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Best Pride backup crew! Photo by Diana Edwards
So it’s been quite a week of reliving 2010. Truthfully I’m a little burned out. But before you shed all your summer skin and head into the depths of 2011 fresh and new here are a few last looks back at some of the “best” random sh** of the year…
Most asked question
What time is the dyke march? (A wink and a nod to the amusing insights of Katey Pants).
Best LGBT quote of the year
“You know if I could go back in time, I would lez it up 24 hours. Believe me, one thing I would not miss? Balls. Terrible little things.”
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Clockwise from left: Saturn, Sally Ingus Wilder, Bulimianne Rhapsody and Kaj-Anne Pepper at Blow Pony
This what what caught your eye or sparked heated debate on these very pages in 2010.
5 – Hot gay boys do Katy Perry’s “California Girls.”
Gay version of the biggest pop hit of the summer went viral. So hot it melted your popsicle.
4 – Aden Jaric jailed after Miss Thing […]
E Room/Weird Bar owner Kim Davis. Photo by Jamie Francis / The Oregonian
Portland is a very homo-aware town but we are still small, and news travels fast. Here’s some of the things that caused the most uproar.
5 – Duende censorship, and the Pride parade route change
It was much more upsetting to witness the Rose Festival quash a chaste kiss in the Circus Project’s Duende, nearly forcing the performance to be canceled. There was nearly as much kerfuffle internally in the community when the Pride parade route was taken off the traditionally Stark Street triangle (aka Vaseline Alley). Sometimes the struggle comes from without, but the struggle within is just as powerful.
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"It Gets Better" project founder Dan Savage (R) with husband Terry
A roller coaster of emotions swept gay America this year. Here’s a snapshot.
5 – University of Michigan’s Student Body President Stalked and Harassed by State’s Assistant Attorney General
When MI Attorney General Andrew Shirvell began harassing UMich Student Body President Christ Armstrong people started to notice, mostly prominently among them CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who interviewed Shirvell on air.
4 – Constance McMillan is barred from her prom and embraced by the rest of the world
When Constance McMillan planned to take her girlfriend to prom, organizing parents canceled the event and held a gay-free dance elsewhere. But instead of cowering McMilan powered along with an ACLU lawsuit and won the support of celebrities, public figures and the world-at-large. Her Facebook fan page has over 400,00 members and she has a scholarship care of Ellen Degeneres.
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Lionel and Marshall in an embrace in United States of Tara
The gays struggled with the boob tube this year in part because there actually are a fair amount of decent characters and story lines to choose from. So we are on that cusp of counting down the best gay shows vs. the best gay moments.
It’s also a year where we start to shift judging from “a good portrayal of LGBT life” to simply the “best TV” that just happens to contain gay elements, or are even primarily gay themed. This list has a combination.
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Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis lock lips in "Black Swan'
Film has always tended to push the boundaries of sexuality. We’re finally no longer living (completely) in the celluloid closet so there’s plenty to choose from without having to resort to claiming films like Claire of the Moon. The 90s were tough children…
5. Undertow (Contracorriente)
Heart-wrenching and real, this is the gay indie favorite around the world. Set in a Peruvian seaside town a married fisherman struggles to reconcile his devotion to his male lover within his town’s rigid traditions.
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ChiChi and Chonga at Cafeteria's Jocks and Nerds Edition
If there’s one thing we do well here at qPDX it’s partying. And 2010 has just blown us all away, and damaged our livers beyond repair, with its bursting-at-the-seams burgeoning club scene. Dancing isn’t just for downtown anymore. Nopo has emerged as a queer nightlife hotspot alongside the already club-friendly inner Eastside. There’s something for nearly everybody, and I did my best to make an appearance, at least once, and each of them.
5 – Do the Dark/JunKtion tie
Both laid back underground neighborhood parties both Do the Dark and JunKtion had welcome breathing room in contrast to the packed parties elsewhere. But the music was excellent and the venues, Tonic and Local Lounge, were friendly and comfortable with good dance floors and chat areas alike. Oh yeah, and they always had good cheap drink specials.
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Bloc Party's Kele Okereke released his own album this year which landed at number 6 on the qPDX list
There was a lot of good music this year and better yet lots of it was local. I may be a little biased, then, in this list, but we’re the queer Northwest…That’s the point. So I don’t apologize for that the musicians in charge of 4 of the top 10 best queer albums call Portland home.
10 – Logan Lynn – I Killed Tomorrow Yesterday
Occasionally a little too retro gay dance party local Logan Lynn’s newest album still commands a danceable pop beat. He puts on a great show with perfectly placed live vocals for an electro show focused on audience excitement. I’m suprised he’s not more internationally known. Maybe he just needs to tour Europe. Oh, and I did I mention proceeds of the album go to charity? Yeah, I appreciate a feel good album for the music and the cause.
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Ricky Martin is gay?!
Celebrities, as powerful and rich as they are, still tend to remain in the closet. Here are the top 5 folks this year that had the courage to publicly declare their homo-love.
5 – Amber Heard
Actress from The Stepfather, The Joneses, Pineapple Express, spoke openly with AfterEllen.com about being a lesbian pioneer in Hollywood, during the GLAAD media awards.
4 – Chely Wright
There was a lot of hype leading up to this announcement which was largely met by a big “who?” when the information was finally released. We were all expecting someone really famous to come out, but Chely Wright is a country singer who has quite the following in the South. Oh yeah, and that Christian singer Jennifer Knapp came out too.
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Johnny Weir at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver
I begin this year’s best of roundups with an unlikely choice: sports. I’m not sure if I’m bucking the stereotype or playing along with it but qPDX has never been particularly strong in our sports coverage (that’s an understatement girl…) but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some really important stories that emerged in the world of gay sports. And even I was pretty glued to the screen for the Winter Olympics, being virtually blinded by Johnny Weir’s sequined outfits.
So begins the countdowns, mostly the top 5 news and arts stories, although I could only narrow the top 10 when it came to music. And you get 2 each day all week long!
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