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 […]
Andrew Jankowski
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 […]
Posted inArts
Portland, Please Welcome Your New Tattooed Sword-Swallowing Sweetheart: Titano Oddfellow
Tattooed circus artist Titano Oddfellow swallows swords, breaks flashlights with his teeth, and treads gently in the world.
Posted inBooks
Polyamorous Sci-Fi Graphic Novel Open Earth Feels Lost in Space
LIMERENCE PRESS “Honesty keeps us alive” is a recurring phrase in Open Earth, the debut graphic novel penned by comics writer, author, and (full disclosure!) former Portland Mercury reporter Sarah Mirk. The motto refers not only to the practice of sharing the small quarters of an Earth-orbiting space station, but to its citizens—especially a polyamorous […]
Posted inArts
Polyamorous Sci-Fi Graphic Novel Open Earth Feels Lost in Space
Sarah Mirk’s debut graphic novel feels overwhelmed by its own potential at times but offers excellent Polyamory 101 reading.
Posted inNews
PSU Students, Activists Reignite Call to Disarm Campus Police
Andrew Jankowski There’s a new occupation in town. As of Monday afternoon, around two dozen Portland State University (PSU) students and activists are occupying the steps outside PSU’s Campus Public Safety Office (CPSO), demanding PSU disarms its campus police and fire the campus officers who fatally shot a man outside a campus bar over the […]
Posted inTBA
TBA: Demian DinéYazhi’ Wrote “An Infected Sunset” For Indigenous Persons and People of Color
Courtesy of the artist / PICA On the anniversary of the World Trade Center tragedy, transdisciplinary artist Demian DinéYazhi’ read an ekphrastic, long-form poem about one of America’s deepest traumas: indigenous genocide. DinéYazhi’ explained that the poem, “An Infected Sunset,” was published by, designed by, written by, and performed for people of color—contrasting with other […]
Posted inTBA
TBA: Next LVL Is a Site for Experimental Music and Radical Change
Serpentwithfeet Photo by Chris Freeman, Courtesy of Portland Institute for Contemporary Art It was a dance party. It was a concert. It was a place to support activism and non-profit work. Next LVL’s late night social justice social Four Ethers was all that and also yet another attempt by the TBA Festival at drafting and […]
Posted inTBA
TBA: We Went to All Three Some Styles of Masculinity and Here Are Our Notes
Photo by Chloe Foussianes, Courtesy of PICA On the first night of Rosh Hashanah and the two days preceding it, artist, activist, and writer Gregg Bordowitz delivered three personal, sermonical lectures at Reed College’s Eliot Hall Chapel. The series—titled Some Styles of Masculinity—spread masculinity (specifically Bordowitz’s) into three categories: Rock Star, Rabbi and Comedian. It […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
TBA: The Beautiful Street Presents Their Primer in Underrepresented Dance and Welcomes Everyone to the Floor
Photo by Chris Freeman, Courtesy of Portland Institute for Contemporary Art Dance is having a high art moment right now. From Beyoncé channeling Pearl Primus and Loie Fuller in The Carters’ “APES**T” music video to the complexity of Sherrie Silver’s masterful choreography for “This is America, to Pose‘s groundbreaking visual storytelling bringing underground ballroom culture […]