[Editor’s Note: The following comic by Sarah Mirk features interviews from Queer Portlanders as they reflect on the parallels—and major differences—between COVID-19 and the early years of the HIV epidemic.]
Queer 2020
Posted inLGBTQIA+
The Portlanders Behind the Black Resilience Fund Are Young, Black, Queer—and Hopeful
This article is part of the Mercury’s 2020 all-digital Queer Week coverage. Salome Chimuku and Cameron Whitten Courtesy photos When queer Black Portlander Cameron Whitten first saw that the police killing of George Floyd was making national front-page news in late May and early June, he didn’t expect meaningful, lasting change to come from it. […]
Posted inMusic
Rocker Neil Gust on the Reunion of No. 2, Being Gay in Portland, and Working with Elliott Smith
This article is part of the Mercury’s 2020 all-digital Queer Week coverage. No. 2 photo by Sam Higginson Neil Gust doesn’t live in Portland anymore, and he hasn’t since a relationship drew him out to the East Coast in 2005. But for music fans, the 51-year-old artist is still very much a local, thanks to […]
Posted inLGBTQIA+
Personal Essay: I’m Proud of You
This article is part of the Mercury’s 2020 all-digital Queer Week coverage. Dahlia Belle Image courtesy of author. Traditionally, any decent article written about PRIDE (capitalized for a maximum of fabulous ferocity) must begin with the words “In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood […]
Posted inBooks
Reading List: Queer and Trans Black Authors Through the Decades
This article is part of the Mercury’s 2020 all-digital Queer Week coverage. Author Audre Lorde Spellman College archives In Notes of a Native Son, James Baldwin writes, “I am what time, circumstance, history, have made of me, certainly, but I am, also, much more than that.” These words could be used to describe any LGBTQ+ […]
Posted inLGBTQIA+
“Our Visibility Can’t Be Quarantined”: A Q&A with Portland City Council Candidate Dan Ryan
This article is part of the Mercury’s 2020 all-digital Queer Week coverage. Dan Ryan dan Ryan campaign Portland City Council candidate Dan Ryan is the former CEO of All Hands Raised (a nonprofit dedicated to improving racial inequity in Multnomah County education) and is currently in a runoff with Loretta Smith for the council seat […]
Posted inLGBTQIA+
This Pride Month, Remember That Self-Care Is Work
This article is part of the Mercury’s 2020 all-digital Queer Week coverage. Olha Khorimarko / Getty images Portland, you’ve been doing a lot lately. You’ve been protesting. You’ve been donating. You’ve been researching. You’ve been having uncomfortable conversations about racism and white supremacy. You’ve been fighting the coronavirus. You’ve been social distancing. You’ve been overwhelmed […]
Posted inMovies & TV
This Pride Month, Watch the Films of Gus Van Sant
This article is part of the Mercury’s 2020 all-digital Queer Week coverage. My Own Private Idaho criterion Gus Van Sant remains Portland’s best known cinematic son. While he doesn’t live in our fair city anymore, it was during his time here that he made some of his most celebrated work (Good Will Hunting, My Own […]
Posted inLGBTQIA+
Q&A: Portland Protest Organizer Lilith Sinclair on Activism and Pride
This article is part of the Mercury’s 2020 all-digital Queer Week coverage. Lilith Sinclair (center). Alex Zielinski If you’ve participated in any of the Portland protests against police brutality in the last two weeks, there’s a decent chance you’ve heard Lilith Sinclair’s voice through a megaphone. Sinclair, a Black and indigenous nonbinary person, is a […]
Posted inLGBTQIA+
Introducing the Mercury’s Queer Week 2020!
Read all of our Queer Week 2020 content here. Bobby Roberts & Progress To Our Beloved (And Very Queer) Mercury Readers, Ever since the Mercury launched as an alternative weekly 20 years ago, we’ve put out an annual Pride-themed issue. But this year, our Pride coverage is going to look a little different. There are […]
Posted inLGBTQIA+
The Best Things to Do in Portland – PRIDE 2020 Edition
The OUTwright Festival Fuse Theatre’s annual series of performances and workshops highlighting the power of art to help comment on and change our surroundings goes online for 2020, with a specific focus on trans and gender non-conforming communities. Visit Fuse’s Facebook page from Wed-Sun, June 24-28, every night at 7 pm to watch readings, discussions, […]
Posted inLGBTQIA+
Where to Stream Portland’s Drag Performers for Pride 2020
The Mercury’s all-digital Queer Week 2020 officially kicks off this coming Monday, June 15—but we’re giving you a little sneak peek today with this roundup of local drag livestreams, some of which you can enjoy this weekend! Flawless Shade Courtesy of Flawless Shade. Portland’s 2020 Pride weekend is shaking its rainbow flag at the crossroads […]