Imagine a Pride without corporations—and without the swoosh. Meg Nanna Happy Pride, Portland! This week, the Mercury is running a series of opinion pieces and personal essays from LGBTQ+ Portlanders on the theme Pride 2021: Queer Beginnings. As we emerge out of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re all re-evaluating and re-imagining things, and that includes queer […]
Andrew Jankowski
Posted inTheater & Performance
Gen Z’s Voice Narrates Portland Playwright’s Award-Winning Drama
courtesy of conor eilfer “I’ve got a vested interest in the world staying horrible—don’t go trying to change it on me,” jokes Portlander Conor Eifler about his unpublished play, You Cannot Undo This Action, which premiered weeks before coronavirus lockdown began. You Cannot Undo This Action follows high school students entering the stressful, chaotic, pre-pandemic […]
Posted inNews
A Journalist in Jail: What I Experienced After Being Arrested by Portland Police
Freelance Reporter Andrew Jankowski Courtesy author If you’ve been to jail before, you might not be surprised by anything I have to say, other than this: I get it now. I get it so much more clearly than I did, and I’ll keep using this knowledge moving forward. Look, I’m not the first, second, third, […]
Posted inNews
Portland’s Oldest LGBTQ+ Nonprofit Responds to Allegations of Racism and Insensitive Language
Motortion / Getty images Allegations of bullying, racism, and insensitive language within Oregon’s longest-running LGBTQ+ nonprofit organization have prompted the Portland-based International Sovereign Rose Court (ISRC) to examine its own inclusivity efforts amid the ongoing national uprising against racism. Tajh Patterson, best known as the drag queen Flawless Shade, told the Mercury she felt discriminated […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
TBA 2019 Late Night: The Back to School Kiki Celebrates and Educates
Andrew Jankowski Class was back in session this weekend, at TBA’s Late Night Saturday Back to School Kiki Ball, where New York’s Precious Ebony and Portland’s Brandon Harrison summoned spectators and legendary children to watch and walk looks inspired by the theme of “Back to School.” If you’ve missed out on all the entertaining education […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
Miguel Gutierrez’s This Bridge Called My Ass Seeks to Destroy the Relationship Between Bodies and Objects
Andrew Jankowski Searching for a way to connect choreographer Miguel Gutierrez’s performance This Bridge Called My Ass to the book from whence it takes its name This Bridge Called My Back, I found myself returning to a poem in the collection by Donna Kate Rushin, “The Bridge Poem.” “I’ve had enough,” Rushin declares, “I’m sick […]
Posted inLGBTQIA+
An Overview of Portland’s LGBTQ+ Nightlife for the Newcomer
Portland hosts a wide range of LGBTQ+ events every night of the week, and the LGBTQ+ community is among America’s most vibrant and visible, where you can find everything from dance parties and comedy nights to drag bingo, drag brunch, and drag shows. No matter how you express, there’s somewhere cool and safe for you […]
Posted inLGBTQIA+
Profiles in Queer Excellence and Resilience
Our communities have gone through a lot this past year. As part of our annual Queer issue, the Mercury is highlighting six LGBTQ+ Portlanders making an impact on the city right now. Their collective stories tie together decades of experiences and span the LGBTQ+ spectrum. These people are leaders in sciences, the arts, and nonprofits, […]
Posted inNews
Farewell, Fat Cobra Adult Video
Google Maps Initially mourned as a beloved sleazy legend on social media, Fat Cobra Adult Video’s March 8 closure signaled the first of many changes for Portland’s LGBTQ+ community. Fat Cobra, located at 5940 N Interstate, drew attention for its adult arcade (the Mercury reported in 2005 that it had Portland’s fattest glory holes) its […]
Posted inQueer
The Best in LGBTQ+ Nightlife, Bars, Parties, Comedy, and More
Portland hosts a wide range of LGBTQ+ events every night of the week. Portland’s LGBTQ+ community is among America’s most vibrant and visible, where you can find everything from dance parties and comedy nights to drag bingo, drag brunch, and drag shows. No matter how you express, there’s somewhere cool and safe for you to […]
Posted inNews
OHSU Refutes Trump Administration’s Proposal to Redefine Gender
GETTY / STURTI Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) joins an ever-growing chorus of global voices denouncing the Trump administration’s efforts to legally erase transgender and non-binary people by defining them out of existence. In October, the New York Times reported on a leaked 2017 US Department of Health and Human Services memo urging government […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Glitch Artist ariella tai Screens Their 2018 Film Retrospective At Portland’s Boathouse Microcinema
courtesy of the ariella tai Are you into Glitch art? Glitch—the repurposement of digital or analog errors (think image pixelation or VHS degradation) to create artworks—has been around for quite some time, but as our everyday lives become more and more fused with technology, Glitch’s resonance grows. Glitch art is arguably bigger now than ever […]