|
|
 SlutWalk Portland was a trial by fire Around 4pm on Sunday, I decided to head back to the Terry Shrunk Plaza where this last Sunday’s SlutWalk began, to pick up my bicycle,and head home. Before I left, and I was struck by an (only seemingly) innocuous question: Should I put my clothes back on? Where does acting demonstratively end? United we stand, divided we fall, I decided on a compromise: keeping the short shorts, but adding a shirt (I was also concerned about sunburn at this point.) I picked up my bicycle and was immediately spotted by an older man and woman who couldn’t stop staring at me as I passed them by. The man couldn’t take his eyes off my semi-unbuttoned shirt, shook his head and whispered under his breath. And I’m hardly what you would call feminine. As if this wasn’t the confirmation we needed.
Continue reading »
 Sam Adams In a press release issued today by the Mayor’s office Sam Adams has said that he will not be running for re-election, turning the 2012 race into wide open contest. After a soul-searching staycation Adams has come to believe that this choice is better for both the city of Portland and for him personally. He acknowledges that it would be a tough race, though not un-winnable, saying that it would take away too much time from making the city a better place while he is still in office. He also takes some time out to point out what he has done for the city, and to thank those who have helped him along the way.
Adams has not endorsed any other candidate, although two have already thrown their hats in the ring, New Seasons co-founder Eileen Brady and former city commissioner Charlie Hales. Last week Multnomah County Chairman Jeff Cogen announced that he will not enter the Portland mayoral race, ending months of speculation.
Despite the many trials and tribulations of Sam’s time as chief Portlander I gotta say I will miss having a big gay bike rider in the big city seat.
You can read the entire press release after the break and listen to Adams talking with Willamette Week in the podcast player below.
Continue reading »
  SlutWalk Portland Organizers! If you’ve been reading qPDX or any other local news website lately, you’ve been hearing a lot about the Portland SlutWalk. You may have read my article in which I bashed back against Jack Donovan’s critique of SlutWalk as a “lesbian parade” for “fat” “whores” and “feminists who are embarrassing themselves”. You may have been handed a flyer for slutwalk, the pre-party, or the decompression/after party, along with a smile by one of SlutWalk’s principal organizers: Ryan Basille, Sterling Clark, Sophia St. James. You may have heard some of the backstory – namely that SlutWalk was founded in response to a police officer in Canada doling out nuanced and socially aware advice to trainees, such as: “If women want to avoid being raped, they shouldn’t dress like sluts”. You may have heard that SlutWalk itself as gone through permit, funding, and personnel difficulties, only to triumph, like we knew it would. It’s coming. It’s almost here. And what are you going to wear? This Sunday, July 31st, SW 4th and Jefferson (Terry Shrunk Plaza), 1pm.
Continue reading »
  Jack "Macho Slut" Donovan slings mud at SlutWalk, qPDX, women everywhere but he can still manage a sneer An editorial note:
Right wing homosexual blogger Jack Donovan (otherwise known as Jack Malebranche) has spent a lot of his summer trying to discredit women who believe that suggestive attire does not invite rape. His histrionic rants are so blatantly misogynistic I’m tempted not to even address them. But he calls out Portland, he calls out individuals that have contributed to qPDX, and he calls out qPDX itself, so how can I not?
What strikes me most is his need to consistently ridicule the efforts of self-identified sluts across the US and Canada, even creating a new blog dedicated entirely to cataloging the Slutwalks. He proclaims how useless these efforts are, claiming they wouldn’t benefit the “average woman,” (as if there were such a thing) while simultaneously spending his entire Saturday making “WhOregon” t-shirts. My instinct as a blogger tells me that spending a lot of time railing against the “useless” is particularly useful in increasing his page views.
He equates not being taken seriously with rape, but between assault and a bit of mockery, I’ll take the latter. Most of us have learned to deflect hate speech, though that doesn’t afford physical safety. Even I have, on occasion, laughed at the ass crack bearing plumber, but it would sound absurd to suggest that he should have some something hard and painful shoved up his nether regions for the crime of bearing skin. So, of course, I won’t do that.
What I will say is that not everyone’s standards of beauty match Donovan’s, and all kinds of people experience sexual violence.
I will say that Portland, and any other city, is entitled to have as many parades for “lesbians,” “sluts,” “women,” and any other group, as we want.
I will acknowledge that though our writing is not always perfect, our efforts are sincere. And our ability to call each other out and yet work together again in the future may be seen as a weakness, but it is also one of our greatest strengths.
And I will give space in this blog to hear from my colleague, Perry Eising, as well as you, the reader, and my whole, diverse queer community, of which even Donovan is, for better or worse, a part.
