Podcasts
| Year | Show |
|---|---|
| June 1, 2019 | My Real Portland [49] [50] |
| October 21, 2018 | 12 Questions [51] |
| March 26, 2018 | The Laugh Cellar [52] |
Belinda Carroll is an American standup comedian, writer, activist, actress, and singer. [1] [2] [3] She is the founder of the Portland Queer Comedy Festival, [4] [1] organizer of the Portland Dyke March, [4] and is a co-organizer as well as date auction host and fundraiser emcee of the Butch Voices Portland Regional Conference. [5] [6] [7]
At age 22, Carroll held a Miss Leather title. She performs annually at Portland Pride [8] [9] and in 2013, was named a finalist in the Advocate's Stand Out: The National Queer Comedy Search. [10]
In 2016, Carroll began working as a tour guide for Know Your City's "Pride Forever: LGBTQ History Tour." [11] [8] She performs annually at Portland's Slut Walk. In 2018, she was designated a Queer Hero as part of Queer Heroes Northwest. [8] The same year, she was chosen as the sole representative for queer Oregon as featured in USA Today's Faces of Pride article. [12] In 2019, the theatre and advocacy group, CoHo Productions, listed Carroll as one of their Iconic Women as part of their This Woman portrait and interview series. [13]
In television, Carroll has appeared on shows such as Portlandia and in bit spots like an Oregon Lottery Winter Scratch-It's commercial. [14] She has written for print media outlets such as the Portland Mercury , [15] [16] Huffington Post , [17] PQ Monthly , [18] [19] [20] and Cracked.com. [21]
Belinda was awarded the Woman of Achievement Award from the State of Oregon. The award was presented to her by Governor Kate Brown on March 10, 2020.
Carroll is the granddaughter of coal miners from West Virginia.
Her mother grew up in Turkey Creek, West Virginia on a farm in a house with no electricity in her early years. She left school after the sixth grade. In 1956, at age 20, she gave birth to a son, then moved westward in 1963, working laundry and line cook jobs. During this time, she married and had a second son. In the early 1970s, her husband divorced her, leaving her in debt as a single mother. In 1976, at age 40, she gave birth to Carroll in Portland, Oregon.
Carroll was raised in Portland in what she describes as a "really God-centered, Jesus-centered environment" in a Southern Missionary Baptist household, which she says always had the Trinity Broadcasting Network playing. She describes the region as "very, very conservative" and "all loggers...all industry" at the time as well as in a neighborhood "full of KKK people like skinheads, and, you know, Neo-Nazis." [22]
Carroll experienced "relentless" [15] bullying as a youth. Her early queer influences were limited to The Original Coming Out Stories (Crossing Press, 1989), and "sneaking in the occasional gay-themed Donahue ." [15] She came out as a lesbian at age 15, declaring herself a lesbian feminist activist at age 16 or 17. Her Republican brothers and the rest of her family members were taken aback, [23] accusing her of doing it to "be contrarian" and "trying to be political for a while." [24] Carroll's mother, a Southern Missionary Baptist Christian, albeit a Southern Democrat, was "shocked," believing that Carroll was "too feminine to be a lesbian". [25] She then rejected her, which prompted Carroll to move out of the house. She was homeless for a year and a half, couch surfing and living on the streets, even attempting suicide. [15]
When she returned to her mother after that period, her mother was "apologetic" and Carroll "watched her go from this really rigid, evangelical Christian with these very firm beliefs in what was sin and what wasn't sin" to someone who was able to develop non-judgmental, empathetic camaraderie with Carroll and Carroll's gay friends, [13] saying to Carroll, in effect, when Carroll was 25, "'You know what? I'm glad you're gay. You've never let anyone define who you are, you've always been your own person.'" [15] [4]
Carroll began singing at an early age, performing with a number of bands since she was 16 in the genres of R'n'B and soul. In Austin, Texas, she was part of a jazz-funk trio. [13] [26] In her early 20s, she began performing in drag acts.
