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LGBTQ culture in Portland, Oregon is an important part of Pacific Northwest culture.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(April 2016) |
LGBTQ culture in Portland, Oregon is an important part of Pacific Northwest culture.
Portland's annual pride parade is primarily organized by Pride Northwest. Peacock in the Park is another annual event, running from 1987 to 2005, and, again, from 2014 to the present. The La Femme Magnifique International Pageant is an annual drag pageant. Oaks Park Roller Skating Rink has hosted Gay Skate monthly for 30 years, as of 2021. [4]
Queer Horror is an ongoing bi-monthly film festival that is shown at the Hollywood Theatre. [5] The Portland Queer Film Festival, formerly known as the Portland Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, has been running for more than twenty years and takes place at Cinema 21. [6] The Portland Queer Documentary Film Festival screens LGBTQ documentaries. [7]
In 2011, Hands Across Hawthorne was organized in response to an attack on two men who were holding hands on the Hawthorne Bridge, with over 4,000 attendees. [8] The record-setting Drag-a-thon was held in 2023.
Currently operating LGBTQ drinking establishments and nightclubs include: Badlands Portland (2024), CC Slaughters, Crush Bar, Eagle Portland, Santé Bar, Scandals (1979), Silverado, and Stag PDX (2015). [9] Silverado and Stag are also strip clubs, along with Fuzzy Navels. [10] [11] Back 2 Earth opened in 2023. [12] [13]
Coffin Club (formerly Lovecraft Bar) has also been described as an LGBT-friendly bar. The Sports Bra, established in 2022, is an LGBTQ-owned bar focused on women's sports. Rebel Rebel is in Old Town Chinatown. [14] 2022 also saw the opening of the lesbian bar Doc Marie's. [15] Misfits Bar and Lounge has been described as a "laidback queer hangout". [10] Gay bathhouses operating in Portland include Hawks PDX (2012–present) and Steam Portland (since 2003).
The drag venue Darcelle XV Showplace was established by Darcelle XV in 1967 and continues to host shows regularly. Other notable drag performers from Portland include Alexis Campbell Starr, Bolivia Carmichaels, Carla Rossi, Coco Jem Holiday, Flawless Shade, James Majesty, Lulu Luscious, Mars, Nicole Onoscopi, Pepper Pepper, and Poison Waters. Monthly Blow Pony dances were established in Portland by Airick Redwolf in 2007. Inferno monthly dance parties hosted by Hot Flash Productions owner/operators DJ Wildfire (Jenn Davis) and Armida Hanlon that first began in Portland in 2004 and are now held regularly in Portland and Seattle. [16] [17] Portland also hosts Bearracuda dance events regularly.
The queer-owned vegan restaurant Mis Tacones was established as a pop-up restaurant in 2016 and relocated to a brick and mortar space in 2022. The queer-owned and operated Taqueria Los Puñales opened in 2020.
Defunct establishments include Egyptian Club (1995–2010), Gail's Dirty Duck Tavern, [18] Red Cap Garage (1987–2012), Starky's, and Three Sisters Tavern (1964–2004), which also operated as a strip club. The gay bathhouse Club Portland closed in 2007. Embers Avenue, established during the 1970s, [19] and Escape Nightclub both closed in 2017. [20] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hobo's and Local Lounge closed in 2020 and 2021, respectively. In late 2021, Daniel Bund opened The Queen's Head, an English-style pub and lounge hosting drag shows and burlesque performances frequently. [21] The bar closed in 2022. Sissy Bar operated from 2022 to 2024. [22] [23]
The Roxy was an LGBT-friendly diner along Southwest Harvey Milk Street. The restaurant opened in 1994 and closed in March 2022. Sullivan's Gulch Bar & Grill (formerly known as Joq's Tavern, [24] [25] or simply Joq's) has also been described as an LGBT establishment. Shine Distillery and Grill, which closed in 2023, was described as a gay bar.
The City Nightclub, an all ages drug and alcohol free gay and lesbian nightclub, was established in 1983 by Lanny Swerdlow. According to author Linnea Due, it was the only all ages gay and lesbian club in the United States. An attempt by the Portland Police Bureau in 1996 to shut down the club sparked a demonstration which was covered on MTV News: Unfiltered. Ultimately, the club shut down in December of 1996.
