We're looking for 30 Queer Heroes!

GLAPN and Q Center are teaming up for PRIDE NW this year, presenting a Queer Hero for every day of June. We'll introduce a Hero A Day on our websites, and pictures will be on display in Q Center's art gallery during PRIDE.

Nominations are open now!

Did a teacher, an entertainer, a community member, a straight ally, or a close friend inspire you at a crucial time in your life? Give you strength to go on? Make your path a little easier? Set an example when you really needed one?

Tell us about it, and explain why your personal hero should make the top-30 list.

We're accepting nominations from all over the state. We want to see every age group, every ethnicity, and every color of our rainbow reflected in the nominations – just so everyone can see how widespread and varied our community really is!

To start nominating, go to:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/queerheroesnw

and be prepared to say who you are, where you are, who you’re nominating, and why.

Next GLAPN Meeting, March 26, 2012

The next meeting of the Gay & Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest will be Monday, March 26, 2012, 7:00PM, at Q Center, 4115 N. Mississippi Avenue, in Portland, OR. Anyone interested in preserving queer history is welcome to attend.

Our Stories: Women’s Softball
Saturday Nov 5, 2011. 7pm

Softball has always had a special place in lesbian culture.

GLAPN and Q Center teamed up to take a look at the earlier days of women's athletics in Portland.

Guests joined us for a night of stories from women who loved the sport as they shared their memories of fast-pitch during the 1960s, the Erv Lind Florists, the impact of Title IX, and the Lesbian Community Project’s annual softball tournaments.

Here’s the line-up.

	Jeanine Wittcke -- opened the evening with a story about how her mother didn’t want her to play “that” sport with “those” women.	Donna Luckett -- talked about what softball has meant to her. She was involved with the Lesbian Community Project softball tournaments.	Louise “Chris” Mazzuca -- one of the best pitchers to ever play the game. She had 9 perfect games and 35 no-hitters. She played for several teams including Erv Lind Florists.
	Pat Cach -- became an active follower of fast-pitch softball during the 1960s as she cheered on the Erv Lind Florists women’s softball team. In 1962 she helped drive the team to a tournament in Connecticut. She also helped coach the Lavender Menace 2.	Timi Elwood -- coached girls’ high school sports before and after Title IX. She will talk about what Title IX did for women’s sports. Also, she spoke about the importance of having women in decision-making jobs such as “athletic director.”	Fern Wilgus — a left-handed pitcher for Dotty Moore Pennant Shop. She played from the early 1960s to 1971.

 

October 1, 2011 – Walking Tours benefit
Oregon Safe Schools & Communities Coalition

GLAPN's famous walking tours are back, this time benefiting Oregon Safe Schools and Communities Coalition on October 1, 2011, the day before AIDS Walk.

GLAPN's Rob Douglass and Dave Kohl will be leading the tours, which are chock-full of juicy anecdotes about queer life in Portland over the last century or so.

Two expeditions are planned, with a break in-between at Hobos (120 NW 3rd Avenue) for refreshments and presentations by GLAPN and OSSCC. Really enthusiastic walkers will be able to take in both tours!

Tour 1: Who's on Third will take folks through Old Queer Portland. In the old days, Portland's "vice district" spread along Third Avenue as far south as Lownsdale Square, the "gentlemen's gathering place" of the 19th Century. Gather in front of Hobos for a 1:30pm step-out, stroll south along SW Third Avenue and return along SW Broadway to Hobos at 3:00pm.

Intermission at Hobos: From 3:00-4:30pm, participants will mingle upstairs at Hobos. GLAPN will present a pictorial display and a short discussion of their role in preserving northwest queer history, and OSSCC will describe their campaign to keep schools and communities safe for all of us.

Tour 2: The Stark Truth will explore more recent developments in Portland's queer community. As the name suggests, SW Stark Street will be its focus. It is scheduled to end back at Hobos, at 6:00pm.

Tickets (for one tour) are $30, available through OSSCC's website, OregonSafeSchools.org.

“Welcome to a day of living history. In collaboration with GLAPN, the Gay, Lesbian Archives of the Pacific NW, OSSCC will be leading downtown history tours, honoring our community’s rich past and remembering those who made our journey possible.”

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RACE TALKS!! At Kennedy School, Tuesday,
June 14, 2011

Please join us for the upcoming Race Talks program at Kennedy School
5736 NE 33rd Ave., Portland.
Phone: 503.249-3983
Website: http://www.mcmenamins.com/427-kennedy-school-home

Tuesday, June 14

“Perspectives from Lesbian & Gay People of Color in Oregon”

**Come early to meet, network and eat dinner with friends, old and new.
Doors at 6pm • Program starts at 7pm

Presentations by:

Rupert Kinnard, a graphic artist, who created the world’s first Black, Gay Superhero: The Brown Bomber.

