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  Hollywood Bowl Last week we delved into the situation surrounding accusations of homophobia against Hollywood Bowl. A week later it still seems to be pretty much a game of “they said, they said” but folks seem rather interested in this one, so I figured I’d give what little updates are to be had.
Firstly, a reader by the name of ‘jo’ was able to wrench even more information out of an HB Manager Heather Moeller than I was, saying,
There were no leagues on Saturday already…The Sunday PCBL League was approached and asked if they would switch from 3:00pm Sunday to either 10:00am or 6:30pm which would allow us to have as large chunk open for birthday parties and open play. The league being at 3:00 on Sunday just made it hard to book anything else.
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  Members of the LGBT bowling leagues. Photo courtesy Towleroad. Some controversy between the gay bowling league PCBL (Portland Community Bowling League) and their former home Hollywood Bowl has erupted on the interwebs this week with the league claiming they were forced out due to homophobia and HB flatly denying the accusation.
The most complete form of the accusation comes from a Towleroad reader who makes this claim:
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  Update: The CC Chamber of Commerce has officially stated that this was spam email. There have been discussions about this statement (make of that what you will) and you can read the entire announcement at the bottom of this post.
For all the ups and downs of my hometown Vancouver, Washington and its Clark County, from being named one of the most gayest cities to being made fun of in a Portlandia spoof called Vancouvria, I never would have expected emails as homophobic as these that circulated last night at the Clark County Chamber of Commerce. (Guess they won’t be promoting our Holiday Gift Guide, local as it may be).
Apparently, they were not meant for the general public, but that doesn’t negate their inherent discrimination. Change.org has additional information and a petition you can sign demanding an apology.
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  During the holiday season, the Salvation Army bell ringers are out in droves. You may know that the change you throw into their buckets will go to assisting many of the hungry and/or homeless folks in Portland this winter, but what you might not know is that none of those folks will be queer. The Salvation Army, an evangelical Christian charity, is actively homophobic and discriminatory toward LGBTQ people who seek their services, as well as our community as a whole. For these reasons, I urge you not to donate to them. On their website, The Salvation Army speaks to the “standards and principles,” which all members are encouraged to review and reaffirm. Among a slew of position statements, there is one entitled “homosexuality”, which explains that “sexual intimacy is understood as a gift of God to be enjoyed within the context of heterosexual marriage.” They go on to speak about how homosexuality is not “blameworthy in itself,” but that gay people should act “responsibly” by not acting upon our feelings. They explain, “The Salvation Army believes that Christians whose sexual orientation is primarily or exclusively same-sex are called upon to embrace celibacy as a way of life.”
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 SlutWalk Portland was a trial by fire Around 4pm on Sunday, I decided to head back to the Terry Shrunk Plaza where this last Sunday’s SlutWalk began, to pick up my bicycle,and head home. Before I left, and I was struck by an (only seemingly) innocuous question: Should I put my clothes back on? Where does acting demonstratively end? United we stand, divided we fall, I decided on a compromise: keeping the short shorts, but adding a shirt (I was also concerned about sunburn at this point.) I picked up my bicycle and was immediately spotted by an older man and woman who couldn’t stop staring at me as I passed them by. The man couldn’t take his eyes off my semi-unbuttoned shirt, shook his head and whispered under his breath. And I’m hardly what you would call feminine. As if this wasn’t the confirmation we needed.
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  Jack "Macho Slut" Donovan slings mud at SlutWalk, qPDX, women everywhere but he can still manage a sneer An editorial note:
Right wing homosexual blogger Jack Donovan (otherwise known as Jack Malebranche) has spent a lot of his summer trying to discredit women who believe that suggestive attire does not invite rape. His histrionic rants are so blatantly misogynistic I’m tempted not to even address them. But he calls out Portland, he calls out individuals that have contributed to qPDX, and he calls out qPDX itself, so how can I not?
What strikes me most is his need to consistently ridicule the efforts of self-identified sluts across the US and Canada, even creating a new blog dedicated entirely to cataloging the Slutwalks. He proclaims how useless these efforts are, claiming they wouldn’t benefit the “average woman,” (as if there were such a thing) while simultaneously spending his entire Saturday making “WhOregon” t-shirts. My instinct as a blogger tells me that spending a lot of time railing against the “useless” is particularly useful in increasing his page views.
He equates not being taken seriously with rape, but between assault and a bit of mockery, I’ll take the latter. Most of us have learned to deflect hate speech, though that doesn’t afford physical safety. Even I have, on occasion, laughed at the ass crack bearing plumber, but it would sound absurd to suggest that he should have some something hard and painful shoved up his nether regions for the crime of bearing skin. So, of course, I won’t do that.
What I will say is that not everyone’s standards of beauty match Donovan’s, and all kinds of people experience sexual violence.
I will say that Portland, and any other city, is entitled to have as many parades for “lesbians,” “sluts,” “women,” and any other group, as we want.
I will acknowledge that though our writing is not always perfect, our efforts are sincere. And our ability to call each other out and yet work together again in the future may be seen as a weakness, but it is also one of our greatest strengths.
And I will give space in this blog to hear from my colleague, Perry Eising, as well as you, the reader, and my whole, diverse queer community, of which even Donovan is, for better or worse, a part.
-Alley
Perry says please note: the following opinions are mine except where indicated.
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  Despite events such as Hands across Hawthorne, gay bashings keep happening. Photo courtesy of Byron Beck. Sigh. After hearing the amazing news that so far, we have heard of no violence during Pride Northwest 2011, a gay man and another man who came to his aid were assaulted in Northwest Portland this past Saturday, the Portland Tribune reports in an article on their website.
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As you may have heard, there has been some extremely exciting news in the intersecting worlds of gay people and sports lately.
On Monday, Rick Welts, the chief executive and president of the Phoenix Suns, came out in a very public way (you can’t get much more public than the front page of the New York Times, can you?). In coming out, Welts aims to break the silence surrounding homosexuality in sports. The reaction to his news has been very encouraging. David Stern, the commissioner of the NBA, has been nothing but supportive. Before coming out to the world at large, Welts came out to Bill Russell, one of the greatest basketball players of all time, and to Steve Nash, the Suns point guard and two-time NBA MVP, both of whom offered their full support and respect.
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Rapper Lil B to release album called "I'm Gay"…and faces death threats
Cali rapper Lil B has come forward with an announcement to call his upcoming new album “I’m Gay”. Lil B, who is straight, is setting out to “flip the meaning of the word ‘gay’ and use its other definition, happy” because he has “major love for the gay and lesbian community, and I just want […]
  The coupon in question In a news of the weird what may have been anything from homophobia to a childish prank to a mistake has taken on a life of its own when a $16 coupon for Jiffy Lube’s “signature service” addressed to a “Turd Burgler” sparked a $150K discrimination lawsuit.
Laremy Eck, who received the piece of mail, recently went to his local Jiffy Lube and believes the coupon was sent to him because he’s gay. The Jiffy Lube claims the coupon was sent by mistake and was intended for the resident’s previous occupant, an acquaintance of the shop known as the “Turd Burgler” (their spelling, not ours). Even though the incident could be a mistake the suit pressed on in a court filing in late November.
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