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  Task Force Deputy Executive Director of External Relations Russell Roybal presents Ernesto Dominguez with the Youth Leadership Award. Local youth, HIV/AIDS and immigration activist Ernesto Dominguez isn’t new to winning awards. A year and a half ago Dominguez received the HRC’s student activist award and he just recently accepted the the Paul A. Anderson Youth Leadership Award for his work with ChatPDX, a collaboration between organizations and individuals working to curb HIV and AIDS transmission among young people through peer education and outreach, HIV testing, youth services and social media, and with Advocates for Youth, which also aims to help teens make informed decisions around sex.
You can see video of Dominguez’s acceptance speech, given at the Creating Change conference in Baltimore, MD, Tuesday January 31st, put on by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. In it he powerfully equates LGBT and immigration rights saying, “LGBT rights are immigrant rights, and immigrant rights are LGBT rights,” and basically gives us all hope for the future of our young people. (I can say that now that I am a solidly adult 30 year old right?)
The video, as well as a transcript of his acceptance speech, are below.
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 Van, WA's Saturday in the Park. Photo by Kathy Belge.
The 2012 Saturday In The Park Planning committee invites you to submit your logo ideas to be used in conjunction with our advertising and our event on July 14, 2012. This is a great chance to have your talent and artwork viewed by a wide range of individuals, businesses and community sponsors. It is also a way […]
  There have been a lot of changes in the queer community recently. This week, Q Center and SMYRC announced that they will join forces. SMYRC is a non-profit Sexual Minority Youth Resource Center that provides counseling and other services for queer youth.
Previously, a program of Cascadia Behavioral Health Care, SMYRC served between 700-1,000 youths a year. SMYRC’s current location will close down and all programs will continue through the Q Center. According the the Q Center’s website, this merger will strengthen the center’s youth and adult programs while still providing stability for SMYRC affairs. So far feedback has been positive although some have raised concerns.
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  Ethos, a Portland non-profit organization, recently announced its new Executive Director. Jedidiah Chavez, who is also a known artist,has worked as the Ethos development director since 2008. Since then, Chavez has increased revenue by 30% and secured 1.5 million for capital improvements to the North Portland locations. Ethos currently operates three facilities in Portland. The after school program operates in 34 urban elementary and middle schools. Being the largest community music school in Oregon, Ethos is able to reach out to both inner city and rural youth-providing quality music education.
Chavez, a gay Latino, has not only done an amazing job with Ethos, he is also known for his personal work with-in the community. Chavez coordinated the Safe Schools Inititave, which is a statewide effort to reduce bullying and harassment in Oregon Public schools as marketing and major gifts officer for Equity Foundation. He has also held leaderships positions with the YMCA’s Jack, Will and Rob Center, the University of Western States and also Gertrude Press.
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 Rhys Ernst's short film 'The Thing' So we all know that Salt Lake City was awarded the “gayest” city by The Advocate, but friends, as a current resident in SLC who just moved back from Portland, I can tell you that just isn’t true! However, Salt Lake City does occassionally step up its “cool” factor, such as every January when Salt Lake City and Park City host the Sundance Film Festival. This is the time of year where pretty much everyone I know braves the snow and goes up to Park City in the hopes of sighting celebrities in town for the festival. Sundance is a place where independent artists can present their stories free of the commercial pressure of the mainstream movie industry. Many Sundance movies are then picked up by larger distributors and re-released into theaters, such as last year’s Sundance queer favorite, Pariah.
Being a poor, unemployed college student I didn’t make it to many Sundance movies this year, (which can quickly become expensive at $15 a pop!) but here are some queer movies from this years film festival to watch out for:
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 Who said it was easy?
I said for me, long distance is a choice. I never said it was easy.
Well, it’s a choice most of the time, but that’s fodder for another column.
Luckily I’m not alone in my struggles (that’s not to say I wish struggle among others, it’s just nice to know folks in a similar boat).
Take D. for example. D. is a heteroflexible male med student living in Portland. His fiancé, B., is a bisexual female living in Eugene where she goes to school. It’s a 110-mile drive -certainly not a long distance relationship, but more accurately dubbed “Middle distance” by D.
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 Trans Bodies, Trans Selves – a Transgender Resource Guide – is hosting a Community Involvement Forum in Portland tomorrow, January 29th, to ensure all voices are represented in this revolutionary book project.
Trans Bodies, Trans Selves is a groundbreaking resource guide in-progress, being written by and for trans people. Chapters range from identities to understanding legal and medical systems, to relationships and sexuality, to youth, activism, and gender theory, […]
 Oh Oscar! Being 30, I have been able to witness our generation of queers and queer friendly people evolve and accomplish. It is amazing how far Hollywood has come. Trans America and Brokeback Mountain seems to have only been the beginning. I never thought that I would see the day where gender-bending roles and other homo-centric roles would be up for an Oscar.
Welcome to the other side of the closet!
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  LIPDX's Alex Nguyen, Rachael Swedenborg and Ashley Shumaker This week the podcast has 2 parts. In part 1 we talk to the ladies behind the newly launched LIPDX (Lesbians In Portland) Tumblr blog and in part 2 we talk to Anna Crandall, Director of new play Wax Wing, opening tonight as part of the Fertile Ground Festival.
And don’t forget you can subscribe in iTunes! Don’t miss an episode! Get it downloaded automatically.
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  K.D. Lang Living in Portland? Is it True?It is no secret that Portland is known for having some celeb guests. Rumor has it that K.D Lang has recently called PDX her home. That’s right, K.D. may just be living right around the corner from you! According to an inside source of Byron Beck, a popular gossip blog, Ms. Lang is now an Oregonian.
What better place for a vegan, lesbian musician to live? So keep an eye out fellow homos, because you know if she is here, you are bound to see her popping in places like The Bye and Bye and Portobello. To the younger generation, she might just blend into the crowd of typical Pacific North West lesbians. She ain’t no hipster!
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