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  Pride in Action award winners Belinda Carroll (L) and Joe LeBlanc Each year Pride NW gives out 3 awards just prior to Pride season, “Spirit of Pride” Award, Youth Award (22 years old or younger) and the “Pride In Action” Award (for volunteer work in service to the community), in addition to the Grand Marshall honor, which this year goes to La Lucha: Portland Latino Gay Pride.
This year’s Spirit of Pride award goes to former Q Center board member Bob Speltz, for some largely unrecognized behind the scenes work. According to Pride NW President Debra Porta, “As one of the original founders of the Q Center, Portland’s LGBTQ community center, Bob has been instrumental in bringing Portland’s LGBTQ community together in ways that had not happened before, and giving us a home to call our own.”
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  Perry Winkle is not just a qPDX poster child anymore but a Pride NW poster child too! March 11, 2011, Portland OR – The Board of Pride Northwest is pleased to announce its theme for the 2011 Portland Pride Parade and Festival: “Make It Happen!” As we have seen across our country and around the world in recent months, when ordinary people come forward together and speak their truths, powerful forces can be unleashed that change the shape of things to come.
“We know that real lasting change comes from the bottom up. With our 2011 theme, ‘Make It Happen,’ we honor the work of activists everywhere, from the young person taking that brave first step in coming out to those who exercise their right to peacefully resist injustice,” stated Pride Executive Board member Mark Santillo.
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  Here’s a chance to spotlight the queers in our community who you think deserve attention and praise. Think certain folks or organizations aren’t represented in the mainstream gay community. Here’s a small chance to change that as Pride Northwest is calling upon the community to submit nominations for Awards and Honorifics for Pride 2011.
They seek nominations for the following:
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 Parade route controversy…at least we’re not in a kerfuffle over taping the streets right? (Oh damn, that big Rose Fest parade is this weekend isn’t it? I won’t be anywhere near downtown…)
 An Open Letter to the LGBTQ community from the President of Pride Northwest:
Questions continue to be raised about the intentions, responsiveness and decision-making process of the Board of Pride Northwest. Since we are responsible to the entire community for our actions, we feel a need to answer these questions in a public forum, directly and, we hope, definitively.
One of the greatest misperceptions about Pride Northwest is that we make closed-door decisions that ignore the community will. Nothing could be further from the truth. Your feedback is key to our development as a community-based organization. We have listened for four years to a community that has felt abandoned by Pride, to other community organizations who felt no connection to Pride; to the marginalized communities within the larger LGBTQ community who have been searching for a voice with which to make their presence and needs known; all while still respecting and celebrating our diversity. Yes, we have been listening, and we are proud of the decisions we have made as a result.
Two years ago, for example, a few members of the community complained about our decision to restrict smoking on the festival grounds at the waterfront. In making that decision, we were responding to the serious concerns of our youth and non-smokers, including families, who objected to the health risks of exposure to second-hand smoke. That risk has been well documented and we believe it was the right thing to do for our community even in an outdoor venue.
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  Darcelle will Grand Marshall this year's Portland Pride Parade Pride season is quickly marching upon us and Pride NW has just announced its 2010 honorees. Grand Marshall this year is the fabulous heart of the Portland drag scene, 78-year-old Darcelle, a performer and fixture for over 35 years.
Just Out staffer and former qPDX contributor Erin Rook does a great job of announcing the 3 places of honor, Grand Marshall, Spirit of Pride Award, and newly implemented Pride in Action Award, so I’m going to let her take it from here:
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