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Biggest local queer news stories of 2011

When you mix queer drama and local politics what do you get? Some pretty interesting news for a city that keeps it weird. […]


Queer youth attacked last weekend in gay bashing

Kayla Stone

In breaking news from Just Out, it is being reported that 21-year-old Kayla Stone, a musician and activist, was assaulted in downtown Portland in an apparent gay bashing last Sunday July 3rd, according to police.

The previous night a group of men had harassed her outside of Embers on NW Broadway and Burnside, calling her “dyke” and following her for several blocks as she left. She fended them off with strong words but when she returned Saturday night the same group recognized her and began beating her without provocation. The only person she remembers very clearly is the one who threw the first punch, a Latino man with a teardrop tattoo by his eye.

Stone also says that witnesses did nothing to assist her. Even when she made her way to The Escape, the all ages gay nightclub and a stop on the Q Patrol route, Stone says she was mostly ignored. Stone said two police cars circled the block, but neither stopped to help. Eventually she,

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Photos from ‘Hands Across Hawthorne’

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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Why people gay bash: our amazing hair makes them do it

Gay Bashers have bad hair day, retaliate downtown
Gay Bashers have bad hair day, retaliate downtown

Gay Bashers have bad hair day, retaliate downtown

KGW.com has released photos of five people arrested by the police for a gay bashing bias crime that occurred downtown last Thursday night near SW11th.

I personally think they are just jealous of us well groomed queers because they are obviously all having a VERY BAD HAIR DAY. (well, the one with almost no hair isn’t doing *too* bad.)

Maybe we need to start hair-profiling people..?

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