Kevin Cook (aka Poison Waters), a nationally-known drag entertainer who has been performing in Portland and around the country for more than 20 years.

Carol Cheney, a longtime domestic violence and public health activist.

Following the presentations, the audience will break into small discussion groups to talk over the evening’s subject matter and more general topics of race and ethnicity. These discussion groups are facilitated by trained volunteers from Uniting to Understand Racism.

See the attached poster for details.

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Q-DOC ON JUNE 4, 2011!

ON THESE SHOULDERS WE STAND
Sat, June 4th, 2pm
Clinton Street Theater, 2522 SE Clinton St.

Film subject Don Norman in attendance

With so much emphasis—and rightly so—on the events of the Stonewall riots, it’s easy to overlook the struggles and achievements of our community in other parts of the country. On These Shoulders We Stand counters that notion by exploring the early decades of the gay rights movement in Los Angeles through the eyes of 11 extraordinary individuals with firsthand experience of the city’s gay past.

Gay life in ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s Los Angeles was both a haven where lesbians and gays could find each other as well as a trial of social and legal homophobia and persecution. In particular, LGBT individuals faced threats, intimidation and humiliation from the Los Angeles Police Department through harassment, raids and arrest. Yet with each setback, new people found their way into the movement. Fear and shame slowly transformed into defiance and community building. In the wake of Stonewall, Los Angeles hosted the first Gay Pride Parade and the community came into its own. Social, health and political organizations were founded, and those who survived the earlier times became mentors and leaders to a new generation of activists.

On These Shoulders We Stand is an important reminder of how we got to where we are today, and a testament to the heroic contributions and triumphs of those who have come before us.

On These Shoulders We Stand: Dir Glenne McElhinney 2009 USA 75 min

Community Partners:
Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest
Gay & Grey

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OUR STORIES: May 22, 2011.

Remember the parties of the 1970s and '80s? Or have you only heard about them? Come to Q-Center Sunday May 22 at 2:30 in the afternoon for a few hours of reminiscing and discovery. This is the 7th in the series of "Our Stories" co-sponsored with the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific
Northwest (GLAPN). Admission is free.

Bars, taverns, and restaurants were the earliest public gathering places for Portland's "individuals of a different persuasion". Bar owners took the risk of making their establishments "available" to a distinct clientele. A transition from quietly respectable to outrageously "out" accelerated after Stonewall.

"If it's Sunday, this must be Portland" is the theme for May 22, reflecting the years of long weekends and Sunday brunches that have been a unique trademark of gay Portland "civilization." No one is being asked to
give speeches, but we hope many would come ready to tell us at least one memorable story. We plan to also have an open question-and-answer session, a chance to just sit back and enjoy memories - old, timely, or recent.

From the early 1970s, Portland gay (and by extension, lesbian, bi- trans, queer) culture revolved around the weekend, usually culminating with a FABULOUS Sunday brunch, the finale to a weekend on-going party. Bar and Tavern owners supported or sponsored events large and small, developing a climate from the fantastik and fabulous to philanthropic and festive (and for a time, yes, even funerial). Portlanders invited their sisters from other west coast cities to the Rose City for a gay weekend - the Court,
Ramblers, Chorus, Bears, SportsTeams, Leatherfolk, MCC, and Adventurers. Bartenders (and even waiters on roller skates) promoted the friendly and provocative, adding yet another layer of "energy" and hospitality to the party mix, at venues with names like the Embers, Dahl & Penne's, Family Zoo, Slaughters, Flossie's, Zorba's, Chuckles, Wilde Oscars, Half-Moon, the Harbor, Olde Wives Tales, Demas (later Darcelle's), Hobos, and the Other Side of Midnight.

Our special guests for this informal round-table seminar discussion are some of Portland's esteemed Bar owners and bar tenders. Some were first active in the 1960s - now living treasures of Portland gay history. We want to listen to their tales and innuendos, adventures with customers, police, the OLCC, city hall, boyfriends, dancers, food and drink. And maybe go party after the event....

Be there - 4115 NE Mississippi. Doors open at 2pm. GLAPN will also have available two different DVDs of past "Our Stories" events. At $15 each, they are a remarkable summary of local LGTB history,and their purchase supports the on-going work of GLAPN to preserve our history

Doors open @ 2:00 • Program begins @ 2:30
Program ends @ 4:15 • Doors close @ 5:00

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May 3-5, 2011
A portion of the receipts from the grand opening will benefit GLAPN's treasury.

