News from Oregon Queer History Collective:
New news is at the top of the page.
We keep the older news (farther down) to remind ourselves what we have been up to recently!
OQHC's First Thursday meetings …
As we recover from the all-remote meeting format that got us through COVID, we're experimenting with a combination of in-person and remote meeting formats.
Email us at this link to get on our list for updates and meeting invitations.
Cecil Prescod wins Gladys McCoy Lifetime Achievement Award
November 1, 2022 was a landmark day when one of GLAPN’s Queer Heroes received an award named after another of GLAPN’s Queer Heroes.
That was the date that the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners awarded the Rev. Cecil Charles Prescod the Gladys McCoy Lifetime Achievement award for his “outstanding volunteer service dedicated to improving the community." It was the first of five community awards dedicated to people whose efforts with the County or in the community make the County a better place.
Cecil’s influence in the community goes back more than 30 years, and one of his lasting contributions was the formation of People of Faith Against Bigotry (PFAB) in 1992, to oppose the first of the anti-gay Oregon Citizens Alliance ballot measures. He is currently the minister of faith formation at Ainsworth United Church of Christ in Portland, where a friend calls him: “a leader in liberation theology.”
We put the entire text of the announcement from Multnomah County on Cecil’s Queer Hero profile at this link.
The award was named after the late Gladys McCoy for a reason, and that’s explained on her Queer Hero profile at this link.
Cecil continues to volunteer time on GLAPN projects, where he is currently involved in programming around the 30thth anniversary of the Oregon Citizens Alliance Ballot Measure 9, particularly in the effect and response in Oregon’s Black community.
View a video of Cecil's portion of the program at this link.
Read more about Cecil Prescod at this link.
Read more about Gladys McCoy at this link.
GLAPN helps out with the Pride Bus, June 2021
In early spring of 2021, GLAPN got an unusual request: did we have images of prominent LGBTQ local individuals to put on a TriMet bus to help celebrate Pride?
"The themed-bus," TriMet staff told us, "the third in our series celebrating diversity, will be serving routes throughout the tri-county area for about nine months."
A quick look at GLAPN's photo archives suggested we might be able to help. We handed over photo files and TriMet's graphics folks worked their magic. The project was a relative secret until the bus made its debut in the virtual 2021 Pride parade, and shortly afterwards, we were invited to a photoshoot before the bus went to workin the city. Most of the living honorees were able to attend.
Pictures on the Pride bus include:
- Dr. Marie Equi – Political activist and lesbian who adopted a child with her partner at the turn of the 20th century in an early example of a same-sex couple and alternative family in the U.S.
- Darcelle – Owner of the Darcelle XV drag venue, the first LGBTQ+ establishment in Oregon history to be nominated to be part of the National Registry of Historic Places
- Virginia Linder – First woman elected to the Oregon Supreme Court and one of the first LGBTQ+ Supreme Court Justices in the U.S.
- George Nicola – Historian of the LGTBQ+ movement in Oregon and co-author of the state’s first gay civil rights bill
- Donna Red Wing – Long-time lesbian activist who fought to defeat of Oregon Measure 9, which would banned have LGBTQ+ civil rights and protections across the state
- Kathleen Saadat – Advocate for Oregon’s LGBTQ+ community who helped organize Portland’s first gay rights march and spearheaded a city ordinance to help fight discrimination against gays and lesbians
- Gail Shibley – First open lesbian to serve in the Oregon Legislature who fought to improve social justice and advocated for the expansion of the MAX light rail system
- Danny Rosen – Genderqueer activist and advocate who is considered a trail blazer for the region’s LGBTQ+ community
- Jeana Frazzini – Former Executive Director of Basic Rights Oregon
Portland Monthly Magazine Light A Fire Awards:
Margaret Ann Jones is Extraordinary Volunteer
Long-time GLAPN member Margaret-Ann Jones was honored in October 2020 as Extraordinary Volunteer in the city-wide Light A Fire Awards sponsored by Portland Monthly Magazine.
The daughter of a Pentecostal minister in Oxnard, CA, Margaret-Ann grew up serving the community – helping out whenever and wherever she could. A life dedicated to helping people culminated with a Master's degree in social work from Portland State University. Retirement didn't slow her down, and she has been active with LOCA (Lesbians of a Certain Age), has been a mainstay at GLAPN, was a founder of Women of All Colors, and has been involved in numerous other community organizations. (See the Light A Fire video for a summary.)
The COVID-19 situation forced some adaptations to the traditional Light A Fire Gala, and Margaret-Ann received her award on October 2 in a small outdoor ceremony among socially-distanced friends. See the video of the award here.