Carroll came out as a lesbian feminist activist at age 15. Within a year, in 1992, she began campaigning to oppose Measure 9, a proposed amendment to the Oregon Constitution that declared homosexuality to be "abnormal, wrong, unnatural, and perverse," allowed open discrimination, and required the state "to actively discourage homosexuality, teaching that it is a moral offense similar to pedophilia, sadism and masochism." [27] [28] Contemporaneously, Carroll began attending Lesbian Avengers meetings with her girlfriend which proved an education for participating in direct-action advocacy. [4]
In 2011, Pride NW honored Carroll with their Pride-in-Action Award for Carroll's grassroots work founding Q Patrol, a community foot patrol intended to reduce hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people in Downtown Portland. [29]
In 2013, she performed as part of Portland: Naughty-Listed—Stories of Holiday Misbehavior, a storytelling series benefiting the Democratic Party of Oregon. [30]
In 2015, one of Carroll's activist pursuits involved a conversation with a gay Ugandan comedy fan who befriended her on Facebook. With his permission, Carroll documented their dialogue and published it in PQ Monthly to spread awareness about the persecution and violence queer Ugandans face. [19]
In 2017, Carroll performed as part of a nationwide comedy benefit for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a counter-response to the promises of human rights violations on which Donald Trump ran his presidential campaign. Dozens of comedians performed across 20 states. The Portland iteration, called What A Joke, featured Carroll and just three other comedians as representatives of their city. [31]
Carroll has performed at various annual gay pride events, including Portland Pride 2019's Big Gay Afterparty, [32] and Beaverton's Pride Festival 2019. [33] She has also performed at the Sex-Positive Education & Events Center for Portland's iteration of the international anti-slut-shaming march, SlutWalk.
Carroll began performing as a professional standup comedian at age 32, after Sarah Palin was nominated for Vice President of the United States. Disturbed by the event, Carroll processed her feelings with joke-writing, subsequently delivering them at an open mic at Cap City Comedy in Austin, Texas. [13] She was only two weeks sober. It so happened that the show was recorded and ended up online, where a comedian friend saw her set. They encouraged her to keep at the craft, and she did, ending up with a sold-out performance for her first gay audience in 2009. [13] This led her to start producing her own shows by and for the queer community, though not exclusionary of non-queer subject matter and audience members.
Since her first performance, Carroll has organized and performed countless times. She has participated in the All-Jane Comedy Festival, [34] SMUT: Comedy Done Dirty, [35] the Outlandish! series, OUT/LOUD's Queer & Trans Women's Music Festival, [36] Comedy at the Capitol, [37] Comic Strip, Homo Ha!, [38] Loudmouth Cunts, [39] Lezberados: Comedy with No Bull, [40] and Ethel Merman Weekend. [41] Venues have included Club 50 West, [42] the Whiteside Theatre [43] Seven Nightclub [44] Curious Comedy Theater, [9] Club Comedy Seattle, [45] Kontos Cellars, [46] the MAC Club, [47] and Cobb's Comedy Club. [48]
| Year | Film/Show | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Sh#t I Love with Jason Stuart | Herself |
| 2015 | Absolutely Jason Stuart | Herself |
| 2014 | Portlandia | Feminist camper |
| 2011 | Heart Breaks Open | Dish! performer |
| Year | Show |
|---|---|
| June 1, 2019 | My Real Portland [49] [50] |
| October 21, 2018 | 12 Questions [51] |
| March 26, 2018 | The Laugh Cellar [52] |
Kate Clinton is an American comedian specializing in political commentary from a gay/lesbian point of view.
Elvira Kurt is a Canadian comedian, and was the host of the game show Spin Off. She hosted the entertainment satire/talk show PopCultured with Elvira Kurt, which began on The Comedy Network in Canada in 2005. That show's style was similar to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. It was cancelled due to poor ratings in early 2006. She is of Jewish Hungarian descent.
LGBT culture in Eugene, Oregon predates the Stonewall riots in New York in 1969, but that event coincided with organized efforts in Lane County, Oregon, to support and celebrate LGBT people. Even though Eugene has been rated on lists of cities friendly to LGBT populations, there are very few venues specifically for the LGBT community in the Eugene/Springfield metropolitan area.
LGBT culture in Portland, Oregon is an important part of Pacific Northwest culture.
Cameron Anne Young Anastasia Esposito is an American actor, comedian, and podcaster known for her show Take My Wife, as well as her stand-up comedy and her podcast, Queery. Esposito substantially focuses on topics surrounding the LGBTQ+ community, feminism, social justice, and the challenges faced by members of marginalized communities. Originally from Western Springs, Illinois, Esposito lives in Los Angeles.
Stag PDX, or simply Stag, is a gay-owned nightclub and strip club in Portland, Oregon's Pearl District, in the United States. The club opened in May 2015 as the second all-nude gay strip club on the West Coast.
Rupert Kinnard also credited as Prof. I.B. Gittendowne, is an American cartoonist who created the first ongoing gay/lesbian-identified African-American comic-strip characters: the Brown Bomber and Diva Touché Flambé. Kinnard is gay and African American.
"Blow Pony" is a popular queer event based in Portland, Oregon.
River Buddy Butcher is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, producer, and podcast host. Butcher is best known for personal, observational comedy focused on his vegetarianism, feminism, love of baseball, and experiences as a queer person.
Monica Palacios is a Chicana lesbian American playwright and performer, specialising in Chicana, queer, feminist, and lesbian themes. She has charted the intersection of queer and Latina identities in Latinx communities, with their mutually marginalising impact. A trailblazer stand-up comedian in the 1980s and 1990s, Palacios is now better known for her work as an award winning playwright and activist. Her works are taught in many schools and colleges, where she has served frequently as a director of student theatre.