As if you needed a reason to see what has happened to the old Silverado and the Portland Baths!

 

 

 

By Robin Will, Secretary & Webmaster
Gay & Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest

A couple of years ago, GLAPN was contacted by Tim Hills, staff historian for McMenamins, the business which has become as famous for their historic buildings as it is for food, brew, and hospitality.

The McMenamin brothers had just purchased a [smallish] city block in Portland's Gay Triangle, the old Majestic Hotel, site of the Silverado Bar and the Portland Baths.

McMenamins celebrates the history of every property they acquire.

"Could GLAPN help them in their research of this site which had lots of history in the LGBTQ community?"

Several GLAPN members responded. The job wasn't easy, because like most gay history, very little about this site was written down. Personal memories were explored. Personal contacts were exploited. One recollection triggered another. And in the end, it was surprising how much information we were able to generate about this Queer Portland landmark.

The renovation is complete, and the property will open to the public on May 3, 2011.

Of course, Tim Hills didn't stop with the queer portion of the property's history. Judging by pictures on the walls through all four stories, it appears that he looked at every city directory, every newspaper article, and every deed and tax record in existence for that little triangle of land -- and tracked down descendants of original owners, and got access to their family scrapbooks.

There are even pictures of the farmhouse that was on the property before Stark Street came so far west!

This is a see-to-believe proposition. As a Portlander since 1956 (I was in third grade -- go ahead and do the math!), I was amazed at the memories Tim's work brought back.

In appreciation for GLAPN's contribution to the historical research, a portion of the proceeds from the May 3-4-5 Grand Opening celebration, which will include the Crystal Hotel, Ringlers Annex and the Crystal Ballroom, will be donated to GLAPN. There will be food, libations, and music in several venues in the new Crystal complex.

That provides any number of good reasons to visit, and see the new life that McMenamins has breathed into this old Portland landmark.

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October 23, 2010
Our Stories" Finding our voice – the 1970s

Eight pioneers of the gay rights movement in Portland spoke at Q Center on Saturday October 23 as part of the ongoing series of history forums, “Our Stories”.

Click on the "Finding Our Voice" logo at right to open the whole story on the "Our Stories" page.

 

 

 

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June 28, 2010
Peter Boag speaks at History Pub,
Monday, June 28, 2010

Peter Boag, student of Northwest queer history, will be featured speaker at History Pub, McMenamins Kennedy School, Portland, Oregon, on Monday, July 28.

His subject will be, "Excavating Queer History from Straight Archives: Examples from Portland and the American West," examining the difficulties and serendipity of researching gay, lesbian, and transgender history in archives that were set up long before GLBT history was considered an acceptable topic of interest for historians.

The program starts at 7PM at McMenamins Kennedy School, 5736 NE 33rd Avenue, Portland. There is no charge for admission, but McMenamins requests donations of canned food for the Oregon Food Bank.

Peter Boag is a native of Portland, who graduated from University of Portland in 1983 and took his doctorate at University of Oregon in 1988.
He is currently teaches at Washington State University, and here are excerpts from his biography from the WSU website:

"Professor Boag is the author of Environment and Experience: Settlement Culture in Nineteenth-Century Oregon (University of California Press, 1992) and Same-Sex Affairs: Constructing and Controlling Homosexuality in the Pacific Northwest (University of California Press, 2003).

He has contributed essays to Many Wests: Place, Culture, and Regional Identity (University Press of Kansas, 1997) and Seeing Nature through Gender (University Press of Kansas, 2003). His articles have appeared in journals such as Pacific Historical Review and Western Historical Quarterly.

He is currently at work on a book entitled Re-Dressing America's Frontier Past, which examines cross-dressers and the heterosexualization of the American West."

For folks who wish to check him out before the Kennedy School program, Peter furnished GLAPN with some links to his work.

"My book Same-Sex Affairs has a "site" at http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520240483.
I think the Oregon Encyclopedia Project might be something to promote, though I am not sure what all it has up at this time relevant to GLBT history. It has a piece up that I wrote on the 1912 vice scandal. It is at http://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/entry/view/portland_vice_scandal_1912_1913_/.
History Cooperative has my article that appeared in the Oregon Historical Quarterly on Portland, 1945-1970. That is at http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/ohq/105.1/boag.html.
The University of Washington Press has a site for The Boys of Boise re-release, for which I wrote an introduction. That is at http://www.washington.edu/uwpress/search/books/GERBOY.html.

 

Our Stories, November 14, 2009:
Gender Variance (part 1 of 2) -->F

November 14, 2009
The Our Stories Series continued on November 14, 2009, with the first of two programs honoring the 30th anniversary of the Northwest Gender Alliance.

