| Blow Pony | |
|---|---|
 An event getting started in October 2016 | |
| Location(s) | Portland, Oregon; Denver |
| Country | United States |
| Attendance | 800–2,000 |
| Organized by | Airick Redwolf |
| Website | blowpony |
"Blow Pony" is a popular queer event based in Portland, Oregon.
"Blow Pony Denver" was held in 2015. [1]
"Blow Pony" is a queer event organized by nightlife promoter Airick Redwolf, who saw LGBT establishments targeting either men or women and wanted to create an event series inclusive to the entire community. [2] Redwolf said of the event's origin and purpose:
Blow Pony was created as a place for people of all walks of life to gather in a respectful place, and to feel safer to express themselves, but also to showcase queer talent and queer artists. It's also a social, a dance, a good time. I moved to Portland from London, and the queer spots there are pretty much what you get with Blow Pony: low tolerance of bullshit and assholism, and a high tolerance of people expressing themselves and being themselves, respectfully. I enjoyed that. People were having fun and enjoying themselves and doing drugs and getting drunk, or not doing drugs or getting drunk—being sexual, enjoying music, whatever they felt that element was to bring them out of their box. [3]
The recurring LGBTQ-based event is among Portland's most popular, drawing 800 people regularly, and sometimes as many as 2,000 people. [3]
"Blow Pony" was established c. 2007 and originally held at the "old" Eagle gay bar on West Burnside Street. [3] [4] The event series was popular from the start, but had to relocate to the gay bar Casey's when the Eagle closed. Casey's hosted "Blow Pony" for less than a year due to conflicts with neighboring tenants and attacks on patrons. [3] Bruce LaBruce was a guest disc jockey in 2008. [5] From 2009 to 2016, the event was hosted at Euphoria Nightclub, a venue on Southeast 3rd Avenue with two levels: Rotture and Branx. [3] The event hosted its eighth anniversary celebration in March 2015. [6]
In June 2016, Euphoria changed ownership, and the new owner and his promotion company opted to target a single demographic and play only electronic dance music. The venue stopped hosting "Blow Pony" and its counterpart event "Bearracuda" immediately, despite event organizers having contractual agreements through November. "Blow Pony" started being held at Bossanova Ballroom, which also hosts the lesbian dance party "Inferno", on July 16, 2016. [3] [7]
The event, along with "Bearracuda" which is billed as "the largest bear party in the world", have been called mainstays of Portland's queer community. [3]
A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) clientele; the term gay is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT communities.
The Burnside Triangle, also known as Pink Triangle or Vaseline Alley, was a triangular district in Portland, Oregon, United States, known for its relatively higher density of LGBT and gay-friendly businesses.
CC Slaughters is a gay bar and nightclub located in Portland, Oregon, and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The Portland bar is located in the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood, and the Puerto Vallarta bar is located in Zona Romántica.
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.
The Embers Avenue, also known as Embers, was a gay bar and nightclub located in the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, in the United States. Embers hosted a variety of events, including comedy and drag shows, karaoke, and live music. The club opened in 1969, and closed in late 2017. The Oregonian reported in late November 2017 that the building owner has intentions to fill the space with a similar venue. It was speculated in January 2018 that Badlands was expected to open that year.
LGBT culture in Portland, Oregon is an important part of Pacific Northwest culture.
Silverado, formerly known as Flossie's, is a gay bar and strip club in Portland, Oregon's Old Town Chinatown neighborhood, in the United States.
The LGBT community in Tokyo is one of the largest in Asia. While Japan does not assign as much moral or social weight to sexuality as in the West, it is still difficult for Japanese people to come out in society as being LGBT; the community reportedly experiences homophobia even amongst those in the community. Only 5% of Japanese people report they know somebody who is LGBT.
Red Cap Garage, sometimes abridged as Red Cap, was a gay bar and nightclub that operated in Portland, Oregon from 1987 to 2012. The bar was connected to two others called Boxxes and the Brig. It hosted drag queen shows, live music, special events, and viewing parties. In 2012, the bar was sold and closed after operating for 25 years, and the building which housed Red Cap was gutted to make way for the retail alley known as Union Way.
Starky's Restaurant and Bar, or simply Starky's, was a gay bar and restaurant in Portland, Oregon's Kerns neighborhood, in the United States. Established in 1984, the venue became a fixture in Portland's gay community before closing in 2015. It hosted LGBT events and served as a gathering space for leather enthusiasts and the Oregon Bears, among other groups. Starky's received a generally positive reception and was most known for its Bloody Marys, brunch, and outdoor seating.
Bossanova Ballroom is an event space and former theater located at 722 East Burnside Street in Portland, Oregon's Buckman neighborhood, in the United States. It features a dance floor, two stages and bars, and a game room. The venue has hosted comedy shows, and the queer event Blow Pony.
LGBT culture in Leeds, England, involves an active community of people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender/transsexual. A BBC News Online article published in 2012 stated that, while Leeds City Council has not published statistics relating to the number of LGBT residents, the figure can be estimated at 10% of the overall population, which currently suggests a total of at least 77,000. The tenth year of the Leeds Pride march and celebration, held in 2016, was attended by over 40,000 people.
This is a timeline of notable events in the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans community in Manchester.
Bearracuda is a series of dance parties catering to the bear community. According to The Advocate, Bearracuda "is the largest attended bear dance party and most prolific gay dance event in the U.S.", with events in 40 cities globally. The series began in San Francisco in August 2006.
Belinda Carroll is an American standup comedian, writer, activist, actress, and singer. She is the founder of the Portland Queer Comedy Festival, organizer of the Portland Dyke March, and is a co-organizer as well as date auction host and fundraiser emcee of the Butch Voices Portland Regional Conference.
Local Lounge was a gay bar in Portland, Oregon, operating from 2010 to 2021.
Santé Bar is an LGBT-friendly bar in Portland, Oregon.
There is an active LGBT community in Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
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.
The Queen's Head was an LGBT-friendly pub and lounge in Portland, Oregon. This establishment closed in 2022.