-Alley
Perry says please note: the following opinions are mine except where indicated.
Continue reading »
  The title alone is pretty vivid and exciting. Welcome DJs Actions Slacks (Shannon Wiberg) & DJ Pukes In Vans (Nadia Buyse)! They are the new resident DJ’s at the Tonic Lounge – Chick-A-Boom feminist dance party! It’s a fundraiser for The Raphael House. In case you don’t know, it’s an anti domestic violence agency reaching out to all genders and orientations. As you may know, queer domestic violence rarely gets reported as victims can’t be sure that the police will be sympathetic. This is true for all kinds of domestic abuse as well.
Continue reading »
  Despite events such as Hands across Hawthorne, gay bashings keep happening. Photo courtesy of Byron Beck. Sigh. After hearing the amazing news that so far, we have heard of no violence during Pride Northwest 2011, a gay man and another man who came to his aid were assaulted in Northwest Portland this past Saturday, the Portland Tribune reports in an article on their website.
Continue reading »
  qPDX.com for Pride Portland! Happy Pride NW 2011 everbody! Phew, what a weekend. A ton of dance nights. A slew of costume changes. Lots and lots of teal. 25+ miles on the bike on Saturday. Fliptography at Queerlandia. Waterfront. Beer, banners, bruises. Leslie and the Lys. Trying to find Alley Hector on Sunday morning. Trying to find a place to pee at Blow Pony (thanks Leila!). Trying to find the car! Trying, well, just trying! I barely have time to take a breath before its Alley’s and my birthdays (Al: Wed. Me: Thurs). It’s been EPIC. And now on to the processing reviewing that is, as it should be, part of our Pride coverage. We need your input!
Continue reading »
  Me and the Compere sisters, just a small part of the qPDX parade contingent It was a weekend of rainbows and debauchery as usual this Portland Pride 2011. qPDX had fun at events at Mississippi Studios, Holocene, Crush, Rotture, Saratoga and outdoors in weather that jumped from sunny to misty rain in true Portland fashion. Photos from Sunday’s parade and waterfront celebration are forthcoming from special professional photography guest Anna Campbell and a video from yet another special contributor, filmmaker Cathleen Arnerich, but in the meantime here’s a recap of my time at Pride and some links to photo galleries already uploaded. Feel free to post your Pride 2011 memories in the comment section below!
Blow Pony featuring Leslie Hall, CJ and the Dolls, Feyonce and others was fun. It was really fun, just as we all knew it would be. But the surprise hit of the weekend was Thursday’s Queerlandia that played to our vanity with both a photoboth and Fliptography, had an amazing lineup of performances and a huge lovely patio with cute undies for sale and plenty of room to chill. Plus DJ Lunch Lady pounded the jams on the Bar Bar side all night long. What a trooper!
Continue reading »
 Type “Feminism is Dead” into your Google browser. Go on, do it, and come right back to my post. Personally, the things I pulled up were pretty repulsive. In 2009, Miss Venezuela, the winner of the Miss Universe Pageant, was asked what women should do to combat sexism in the workplace. Her response was, “there are no longer any barriers against us”. I pulled up a pontification from a Unitarian Minister explaining that feminism had achieved it’s goal, and now all of the remaining feminists are just man-hating radicals. Perhaps, there is something to that. Women wanting equality for women must be looney or bull dykes. These attitudes mimic the feminist backlash communicated in some 70’s B movies. The easy reaction is to be offended, disheartened, and feel minimalized. The smart reaction is to examine the media and the messages in anti woman film.
Continue reading »
  Everyone but me, Mr. Blue, in our 2007 rainbow TeamAwesome parade contingent with teenager girl roller skating banner bearers I was looking for some pictures of Portland Pride of yesteryear and realized that I haven’t been doing this for 4 years but 6! And I’m talking about covering Pride, not just attending it. That’s been an even longer road…shoot…17 years. Sweet Jesus. It must be the nostalgic Cancer in me but in the spirit of more psyching up for this weekend I thought it might be fun to revisit some qPDX recaps while you’re still stuck at your weekday desk. (Or I could just be indulging my own vanity…whatever).
So follow me back in time….
2005
Re-Pride – This was the first year of qPDX as well as my first year at OregonLive. I was fresh-faced and unsullied by cynicism. I’d only started qPDX a month or so before and I was just excited to have a venue. I also remember by boss trying to be fatherly but really just being condescending by making sure I felt safe enough to start a blog about queer topics and use my real name. Weird.
Continue reading »
|
|