The event, sponsored jointly by GLAPN (Gay & Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest) and Q Center, was held at Q Center, 4115 N. Mississippi Avenue, Portland, Oregon, beginning at 7:00PM.

Gender Variance -->F will be a panel discussion focusing on the male-to-female portion of our trans/gender-variant community. (Early in 2010, the next Our Stories program will feature female-to-male members of the community.)

Five panelists, three trailblazers in Pacific Northwest trans/gender-variant issues and two in the 20s-30s age group, spoke about their personal stories, followed by a moderated question-and-answer period, and open questions from the floor.

Dave Kohl, northwest author, historian and artist, was the MC/Moderator for the evening.

 

June 30, 2009
Portland QUEER WALKING TOUR

The Portland's Gay Walking Tour, sponsored by the City of Portland as a Pride observance, is scheduled for Tuesday, June 30, 2009. Everyone is invited, and there is no charge.

Participants will meet in Lownsdale Square, between SW 3rd & 4th Avenues, Salmon & Main Streets, at the statue, at noon.

This year's walk is led jointly by Rob Douglass, president of the Gay & Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest, and Brad Fortier, an event manager for Portland Walking Tours.

Every generation has had its gay scene. In spite of repression and out-and-out persecution, that was as true 100 years ago as it is today. Learn the secrets of the past -- at lunchtime on June 30th!

May 23, 2009
"Our Stories:" Out For Good - 40 Years After Stonewall

GLAPN and Q Center collaborate on the Our Stories Series, gathering history-making members of the queer community to tell their stories. This event was held at the NEW A Center, 4115 N Mississippi Avenue, Saturday, May 23, 2009, starting at 7:30PM.

As part of the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, eight esteemed members of our community shared their stories of how this struggle forever shaped their lives. Come join us for an amazing evening of living history, reconnecting, and hearing shared the stories of Portland’s LGBTQ community.

"No one really expected anything radical from an essentially silent,
secret, secluded subculture which emerged mainly at night, to
congregate in mob bars...So when the spark did come, perhaps it should
not be surprising that it came in of those places, at one of those
times. Perhaps only in retrospect does it seem clear that this was
the logical way it would happen, that the last struggle for civil
rights in the 20th century would begin with a fight at a bar."

-from Dudley Clendinen and Adam Nagourney, "Out for Good: The Struggle to
Build a Gay Rights Movement in America," Simon and Schuster, NY 1999

 

October 4, 2008
The "Our Stories" Series:
Coming Out: Making Waves

Click on the graphic at right to open the full story on the "Our Stories" page.

Life-changing decisions effect individuals who make them, but may also have ripple effects on entire communities. Such are the stories that were shared October 4 at Portland's Q Center.

Eight individuals shared their own tales about coming out and making a stand on gay and lesbian rights. Their own lives were altered; but the actions they took with and for the GLBTQ community have made a difference to hundreds of other lives.

Speakers included Frank Roa (Umatilla Morrow Alternatives); Betty Nelson (Lesbian Community Project and Metropolitan Community Church); Carla Remy (KBOO radio); Larry Smith (Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network); Mehera Scheu (Sexual and Minority Youth Resource Center); and Don and Joanne Ross (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays). Introducing speakers will be Dave Kohl, author of the award-winning history of Portland's GLBTQ community, "A Curious and Peculiar People."

 

March 29, 2008
March 29th: Our Stories: A Quarter Century of AIDS

Join us for another in Q Center’s ongoing series of roundtable storytelling events featuring in-person testimonials, Q&A, and community discussion. Come join us for an incredible evening of living history, reconnecting, hearing the stories of Portland’s LGBTQ community and what it has been like for LGBTQ Oregonians through the decades of living with AIDS — and share your own stories as well. It is important to know where we have come from and to think about where we are going. Hosted by Q Center, the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest, and Cascade AIDS Project.

Saturday, March 29th, 2008, 
7:30pm-10:00pm
, Q Center, 
69 SE Taylor Ave at SE Water Ave, Portland. 
Donations accepted at the door

January 12, 2008
The "Our Stories" Series:
Pioneers in LGBTQ Civil Rights

Portlanders reflected on 35 years of gay activism on January 11-12, 2008, with back-to-back evenings jointly hosted by Q Center and the Gay & Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest.

Q Center (69 S.E. Taylor) was packed for the Jan. 11 screening of Ballot Measure 9, and again for the Jan. 12 roundtable discussion with more than 20 leaders and activists from Oregon's sexual minorities community.

Click here to open the full story from the "Our Stories" page.

 

 

P.O. Box 3646 • Portland, OR 97208-3646 • info@glapn.or
Copyright © 2011, Gay & Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest