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  Patty Schemel with Hole, for Rolling Stone in the 1995 issue where she came out. From L Courtney Love, Eric Erlandson, Schemel, Melissa Auf der Maur For any rock fan who was a teen of the 90s Seattle grunge reigned supreme and Hole was its seat of feminine power. The seminal grrl grunge group was fronted but the unmistakable, if not always likeable, Courtney Love, wife and baby momma to the most well known grunge persoanlity of all time,, the late Kurt Cobain, frontman for Nirvana. But as big a personality as Love was, all the little baby dykes had eyes only for the lady behind the drums. Patty Schemel was a kick ass ginger drummer with heart, and she was gay.
She was also a drug addict, alcoholic, friend, and now wife and mother. Five years ago, at the beginning of her new sober life, she came across archival footage taken during Hole’s 1995 world tour and thought to digitize the memories. Instead, it became, Hit So Hard: The Life and Near Death Story of Patty Schemel a documentary of her amazing journey.
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  Butt Plug Klub welcomes Kaj-Anne Pepper back to PDSex What else do you really need to do this weekend but ensconce yourself in QDoc? OK, fine. Here’s a bunch of other cool stuff, but I’m tired, so commentary is short.
Thursday
Dirtbag! – No less a fabulous femme kickass DJ than she ever was, Gutter Glamour has reemerged from the chrysalis as Bruce la Bruiser. Joined by guest Freddie Fagula the DJ duo will get you on the floor and make you weep all in one. It’s a free party in the heart of Alberta that will slyly introduce new wave to the pop laden queer scene and I, for one, embrace the infiltration.
Sweet Tea at the Fixin’ To – I think it’s awesome that there’s a neighborhood queer night up in St Johns. And really I’ve been meaning to go. But when there’s so much awesome Thursday action in inner NoPo it’s hard to truck out to the 8000 block. Still, I hear it’s awesome. Let me know?
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  Scene from the stage production of 'Arias with a Twist' The dream of the 80s is alive in Joey Arias, or so it seems from the waxing nostalgic at the beginning of Arias with a Twist:The Docufantasy, Q Doc’s opening night documentary that follows Arias in his latest performance, a collaboration with classically trained puppeteer Basil Twist.
The first 20 minutes of interviews with Arias’ 80s hipster pals is tender, and I certainly sympathize with the sadness over the commodification of performance art, queerness and weirdness that has come about with the likes of Lady Gaga etc. Indeed, Joey Arias was already a brilliant Gaga-esque diva before Stephanie Germanotta was a glint in her parents eyes.
But as cute and tender as it is, it starts to get a bit tiresome. Luckily, the film moves on pretty quickly to its introduction of collaborator Basil Twist.
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 Twitter was all abuzz yesterday with with the news that Mayor Sam Adams has issued a press release proposing trans-inclusive health care coverage for city employees (well, that and the the Stumptown Coffee sellout). Some called him an “idiot” while others backed him up  saying that if supporting fairness made you an idiot they’d gladly be one.
You can read the entire statement below:
This week, Mayor Sam Adams is filing an ordinance for City Council on June 8 that would add trans-inclusive health care benefits, including sexual reassignment surgery, to one of the plans offered to City of Portland employees. The American Medical Association (AMA) has identified transgender health care as being medically necessary. In 2008, the AMA passed a resolution supporting public and private health insurance coverage for treatment of gender identity disorder and opposing the “exclusions of coverage for treatment of gender identity disorder when prescribed by a physician.”
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As we mentioned here a few weeks ago, rugby star and noted ally Ben Cohen recently hung up his boots, deciding to focus on his new anti-homophobia and anti-bullying initiative, the Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation.
Cohen is kick starting his project by touring the US, and on Thursday he’ll be here in Portland! He’ll be at Niketown (at SW 6th and Salmon) from 7:30 pm – 10:30 pm.
[…]
 This cover is tame compared to its contents.
Switchblade Sisters is possibly the most epic girl gang movie of all time. Made in 1975 by exploitation director, Jack Hill, it pulls no punches. This movie is trashy, politically incorrect, overdramatic, and almost perfect. I attempted to write a plot summary a few times, and failed. Either, I like this movie too much to cut anything out, or it really is infinitely crazy. I’m going to do my very best to give you the lowdown, without writing a novella.
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  Joey Arias appearing in 'Arias with a Twist' QDoc, the only Queer Documentary Film Festival in the US starts in P-Town this Thursday. For its 5th anniversary the fest will feature 11 screenings and an opening party with opening night film star and drag and performance art sensation Joey Arias accompanied by local musical genius Thomas Lauderdale of Pink Martini. After seeing opening film Arias with a Twist I can safely say that you don’t want to miss Arias in the flesh. And in addition to the live performances the Mother’s Bistro (212 SW Stark) party will also have delicious, complimentary hors d’oeuvres and beverages.
Just Out has a great overview of the fest, including an interview with Joey Arias and a check-in with the organizers. We’ll have reviews of most films posted daily as well as an interview with former Hole drummer Patty Schemel, who’s film Hit So Hard screens Friday.
Thanks to a generous grant from the Equity Foundation, QDoc is offering 20 FREE tickets for EACH QDoc film for youth ages 23 and under. Youth can reserve FREE tickets in advance by emailing QDocYouth@gmail.com. Also, a limited number of FREE youth tickets will be available at the door for each film on a last-minute basis.
You can also get an idea of what to expect from QDoc’s 2011 trailer.
So stay tuned and check out the entire lineup below:
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  Meldoy Awesomazing stands above the crowd According to Ernesto Dominguez of Cascade AIDS Project, over 4,000 people braved the the grey and misty Sunday night May 29th, 2011, to hold hands on the Hawthorne Bridge. Active community member Melody Awesomazing caught photos of the swarm of love and support that was held in order to show solidarity for 2 men beaten for holding hands in a hate crime more than a week ago.
A few spoke before the crowd walked across the bridge on both sides, holding hands. Brad Forkner, one of teh 2 vistims in the attack was one, saying, “This is not the first time I have feared for my safety or my life and, sadly, I don’t expect it to be the last. What I want to talk about is a much larger cultural issue we have with making different people feel like they’re worth less than normal people, as if there is such a thing as ‘normal.’ In this instance, it was because we are gay.”
After Forkner’s speech, Basic Rights Oregon Executive Director Jeana Frazzini took to the stage, thanking Forkner and Rosevear (the other victim) for their courage and inviting the crowd to take part in a display of love and affection.
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May proved another great Blow Pony and photo snapper extraordinaire Melody Awesomazing once again caught a lot of awesomeness with her camera. Here’s just a taste of the outfits, the joy and the wonderful nastiness of the Blo Po crew.
You can view the complete set on the photos page.
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  Host Poison Waters poses with a swimsuit model Poison Waters hosted and DJ Chris Cox spun tunes as hot models strutted their stuff down Barracuda’s catwalk as a fundraiser for the Portland AIDSwalk. And lucky for us who want to ogle the men and women in beachwear (as well as fighting AIDS, of course) Garbero Photography was there to catch all the action and have been gracious enough to let us post the photos here.
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