Martha Chaves is a Nicaraguan-Canadian comedian, actress, activist and playwright. She performs standup in English, Spanish, French and Italian. She is a regular in the comedy circuits in Canada, the United States and Latin America, at Just for Laughs and other major festivals, and on CBC Radio.
Dana Goldberg is an American comedian. She is especially known in the gay community, as Goldberg herself is gay. She is a weekly guest on The Stephanie Miller Show on SiriusXM and hosts her own podcast, Out in Left Field With Dana Goldberg on Advocate.com. She hosts an annual show in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 2013, she was named a finalist in the Advocate's Stand Out: The National Queer Comedy Search. In 2017, she hosted the Los Angeles Resist March. Also in 2017, she performed at Trevor Live in New York City on a bill featuring John Oliver and Imagine Dragons. In 2019, she spoke at Lambda Legal's annual National Liberty Awards. In television, Goldberg has appeared on LOGO with her comedy special One Night Stand Up: Episode 4, filmed at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall.
The Portland Queer Comedy Festival is an annual five-day comedy festival that takes place in Portland, Oregon. Multiple venues are used throughout the festival's stretch, and upwards of 50 comedians perform. Comics such as Bruce Villanch, Irene Tu, Mary Jane French, Danielle Radford, Guy Branum, Jeffery Jay, Corina Lucas, Scott Thompson, and James Adomian have participated. Drag queens such as Valerie DeVille and Bolivia Carmicheals have hosted bingo games as part of the fest.
Jeffrey Jay is an American comedian, writer, and public speaker. In 2011, The Advocate placed him on their list 7 Funny LGBT Comics You Shouldn’t Have Missed. In 2013, he was a finalist for Funniest Comedian in Texas; the same year, The Advocate named him one of the 5 Hottest Transgender Comedians. In television, Jay has appeared on the CW's The Eye Opener. Jay has spoken and performer at universities around the country, including Ramapo College of New Jersey; the University of New Haven in Connecticut; Hilbert College in Hamburg, New York; Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania; Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan; Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan; Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, Eastern Illinois University, and the University of Delaware.
Irene Tu is an American comedian, actor, and writer. She has appeared at comedy festivals such as SF Sketchfest, the Portland Queer Comedy Festival, Bridgetown Comedy Festival, and Comedy Central's Clusterfest, and on shows such as Take My Wife and Funny How? In 2016, she was named one of KQED's Women to Watch and SFist listed her as one of the Bay Area's 11 Best Stand Up Comics. In 2017, the San Francisco Chronicle dubbed her as an "artist on the brink of fame". In 2019, Vulture by New York Magazine placed her on their list The Comedians You Should and Will Know in 2019, tracking "23 comics that industry insiders are watching closely". The same year, SFist listed her as one of 13 San Francisco Standup Comedians to Go See Now.
Dr. Kim Fountain is Chief Operating Officer of the Center on Halsted, the Midwest's largest LGBTQ+ community center, located in Chicago, Illinois. She was previously Executive Director of the Pride Center of Vermont and Associate Director of Education & Public Advocacy for the New York City Gay & Lesbian Anti-Violence Project. Fountain has served on the New York State Crime Victims Board and is a trainer for the Office of Victims of Crime and the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs' Reports Committee. She serves on the board of the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum.
Karinda Dobbins is an American comedian. She co-produces the monthly comedy show The Resistance! alongside Dhaya Lakshminarayanan, has regularly opened for W. Kamau Bell, and additionally opened for Trevor Noah, Gina Yashere, Michelle Wolf, and Dave Chappelle. She has performed at festivals such as the Desi Comedy Fest, the Portland Queer Comedy Festival, Bridgetown Comedy Festival, and Comedy Central's Colossal Clusterfest. In 2019, SFist named her one of their 13 San Francisco Standup Comedians to Go See Now.
Ashley Gavin is an American comedian, writer, and podcast host. She is known for her podcast, We're Having Gay Sex. She also has a podcast with Alayna Joy and Makaela Ingemi called "Chosen Family".
Flawless Shade is the stage name of Tajh Jordan, an American drag queen and make-up artist based in Portland, Oregon. A former Miss Gay Oregon, Flawless Shade has been featured in campaigns by Adidas, GLAAD, and Top Level Design. Jordan competed under their real name on the subscription-based streaming service WOW Presents Plus's competition series Painted with Raven.
Daniel P. Elliott, known professionally as Bolivia Carmichaels, is an American drag performer based in Portland, Oregon. Since 1995, she has performed at LGBT establishments such as CC Slaughters, Darcelle XV Showplace, and the defunct Embers Avenue, and has also participated in many community events.
