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Posted inQueer Issue 2026

Queer Social Dancing Uproots Gender Norms

Stomptown, Landline, and Queer Baile are upturning the outdated culture of social dancing.
Avatar photo by Katherine Chew Hamilton

What follows is one of the many articles in the Mercury‘s 2026 Queer Issue. Find a print copy here, subscribe to get a copy mailed to you here, and if you’re feeling generous and want to keep these types of articles coming, support us here.—eds. Partner dancing, at least traditionally, follows a strict gender binary: who leads and who […]

Posted inMusic

Snakes on the Dance Floor

Swedish producer Cobrah turned Wonder Ballroom into a gay rave.
Avatar photo by Andrew Jankowski

The Wonder Ballroom has long been a springboard for queer pop icons launching into the stratosphere, from Durand Bernarr’s concert last spring ahead of his Grammy win to the local stop nearly 20 years ago of Lady Gaga’s Fame Ball tour.  Swedish producer and beatsmith Cobrah slithered into Wonder’s pantheon on Wednesday, April 1 during […]

Posted inMusic

Healing Through Dance at Process PDX

The new-ish club and rave space in a SE Portland warehouse focuses on intentionality, harm reduction, and specialty sound.
Avatar photo by Kendall Porter

Stepping into Process, an underground rave club in the Watershed PDX building on SE Milwaukie Avenue, is a portal into a utopian vision of the future. The bar, tucked behind the ticket stand, faces cubic wooden benches and tables, custom-built for the space and its needs. Illuminated shapes cut out of the walls act as […]

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