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  The Red Dress Party float. Photo by Anna M Campbell The Board of Pride Northwest is pleased to announce its first-ever Pride Parade awardees.
In an effort to promote community spirit the Board of Pride Northwest for the first time offered cash awards in five different categories at its annual Portland Pride Parade. Our esteemed panel of judges was asked to review all parade entrants and designated the following participants to best represent their respective categories. And the winners are!:
Most Creative Implementation of Theme, “Make It Happen,” $500: Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
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  The 2008 qPDX Pride Guide ad This Wednesday the Willamette Week, the alternative newsweekly that was given the rights to publish the Pride Guide this year, released the 2011 official Portland Pride Guide. Unfortunately, you won’t see us in it.
qPDX has had an ad in the Pride Guide for the last 4 years so it feels a little sad to be left out this year, but it just had to be. Ultimately, it was about cost, but there are a few things that gave us pause, including the implication that Willamette Week wouldn’t necessarily run articles concerning the LGBT community without striking a business deal.
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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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  Lucas Silveira, Canada's sexiest man Pride NW has officially announced their headlining lineup and the Canadians have got it goin’ on this year. I am especially excited about Ivan E Coyote, a dreamy and extremely heartfelt butch Canadian writer. Another big Canuck draw will be The Cliks, whose FTM frontman, Lucas Silveira, was recently named the sexiest man in Canada.
However, I’m sure they won’t be outdone by hop hop favorites God-des and She or the Idol produced pop of Blake Lewis.
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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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 Portland may have the largest population of queers and the biggest Pride celebration in the state, you don’t have to be a city dweller to have Pride. Some places in Oregon may be more LGBT-friendly than others but many areas, be they college towns, rural areas or growing communities are excited to get the chance to show off their local Gay Pride.
Here are some of the celebrations happening all across Oregon. If I have missed any let me know!
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 SuperGay stampedes for Rainbow Truth Wow, thats all I can say. Wow 1: I can still come up with a meaningful alliteration after this weekend, and wow 2: Portland Queer Pride 2009 was AMAZING.
A year of firsts: The first time QPDX.com has had their own parade “float”, the first year there has been 110+ groups in the parade, the first time SuperGay had a proper outfit, the first time I decided to go for FIVE straight days of Pride partying.
Five days. Five outfits. A kajillion drinks, a million miles on my bicycle, a shit ton of parties, SuperGay jumps, fake beards, hair dying extravaganzas, automation-style condom gluing, flyering, banner making, gender bendering, raindbow deco-ing stampede of gayness. But sadly, on the edge of all the celebrations: tinges of violences, aggression, and disrespect by the police. I’m still waiting for the dust to settle.
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