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  Last weekend local trans-identified community member Nik Rapier attended one of our most popular queer nights, Gaycation. While there he had an unfortunate incident of transphobia which he initially recounted on the global web project to combat street harrassment Hollaback. He has also agreed to share his story with qPDX readers below.
We were standing outside Holocene, cooling down from that overheated dance floor, when you reeled out the door, steps unsteady and eyes full of malice. After looking our little group over, you apparently decided that we didn’t pass your definition of acceptable gender presentations, because you stopped right in front of us and let fly some of the more transphobic comments I’ve heard in a drunken slur.
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  Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein in 'Portlandia' Well that didn’t take long. The Independent Film Channel used Valentines Day to express its love for newly running original Portlandia by announcing it would pick up the show for a second season. IFC must really be in love as this is the first time that they’ve ever agreed to a second season while the first was still running, according to senior VP of original programming Debbie DeMontreux.
Airing at 10:30 p.m. Fridays, Portlandia is averaging 235,000 viewers among adults 18-49, nearly quadruple IFC’s primetime average in a demo it has aggressively begun courting, and has built upon its lead-in, fellow original series Onion News Network.
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  Seth Stambaugh It was one of the biggest local LGBT stories of the year when student teacher Seth Stambaugh was let go from a position at a Beaverton elementary school for admitting to being gay. He was eventually reinstated to his position but it was unclear whether Stambaugh would pursue a lawsuit.
This week we got the answer when he reached a resolution with the Beaverton School District for $75,ooo. Stambaugh has said a significant portion of this award will go to Portland nonprofits p:ear, and Outside In.
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  Basic Rights Oregon recently produced a great ad campaign called “Marriage matters to me” featuring several Oregon couples both gay and straight. Four of these couples will get coverage on CNN this Valentines Day as part of Freedom to Marry‘s newest national campaign.
Via press release, BRO executive director Jeana Frazzini lauded the decision to show the ads on Valentine’s Day of all days.
“Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate love and commitment, and that’s true for all couples, gay or straight,” said Frazzini. “We’re reaching out to Oregonians to talk about the reasons we all want to get married: we want to publicly affirm the commitment we’ve made to the person we love.”
You can see the video below and more at a statewide themed website Marriage Matters Oregon.
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  Tristan Taormino Well known sex writer, columnist, and pornographic film director Tristan Taormino was scheduled to be the keynote speaker at Oregon State University’s upcoming Modern Sex Conference in February. Taormino is the well known author of such books as The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women and the series editor for fourteen volumes of Best Lesbian Erotica. She is also an advocate of non-monogamy and has written the book Opening Up: Creating and Sustaining Open Relationships.
However, just last week OSU cancelled Taormino’s visit to the school because the school administration said it wouldn’t pay Taormino to come speak because she is a pornographer.
Money to pay for Taormino’s visit, (about 3,000 dollars) came from the school’s general fund which is public money paid into by statewide taxpayers.
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  Northbank gay bar in Vancouver It seems like my little home town, which I lovingly call the ‘Couv or Vantucky, is seeing its 15 minutes of fame these days. Later on we’ll have an interview with an out Skyview high school athlete conducted by new qPDX sports writer Aly Sneider, and right now I’m here to tell you that The Advocate ranked Vancouver, WA as the 6th gayest city in the country!
Now neither Portland nor New York City made the list, which of course brings their radically unscientific methods into question. If they hadn’t listed SF I would have called this list the gayest cities you never knew were gay. But alas, they admit their highly theoretical equation for coming up with the gayest cities could have produced these odd results.
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  The Dream of the 90s is alive in Portland Those of us that missed the special Portlandia premiere that Portland’s Hollywood Theater got this weekend may be sad, but we have this coming weekend’s television premiere to look forward to. And besides, web savvy qPDXers can watch the first episode now on Hulu (and right here below!) for 3 more days.
The early leaked opening video, Dream of the 90s, did end up being the funniest part of the first episode but it was a great first start. The sketch with SNL‘s Jason Sudeikis as a polygamous organic chicken farmer was pretty hilarious. I have faith that it will grow as we get to know our mirror town and its inhabitants.
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  Kendall Clawson at the Q Center's ribbon cutting It’s been a week since Governor-elect John Kitzhaber announced the appointment of his closest aids. I would like to join with the rest of the queer community in congratulating Q Center‘s Kendall Clawson‘s hiring as Director of Executive Appointments.
This is a joyous, if slightly bittersweet, occasion, but will ultimately benefit the entire LGBT community. The Q Center might be losing its first permanent Executive Director, and a great one at that, but she will be in a position of power in the Gov’s office, a queer voice in our state politics.
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 Clockwise from left: Saturn, Sally Ingus Wilder, Bulimianne Rhapsody and Kaj-Anne Pepper at Blow Pony
This what what caught your eye or sparked heated debate on these very pages in 2010.
5 – Hot gay boys do Katy Perry’s “California Girls.”
Gay version of the biggest pop hit of the summer went viral. So hot it melted your popsicle.
4 – Aden Jaric jailed after Miss Thing […]
  E Room/Weird Bar owner Kim Davis. Photo by Jamie Francis / The Oregonian Portland is a very homo-aware town but we are still small, and news travels fast. Here’s some of the things that caused the most uproar.
5 – Duende censorship, and the Pride parade route change
It was much more upsetting to witness the Rose Festival quash a chaste kiss in the Circus Project’s Duende, nearly forcing the performance to be canceled. There was nearly as much kerfuffle internally in the community when the Pride parade route was taken off the traditionally Stark Street triangle (aka Vaseline Alley). Sometimes the struggle comes from without, but the struggle within is just as powerful.
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Transphobia happens in queer spaces too, unfortunately
We were standing outside Holocene, cooling down from that overheated dance floor, when you reeled out the door, steps unsteady and eyes full of malice. After looking our little group over, you apparently decided that we didn’t pass your definition of acceptable gender presentations, because you stopped right in front of us and let fly some of the more transphobic comments I’ve heard in a drunken slur.
Continue reading »