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BRO takes marriage campaign to the national level

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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OSU cancels visit from sex-positive speaker Tristan Taormino

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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Vancouver, WA makes gayest cities list

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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‘Blow Pony,’ Fat Fancy’s anniversary partyand Dana Goldberg get you ‘Feelin’ Alright’ this weekend

Comedian Dana Goldberg performs Saturday

Thursday

Triskaidekaphilia (Just My Luck) – In case you missed the opening last week you have another shot at Jimmy Radosta‘s new play about comedic misfortune.

Friday

Street Corner A staged Reading – Already another theatrical piece f the weekend, this time a bit earlier in the process. One of several bits in a series of short plays, It Takes All Shorts, Street Corner stars Kevin Cook aka Poison Waters.

Glass Candy, Chromatics and Rude DudesSomething of a straight hipster bastion, a Glass Candy/Chromatics show still produces great music and a great time. Rude Dudes have incredible dynamic duo superpowers on the decks, smashing genres together in a way that will make you want to dance, but be too enthralled to remember the moves.

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Watch ‘Portlandia’s first episode and listen to Carrie Brownstein talk it on OPB’s Think Out Loud

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 appointed to Governor’s office team, leaving Q Center

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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Most read posts of 2010

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 […]


Biggest local news of 2010

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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Most heated queer issues on the national stage of 2010

"It Gets Better" project founder Dan Savage (R) with husband Terry

A roller coaster of emotions swept gay America this year. Here’s a snapshot.

5 – University of Michigan’s Student Body President Stalked and Harassed by State’s Assistant Attorney General

When MI Attorney General Andrew Shirvell began harassing UMich Student Body President Christ Armstrong people started to notice, mostly prominently among them CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who interviewed Shirvell on air.

4 – Constance McMillan is barred from her prom and embraced by the rest of the world

When Constance McMillan planned to take her girlfriend to prom, organizing parents canceled the event and held a gay-free dance elsewhere. But instead of cowering McMilan powered along with an ACLU lawsuit and won the support of celebrities, public figures and the world-at-large. Her Facebook fan page has over 400,00 members and she has a scholarship care of Ellen Degeneres.

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2010’s most Googled gays

Perez Hilton was the most Googled gay this year. A blogger? Really? There's hope for me yet

Ah, it’s that time of the year when we stop writing about real news and just rehash everything that happened over the past year as if we weren’t there the first time. My own versions of the year in review and the best of 2010 won’t begin until next week, but that doesn’t mean we can start with remembering 2010 through the company that became an everyday verb. That’s right, I’m talking about Google, the ubiquitous search engine where all internet life begins and ends. And here’s a list of the most searched gays in 2010, according to the People’s Republic of Google.

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