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 Sam Adams Here at qPDX we really do like to have fun. That often means that our coverage is entertainment and event heavy. But 2009 saw plenty of news headlines as well. I’m sure it will come as no surprise to anyone what scandal fills the top spot, but let’s run down 4 more items as well before we repeat the obvious.
5 – Media drama, deaths and rebirths
In the beginning of 2009 the implosion of Oregon’s first and only LGBT print publication, Just Out seemed imminent. They had just made an unpopular recommendation to oust the sex scandal embattled Mayor Adams followed by the departure of several important art and editorial staffers over pay disputes. But the publication survived, albeit with a much tinier staff. Despite a so-called dying journalism industry several new local queer publications started up around this time. Indeed, though qPDX has was created in 2005, we, too, had to reinvent ourselves following my layoff from OregonLive.com. And I think independence suits us.
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 Blow Pony has become one of the most popular queer nights in town Last night saw the first Blow Pony since the Pride weekend violence (of which Blow Pony was, sadly, the epicentre) and the muddle of police-ness that followed, so of course QPDX.com went down to Casey’s/The Eagle to check out what was going down. This Blow Pony went down without a hitch – but questions are being raised as to what can and will happen next, and despite the fact that on the surface, all is well, a lot of questions are being raised and right now, everything feels iffy.
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 Queer Town Hall in Portland, OR It’s been a few days, but I’d like to take the time to share the results of the Queer Town Hall that happened last thursday at the Q Center on Mississippi. The Queer Town Hall was a project organized by a bunch of folks in our community as a “response” of sorts to the recent acts of violence and inadequate police response that became especially evident over Pride Weekend this year.
Town Hall organizers aim to create a space for discussion and the sharing of information and resources to empower us to engage with each other and the authorities in a different, and hopefully safer, way.
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 Learn basic principles of self defence with your queer and trans peers. In the wake of the incidents of violence that happened over Pride weekend that we’ve referred to a couple of times, one of the victims, Audrey, decided to take steps towards organizing a series of self defence workshops geared towards queer and trans people. The classes are taught partly by Jaddua Ross, who has been studying martial arts for a long time and are geared towards any experience level.
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 Heather after the attack It’s been pretty quiet around this issue in the last few days until we know what exactly will happen next and who is doing what. As far as I know, some people very involved in the community are considering a town hall style meeting, and BlowPony folks such as Airick, Jose and Heather (who got her nose broken after Blow Po) are going to the Portland Police SMRT (sexual minorities round table) with the police next month. I will most more info on the time, date etc as it becomes available. Audrey, who was the victim of transphobic and sexist harassment and told by the police that she didn’t need to file a report, has successfully filed a report against her attacker and the issue is being dealt with (we hope) by the police/courts/authorities.
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 Stop hate and violence in and towards our community Pride is over, our hangovers have subsided, the messes have mostly been cleaned up – but what remains is the foul aftertaste of violence, harassment and threats towards individuals in our community. This is new – what is going on, queer Portland?
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 Two gay men, Samson and Kevin were severely beaten in a hate crime this weekend in Seaside, Oregon. Photo courtesy KATU. I am very privileged to almost always feel safe in Portland and I usually feel fairly confident that I will not be gay bashed in most of Oregon, certainly in our laid back coastal areas. But this weekend 2 young gay men, nursing students from western Washington, were beaten severely in Seaside, Oregon.
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The Portland area may feel like a safe place. And in large part it is. However, hate crimes happen here. And if you missed this article this morning (Washington County’s only known hate killing unsolv… […]
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