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Holding Hands in Solidarity this Sunday

Lesbians holding hands in PDX

For LGBT people, holding hands in public can be a safety issue

If you’re in town this Sunday, consider heading to the Hawthorne bridge at 7:30 pm. In response to the attack that took place against two men who were walking across the bridge holding hands last Sunday, community members are organizing a chain handholding walk across the bridge in order to “show solidarity with those who were attacked last sunday for holding hands while crossing the Hawthorne Bridge”.

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Attention musicians & music lovers, a new Pants-Off Productions project

Max Voltage playing the violin

Local music and performance maven Max Voltage, one of the minds behind the brilliant and uber gay performance series Homomentum and Homo’s Got Talent is now looking to create a queer music series. In an open letter to the community on Facebook yesterday, s/he called for contributors and volunteers. I’ve reposted the request below:

Dear Community,

I have produced queer events in Portland, OR for 10 years now.  Mostly I have focused on drag/dance/cabaret shows, because I’ve always had an affinity for creating space for radical queer art-forms that don’t have a stage.  I am also a life-long musician (have played violin classically since I was 5), and recently, I have had the opportunity to play, tour and collaborate with some fucking fabulous queer musicians.  I’ve also begun helping book/promote/produce queer music shows in Portland, including the recent Rae Spoon/Tender Forever show, which was amazing & a really positive experience.

My next project brings together all these passions of mine… music and creating space for radical queer art: F-holes: a queer music series.

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Statement from Mayor Adams regarding Sunday’s hate crime

Stop hate crime

Stop hate crimeYesterday Mayor Sam Adams released a statement concerning Sunday’s bias crime against 2 men holding hands:

“On Sunday evening, May 22, two men were attacked by several suspects as they walked, holding hands, from the Hawthorne Bridge on the trail to the East Bank Esplanade, on the east end of the bridge. The victims were pushed, and hit in the head, face, back and ribs. The suspects ran away after one of the victims broke away and called 911. Portland Police detectives have interviewed both victims, and a Portland Police Bias Crime Detective has been assigned to this case. Full details on the case can be found at PortlandPolice.com.

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Two gay men assaulted Sunday night near the Hawthorne bridge

Photo by Dan Ostergren from the "Holding hands in solidarity" Facebook page

This is the first I’m hearing of this story, but I feel it is important for the community to know, so I’m going to leave it up to the great reporting of Just Out‘s Erin Rook to detail the events on an attack on two gay men this past Sunday night. You cab read more on the Just Out website.

Brad Forkner, 23, and Christopher Rosevear, 25, were walking across the Hawthorne Bridge hand-in-hand after taking in an evening show at Darcelle’s Sunday, May 22, when they were assaulted by three men, Forkner says.

Bias crimes detective Kevin Warren said officers responded to an assault near the Eastbank Esplanade that night around 8:35 p.m. He could not confirm that the incident was being treated as a bias crime because he had not yet interviewed the victims. According to Forkner, however, officers at the scene said the circumstances suggested a bias crime.

“They deemed it a bias crime seeing how the men followed us for so long, nothing was stolen, and there seemed to be no other provocation than Christopher and I holding hands,” Forkner said. He added that the alleged attackers were yelling at them during the assault, but they couldn’t make out what the men were saying — Rosevear thought they could have been speaking another language, such as Russian.

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Q Center announces new Executive Director

Barbara McCullough-Jones

Q Center is pleased to announce the selection of Barbara McCullough-Jones as the organization’s next Executive Director. Barbara was chosen through a national search and she brings more than 20 years of executive nonprofit experience to Q Center.

Barbara was the executive director of the LGBTQ Community Center in San Jose, California, was a founding member of the LGBTQ Center in Phoenix, Arizona and also founded the Lesbian Resource Project in Tempe, Arizona. Barbara served as President of the Association of United Way Agencies and represented more than 1,400 businesses during her time there. Recently, Barbara served on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Centers (Center Link).

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Jon Stewarts ‘We’re Here. We’re Queer. Get Newsed to it.’

Jon Stewart is retiring a spoof that’s past its prime, Gaywatch, but that doesn’t mean the end of his comedic take on LGBT news. Introducing We’re Here. We’re Queer. Get Newsed to it. This is the current state of queer media satire. Love it.

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Pride NW announces 2011 award winners

Pride in Action award winners Belinda Carroll (L) and Joe LeBlanc

Each year Pride NW gives out 3 awards just prior to Pride season, “Spirit of Pride” Award, Youth Award (22 years old or younger) and the “Pride In Action” Award (for volunteer work in service to the community), in addition to the Grand Marshall honor, which this year goes to La Lucha: Portland Latino Gay Pride.

This year’s Spirit of Pride award goes to former Q Center board member Bob Speltz, for some largely unrecognized behind the scenes work. According to Pride NW President Debra Porta, “As one of the original founders of the Q Center, Portland’s LGBTQ community center, Bob has been instrumental in bringing Portland’s LGBTQ community together in ways that had not happened before, and giving us a home to call our own.”

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A Q&A with Market Q creator Ali Williams

Portlanders really appreciate spring and summer. It’s a time when the rain combines with the emerging sun to create amazing fecundity and joy. Much of this is reflected in our love of Farmer’s Markets. The rest of the world may be freaking out about the lack of produce harvests and rising gas prices, but we can grow just about anything temperate in the space between the sidewalk and the street. That’s right, the PacNW is fertile.

Now the queer community wants in on the veggie, flowers, artistan action (well, in a more overt way that is) with our very own Farmer’s Market at the Q Center. Beginning this weekend, Market Q, will set up shop in front of the gay and lesbian community center every Saturday from 8 to 1. And it’ll be worth fighting your hangover to brave the half sunshine half drizzle of Mississippi Ave community shopping, both gay and straight.

As part of my excited anticipation I talked with Market Q creator Ali Williams about what kind of vendors we expect to see and what which edibles will make our soil-loving hearts go aflutter.

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Queerty is back! Will it be as good as it was?

The GayCities team--David, Matt, Oscar, Scott, Chris and Dan--in their SF office.

Remember a couple weeks ago when I told you about one of my favorite national queer blogs, Queerty, shutting down admist other LGBT media struggles? Well, that’s ok if you didn’t. I don’t expect you to be as interested in inner media workings as this guy but you’ll probably be more excited to here that Queerty is back!

Once owned by Jossip creator David Hauslib, Queerty was shut down several weeks ago after a disagreement in strategy with the site’s contracted operators, who decided to change their business focus. So when Hauslib appraoched GayCities to operate the site they were excited to take on the challenge saying,

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Poison Waters helps usher in the new Crystal Hotel

Poison Waters

The Stark Street triangle may not wholly belong to us gays anymore, but we’re at least invited to the grand opening celebration of the newest gentrification venture, the new McMenamins Crystal Hotel.

The three days of celebration, starting today, features musical performances by the Corin Tucker Band tonight and ends daily with headliner M. Ward at the Crystal Ballroom.

Local drag legend Poison Waters also hosts a daily free performance at 5:30 at Al’s Den in the basement of the new hotel.

Check out the full schedule below:

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