 Logo | |
 The nightclub's exterior in 2020 | |
| Address | 125 Northwest 5th Avenue |
|---|---|
| Location | Portland, Oregon, United States |
| Opened | February 14, 2019 |
Located at Northwest 5th Avenue and Davis Street in Old Town Chinatown, Barbarella (sometimes Barbarella PDX) was a nightclub in a building which previously housed a "grimy" music venue called Someday Lounge, followed by the Las Vegas-inspired Fifth Avenue Lounge. The bar was part of an Austin, Texas-based chain of nightclubs. Andrew Jankowski of Willamette Week described Barbarella as "a dance club with dirt-cheap drinks, themed parties running from the '50s through the '80s and an overall vibe best described as 'a straight person's idea of a gay bar'". [26] He compared the bar to neighboring amusement arcade Ground Kontrol, but without the video games, and said, "Barbarella's aesthetic is as delightfully kitschy and low-budget as a bar named after a campy sci-fi cult classic should be." [26] Jankowski wrote:
On paper, Barbarella should be a sensation, particularly with central eastsiders who rarely deign to cross the river into the Old Town entertainment district. Sure, the lack of specialty drinks feels like a missed opportunity, and even the bartender recommended against ordering food. But with no cover charge and wells at or below $2 each, you'd imagine the place would be packed with people headed to or from the arcade bar, the gay strip club or the scores of other party spots in the neighborhood. [26]
Daily Xtra described Barbarella as a "video/dance dive bar" with dance parties, disc jockeys, and queer events in its 2019 overview of "gay Portland". [27] The venue had two dance floors and a loft. The interior featured lava lamps, pinball machines, and mid-century modern furniture. There was a painting of a topless woman on one wall, as well as two "tributes" to Jane Fonda, who starred in the 1968 science fiction film Barbarella . According to Jankowski, "The only 21st-century features are the video projections and gently rippling rainbow LED lights behind the pre-existing sheet-metal grates." [26]
Barbarella opened on February 14 (Valentine's Day), 2019, [26] and closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The venue had hosted Mac DeMarco. [28] [29]
LGBT rights organization Basic Rights Oregon is based in Portland. Local LGBT-oriented organizations include Cascade AIDS Project, Q Center, and Bradley Angle which offers LGBTQ domestic violence services. Others include:
LGBT publications have included Cascade Voice, Just Out , PQ Monthly , and The Eagle. [34]
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.
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.
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.
Hawks PDX is a gay bathhouse located in Portland, Oregon's Hazelwood neighborhood, in the United States. Previously, the business operated in southeast Portland's Buckman neighborhood.
Eagle Portland is a gay bar catering to bears and leather enthusiasts, located in north Portland, Oregon, United States.
Scandals, or sometimes Scandals PDX, is a gay bar in Portland, Oregon, in the United States.
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.
The Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest (GLAPN) is an Oregon-based nonprofit dedicated to uncovering the history of sexual minorities in the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1994, GLAPN works to collect, document, preserve and share historical data, artifacts and materials as and when they become available.
Crush Bar is a gay bar and restaurant in Portland, Oregon's Buckman neighborhood, in the United States. Established in 2001, the bar was scheduled to permanently close at the end of 2023, until an employee's investment kept Crush open into 2024.
The Roxy was a diner serving American cuisine in Portland, Oregon. Located on downtown Portland's Southwest Harvey Milk Street, the restaurant was established in 1994. The Roxy was popular as a late-night food destination and had a diverse clientele. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the diner operated 24 hours a day, except on Mondays. The Roxy has been described as "iconic" and a "landmark", and was known for being an LGBTQ-friendly establishment because of its employees' community involvement and its location within the historic hub of LGBT culture and nightlife. Following a forced six-month closure due to the pandemic, the diner opened under new public health and safety guidelines in November 2020. The diner closed in March 2022.
Local Lounge was a gay bar in Portland, Oregon, operating from 2010 to 2021.
Vault Cocktail Lounge, previously Vault Martini Bar, was a cocktail bar in Portland, Oregon's Pearl District, in the United States.
Kevin Cook, known by the stage name Poison Waters, is an American drag performer. Since the 1980s, Poison Waters has been an emcee, entertainer, and community activist. She is a longtime hostess at Darcelle XV Showplace and has participated in fundraisers, LGBTQ events, public service announcements, and other community activities throughout the Pacific Northwest. Cook has also taught at Portland Community College.
Santé Bar is an LGBTQ-friendly bar in Portland, Oregon.
Flawless Shade is the stage name of Tajh Jordan, an American drag performer 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.
Daniel P. Elliott, known professionally as Bolivia Carmichaels, is an American drag performer based in Portland, Oregon. Since 1995, she has performed at LGBTQ establishments such as CC Slaughters, Darcelle XV Showplace, and the defunct Embers Avenue, and has also participated in many community events.
The Queen's Head was an LGBTQ-friendly pub and lounge in Portland, Oregon, United States. Daniel Bund opened the restaurant in late 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Described as an inclusive drag bar and gay club, The Queen's Head hosted burlesque and talent shows, karaoke, poetry slams, trivia competitions, and other events.
Sissy Bar is a gay bar in Portland, Oregon, United States. Truman Cox and Derek Palmer opened the video lounge in southeast Portland's Buckman neighborhood in 2022, near another LGBTQ establishment Crush Bar. Sissy Bar hosts drag shows, dance parties, and other themed events, and plays video montages from films and music videos by popular recording artists. The bar serves Colombian cuisine such as ajiaco, arepas, and empanadas. In October 2024, owners announced plans to close permanently.
LGBTQ-, or queer-owned businesses are businesses owned and often operated by members of the LGBTQIA+ community. They may also be described as being owned by specific subgroups, such as gay-, lesbian-, or trans-owned businesses.
Back 2 Earth is an LGBTQ-friendly bar in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. Owner Dan Henderson opened the bar in northeast Portland's King neighborhood in June 2023, in the space that previously housed Local Lounge. Back 2 Earth hosts a variety of activities and events such as dance parties, drag shows, karaoke, and open mics, and has a collection of board games and tabletop role-playing games.
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