I’m particularly excited about […]

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What are the best of 2010? qPDX wants your opinion

A weekend with bears, Bent, Big Freedia and Jackie Beat

Jiffy Lube coupon addressed to ‘Turd Burgler’ makes headlines, spurs lawsuit

An update on Tuff Luck and the Deli

Portland Rescue Mission rejects invitation to co-sponsor coat drive at queer event

Presumed gay SE Portland man beaten in hate-crime

Portland’s official holiday drink presented by Darcelle

Tuff Luck coffee and the Deli part ways…and not amicably

World AIDS Day events in the Northwest

Holiday Gift Guide is out – This year give the gift of gay

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