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 Q Center located at 4115 N Mississippi Ave. Photo by Ashley Bedford In last week’s Conversations form the Gayborhood, we chatted with the executive director of the Q Center, Kendall Clawson, about the Winter Gala (which was a huge, glittery success!). This week, we switch gears from the details of the annual party to the details of the daily grind at the Q, as well as Clawson’s experience meeting President Obama.
Show of hands: How many of you have actually been to the Q Center? And walking by it on Mississippi in route to the bar does not count. I’m talking about been inside—checked out books from the library, or attended bingo, cabaret or one of their multiple discussion groups. In the twenty-something generation that I am proud to be a member of, the general reaction seems to be: Wait, what? They have bingo nights?! (Yes, and better yet, it’s drag bingo!)
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 Brent Pruitt in front of one of his tamer works of art. Be prepared for more genitalia in the upcoming show I love contemporary art. I love it even more when it is unafraid to poke fun at itself. Any medium worth studying is also worth mocking. In the spirit of self-love and expression while still not taking yourself too seriously is local artist Brent Pruitt‘s First Friday opening Felt Up: Queer Erotic Tomfoolery at Studio 2507 (2507 SE Clinton Street). Appearing for the month of Februrary the show opens this Friday with a reception from 6 to 9pm during the southeast’s hipper First Thursday equivalent.
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Rai Villanueva in action
Local aerosol artist Rai Villanueva has has numerous shows profiled here before but the up-and-comer made have found her biggest show yet when she presents her work at the Diesel store this Thursday. The First Thursday opening at the stylish clothier features an open bar and the turntable work of DJ L-Train.
So before little Rai Rai makes it really big we wanted […]
Sunday’s Third Sex reunion show, with a 30-something friendly 7pm start time, was a rousing success. The mix of nostalgia, change, and straight up rock reunion made the show both a loving remembrance and a night of straight up dancing, jumping, singing extravaganza.
It was particularly amusing to see the guitar balanced on Peyton’s bulging belly, pregnant with twins. And boy, those babies will be born singing.
And the […]
Vandalized LGBTQA offices with the swastika carpet removed by police
Oh man, this is a sad state of affairs. The LGBTQ Alliance space on a liberal campus with a thriving queer community in a hippie town in a liberal state has been vandalized by spraying enormous black swastikas on the floor and on computer gear, the Oregonian reports. No signs of forced entry to the office space have […]
 Photo by Ashley Bedford After interviewing Kendall Clawson about the details of the 2nd annual Q Center Winter Gala, I just had to go check out the event myself. My girlfriend and I scrounged our closet and multiple thrifts stores in efforts to find outfits suitable to wear to a black tie affair. It was a daunting task considering my part of the closet consists mostly of converse and tattered t-shirts, but it all worked out nicely in the end and we enjoyed an exceptional night out on the town. Take a peak into the event with our Winter Gala photo gallery. (All photos taken by Ashley Bedford).
Was it all it was cracked up to be? Basically! Everything was gorgeous, and yes, extremely glittery. The 6th floor of the Nines hotel was packed with fabulous looking, borderline-celebrity queers and political figures, all who had jazzy cocktails in hand. The VIP room (which I tried to sneak into but was reminded by my virtuous girlfriend that that wasn’t the best idea) looked abuzz and downright fun.
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 This is the album I bought the first time I ever skipped school in 6th grade. This is also what you should be wearing tomorrow... Coco’s 90s inspired dance party Snap! at Holocene (1001 SE Morrison) has always been queer friendly. They even had a crossover party with Double Down called Double Snap! last spring. But local queers have become used to having a party thrown in our honor almost every day, and with few options for a coveted Friday night we are forced to make our own fun.
That’s why tomorrow, we’re taking over the Homocene.
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 The Third Sex from their 7" "Mombies" cover Anyone who is roughly my age and experienced Portland at the height of its dyke rock 90s knows the The Third Sex. Indeed my newly out 14 year old self swooned over the dreamy screamy vocals of Trish Walsh and Peyton Marshall.
For most of the length of their pop punk career I snapped photos, carried around around one of their 2 CDs in my Discman, and, eventually, played a show with them. Commemorated by their track “Maul 10.09.97″ on Back to Go, a final show at a tiny club on 14th and Alberta, back then not the gentrified arts magnet it is now, was one of the most emblematic, not to mention punk rock, Third Sex memories. And this tiny club, with leaking ceiling and cramped stage felt like the beginning of the end of an era.
Sunday night, that era will live again at Rotture (315 SE 3rd Ave).
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 Photo by Ashley Bedford Kendall Clawson, executive director of the Q center, has been referred to as Gay-prah—aka the gay Oprah—by Portland gossip extraordinaire Byron Beck. After meeting her myself in her cozy corner office at the Q, I am compelled to second that notion….to an extent.
Without a doubt, she radiates an Oprah-esque charisma, resolve and allure. But the conceitedness and ostentation? It just doesn’t exist in Clawson, whose primary concern is the LGBT community, not her own self-interest. The minute I met her, I suspected I would spend the next hour of my time doing two things: laughing and learning. And I wasn’t let down.
My chat with Clawson was so rich with info that I’ve divided the interview into two parts. This week, Clawson talks with me about the Winter Gala (pronounced GAY-la for this occasion), her favorite Portland personalities, and which character she would date from the L word.
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 "Whispers in the Wind" by Frankie Jones Despite our grey skies and perpetually falling drizzle Portland lesbians are some of the best when it comes to going out. That said, winter can be more about reading a novel cozied up to the fireplace and, if you’re lucky, maybe a little snuggling.
Split the difference and head out to one of the many literary lady lovin’ events.
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