Portland Monthly collected nominations from readers and the community at large, with our panel of judges—foundation, corporate giving, and nonprofit leaders—scoring shortlisted entries and selecting the winners. Winners were celebrated at an award ceremony on October 14, which this year took place virtually—hosted, as always, by the inimitable Poison Waters.
Watch the 2020 Light A Fire Awards ceremony at this link.
February 20, 2020 – First annual presentation by recipients of the George T. Nicola LGBTQ History Fellowship
Please join us on February 20 at Capital One Café, 625 SW Broadway, at 6:30PM at a reception where recipients of the George T. Nicola Fellowship will present their work. Expect brief presentations about the research, followed by feedback and reflection from elders in Portland's LGBTQ community. There will be refreshments!
For a look at the original research, visit this link.
Visit GLAPN at the IRSC Gallery at Q Center on October 26!
We're celebrating back-to-back 50th Anniversaries: the Stonewall Riots in June 1969 are usually how we date the beginnings of LGBTQ organizing nationally, and Portland's own Gay Liberation Front began meeeting in March of 1970. A display of materials from our archives will be on display in the gallery through the month of October, and on October 26 from 5:00PM-8:00PM, we'll hold a reception with light refreshments and a brief program to talk about GLAPN's work and share some reminiscences about 50 years of activism.
Q Center is at 4115 N. Mississippi Ave., Portland. The reception will run from 5:00-8:00PM on Saturday, October 26.
Please join us if you can.
We skipped our the June, 2019 meeting to attend this reception!
Follow this link to see pictures of the Staying Out reception!
Instead of our regular fourth-Thursday meeting in June, GLAPN members attended the opening of the AIGA Stonewall 50 Years Celebration, at PLACE!, 735 NW 18th Ave. in Portland, from 7:00-9:00PM.
Follow this link to see pictures of the Staying Out reception!
AIGA is the professional association for design. In observance of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, the Portland chapter has undertaken amultimedia project featuring a number of Portland LGBTQ elders. Several GLAPN members have been involved in the process, and we skipped our regularly-scheduled meeting to see the unveiling of this project.
We may be holding small gatherings to conduct business during June and early July, and we'll be back at Q Center for our fourth-Thursday meeting on July 25, 2019.
GLAPN tables at history-making middle-school event
A chance conversation at our Pride booth last summer prompted an invitation for GLAPN to host an informational table at this December 4, 2018 event at Evergreen Middle School, in Hillsboro, Oregon.
It wasn't clear from the invitation, but this after-school Pride Resource Event was the first-ever LGBTQ event to be held at a middle school in the Hillsboro School District. About a dozen groups from the LGBTQ community participated, and students and staff district-wide attended and participated. The program included a panel discussion involving students and faculty, and breakout sessions to address specific topics.
Members of Evergreen Middle School's Gay-Straight Alliance were on hand to help with setup and load-out, and act as hosts of the event, which means they stayed after school to be part of this program. Evergreen teacher and GSA advisor Beth Russell was the driving force behind the event.
GLAPN members Traci Leigh Taylor and Robin Will hosted the table at Evergreen's Pride Resource Event. Neither of these individuals, both in their early 70s, ever thought they would be sharing LGBTQ information at an official function in a middle school, and they were happy to be part of this historic event.
Beth Russell indicated chances are good that this will become an annual event, and GLAPN indicated we'd like to be invited back next year.
George Nicola wins Portland Monthly Magazine's
"Light A Fire" Award
On October 17, George T. Nicola was honored as Portland's Exceptional Volunteer for 2018 by Portland Monthly magazine.
George began his activism with the beginnings of gay organizing in Portland in 1970, and wrote the first gay rights bill ever introduced to the Oregon Legislature (in 1973).
In retirement, he started documenting the movement he had been part of, and he constantly promotes LGBTQ individuals and organizations for mainstream community recognition and awards.
To see the other honorees, visit this link.
The recognition ceremony will be November 2 at Portland Art Museum. Information and tickets are available at this link.
History fellowship offered to honor GLAPN's George T. Nicola
GLAPN’s George T. Nicola was honored at the 2019 Pride Kickoff Party on June 12 with a History Fellowship to be offered in his name.
The George T. Nicola LGBTQ History Fellowship seeks to uplift LGBTQ students, foster public access to LGBTQ archives and illuminate the vibrant LGBTQ history of the state of Oregon.
The fellowship will offer a stipend for a graduate or undergraduate student in Oregon to produce original historical research on LGBTQ history pertaining to culture, legislative policy or activism, during the 2018-2019 academic year, and will provide funds for a public event to amplify the work when it is completed.
An Ohio native, George came to Portland in the late 1960s, and came out when the Gay Liberation front began organizing in 1970. He wrote writing of the first gay rights related state major party platform plank with the Oregon Democratic Party in 1972; and he wrote and lobbied for the Oregon’s first sexual orientation civil rights bill in Oregon, HB 2930, in 1973. In retirement, starting in 2010, George began documenting the history of the Oregon LGBTQ movement, publishing most of his articles on GLAPN.org. He also began nominating LGBTQ individuals for public awards, adding to the visibility of our community.
George was one of GLAPN’s Queer Heroes in 2013, and this link will open his Queer Hero profile.
Estill Deitz' memorial set for April 7
Estill Deitz's memorial service will be at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 7th, 2018, at Calaroga Terrace, 1400 NE 2nd Avenue, Portland.
One of our earliest and strongest straight allies, Dr. Deitz was the first physician in Oregon to diagnose and treat AIDS patients (at a time when many doctors considered them untouchable), and he and his late wife, Gladys, were powerhouses in the early days of PFLAG Portland's organization. Dr. Deitz was one of GLAPN's Queer Heroes in 2016.
http://glapn.org/654EstillDeitz.html
Celebrating Portland's Black LGBTQ History:
a display in the gallery at Q Center
Members of Portland's African-American community have been involved in the struggle for LGBTQ rights since the earliest days of Gay Liberation Front organizing in the 1970s.
During the Oregon Citizens Alliance ballot measures of the 1990s-2000s, some of the LGBTQ community's most prominent leaders were African-American, and through the present time several of our boasts for "first" and "best" involve members of the Black community.
GLAPN has filled the Q Center gallery with materials from our archives, documenting the the Black LGBTQ presence in Portland.
Please join us Thursday, February 22 at Q Center from 6:00-8:00PM, for a reception honoring the LGBTQ side of Black History Month.
Dick Burdon's memorial service will be on his birthday,
February 18th, at Metropolitan Community Church
The memorial service for Dick Burdon is scheduled for his birthday, Sunday Feb. 18th, 2:30 p.m.at Metropolitan Community Church, 2400 NE Broadway, Portland, OR 97232. He died on December 19, 2017.
Dick was a retired Methodist minister, and an avid square dancer. A long-time member of GLAPN, he attended our meetings as long as he was able, and he contributed an article to GLAPN.org about Portland's gay square dance group, the Rosetown Ramblers, which may be viewed at this link.
A quiet revolutionary, Dick opened his SW Portland United Methodist Church for discussion of LGBTQ issues when that was a radical thing to do, and he began scrapbooking stories about LGBTQ people in local media and church publications long before anyone else in the area began thinking about preserving LGBTQ history.
Get the stories of LGBTQ military veterans:
Free screening of Breaking the Silence at PCC-Southeast on February 7, 2018
History has tended to ignore LGBTQ individuals who served honorably, sometimes in secret and usually facing crushing discrimination, in the military services of the USA.
Oregon's Department of Veterans' Affairs is ahead of the national curve in outreach to LGBTQ veterans, establishing equity in veterans' services … and telling the stories of the LGBTQ people who have served out country.
Please attend this screening if you possibly can.
Alternately, please share this notice as far and wide as possible so all of your friends and acquaintances can take note– and possibly take heart – that this sort of work is going on in Oregon.
GLAPN supports Portland's Harvey Milk Street Project
As historians of the regional LGBTQ scene, it's impossible to say how often people tell us, "I didn't even know there was such as thing as gay history!"
Which is precisely why GLAPN does what we do: overcoming those years of neglect or downright suppression which leave us, collectively, with the impression that no LGBTQ person ever accomplished anything worth recognizing or writing down. Our collective self-esteem is boosted every time the accomplishments of LGBTQ folk are recognized in public.
GLAPN is solidly behind the project to rename SW Stark Street after Harvey Milk. This is one of the ways we recognize people who become nationally prominent in the support of important causes – and who sometimes lose their lives in the process.
Aside from the fact that Harvey Milk deserves whatever recognition we can give him, we love the fact that his name will be on a street sign forever.
Every little kid who ever asks "who was Harvey Milk, anyway, and why did they name a street after him?" will get the information that he was a significant figure for LGBTQ civil rights in the 20th Century.
That's a gain for everybody.
Click on the image to download a copy of the project's poster, or visit their website at this link for more information.
October is LGBTQ History Month
In honor of LGBTQ History Month, GLAPN has put together a display in Q Center's gallery, and LGBTQ elders will be hosting the exhibit during the National Coming Out Day festivities at Q Center on Wednesday, October 11, from 6:00-8:00 PM.
The display features created from our archival materials, plus George Nicola's 46-panel presentation entitled "A Place at the Table," which provides a timeline of LGBTQ community action since the Gay Liberation Front started organizing in Portland in 1970.
GLAPN members who remember many of the events will be available for questions and conversation during the National Coming Out Day celebration.
The LGBTQ History display will remain in place through the end of October.
Memorial for Gladys Deitz
The Memorial Service for early Portland PFLAG activist Gladys Deitz will be Saturday, October 14, at 2:00 p.m., in the auditorium (3rd floor) of Calaroga Terrace, 1400 N.E. 2nd Ave., Portland 97232.
Gladys and her husband, Dr. Estill Deitz, were active in PFLAG Portland in the 1970s and 1980s.
Larry Copeland, 1947-2017
By George Nicola,
September 8, 2017
It is with deepest sadness that GLAPN reports the passing of pioneer Oregon gay activist Larry Copeland. Larry was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer early this year shortly after turning 70. He died two days ago.
In 1975, Larry turned a group called Portland Town Council into an effective political organization. He brought into it Susie Shepherd and Jerry Weller, who would themselves become pioneering activists.
In 1976, Larry worked with Governor Robert Straub’s Ombudsperson Gladys McCoy to launch the Task Force on Sexual Preference. A half decade earlier, Gladys had become the first Black Oregonian voted to public office. In 1972, she became one of our earliest straight cis allies.The Task Force was chaired by Holly Hart who in 1970 had cofounded the Portland Gay Liberation Front with John Wilkinson. Out of the Task’s Force’s recommendations came PFLAG Portland. That organization was founded by the parents of Susie Shepherd and Kristan Knapp.
More about Larry Copeland at this link.
Larry's obituary in The Oregonian:
http://obits.oregonlive.com/obituaries/oregon/obituary.aspx?n=larry-steven-copeland&pid=186871900
"Conversations with Gay Elders" project includes
Portlander Kerby Lauderdale.
Join QDoc and GLAPN on
Sunday, May 21st
We saw excerpts of Conversations with Gay Elders at QDoc in 2016.
This year, QDoc co-founder and filmmaker David Weissman returns with a recently completed Conversation featuring Portland resident Kerby Lauderdale.
Conversations with Gay Elders is a series of in-depth interviews and conversational documentaries focused on gay men whose journeys of self-discovery precede the era of Stonewall and gay liberation. It is a cross-generational collaboration, in which 62-year-old Weissman works in partnership with gay men in their 20s and 30s as editors to profile gay men in their 70s and 80s. Conversations with Gay Elders explores how these men navigated being “different” long before there was any social or political context for a positive LGBT self-image.
The interview subject, Kerby Lauderdale, has been active in Portland’s LGBT community since the early 1980s. The father of Pink Martini founder Thomas Lauderdale, Kerby’s story differs from others in the series because he was in a heterosexual marriage for many years. The editor of this piece is Michiel Thomas, who directed the 2015 QDoc opening night film, Game Face.
The film shows on Sunday, May 21 at 12 noon at at Portland's historical Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland, OR 97212.
Direct link to the film page & ticket info: http://www.queerdocfest.org/film/conversations-gay-elders/Honoring Portland's Black LGBTQ History:
a February 23,
2017 reception in the gallery at Q Center
From the day of Gay Liberation Front organizing in 1970 in Portland, members of the African-American community have been front and center in the struggle for LGBTQ rights.
During the Oregon Citizens Alliance ballot measures of the 1990s-2000s, some of the LGBTQ community's most prominent leaders were African-American, and through the present time several of our boasts for "first" and "best" involve members of the Black community.
GLAPN has filled the Q Center gallery with materials from our archives, documenting the the Black LGBTQ presence in Portland.
Please join us Thursday, February 23 at Q Center from 6:00-8:00PM, for a reception honoring the LGBTQ side of Black History Month. We'll have light refreshments, a movie, and popcorn.
Change in plans for February 23 GLAPN meeting –
Please join us in the Q Center gallery for a reception for
our Black LGBTQ History
exhibit!
We have filled the Q Center Gallery with materials featuring the involvement of Portland's African-American community in the struggle for LGBTQ rights. Please join us between 6:00-8:00PM for light refreshments, a short film, and a look at the history of the activism of African-American LGBTQ community members and allies. That's Thursday, February 23, 2017, in the Gallery at Q Center, 4115 N. Mississippi Ave., in Portland.
GLAPN's meetings fall on the 4th Thursday of every month, except when a holiday gets in the way. Watch this space or our Facebook page for updates.
New LGBTQ Veterans Coordinator added at
Oregon Department of Veterans' Affairs
In mid-2016, Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs added an LGBTQ Veteran Services Coordinator to their staff.
Nathanial Boehme, an OIF (Operation Iraqi Freedom) veteran still serving in the Oregon Air National Guard, is beginning in this startup position, created to assist members of the LGBTQ community in Oregon.
Click on the image at right to download the ODVA flyer
Boehme will address issues such as correction of military records, including discharge upgrades for veterans separated under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, official name changes on DD214 and VA health records, and removing DADT-related language from military discharge records.
He will provide assistances with veterans services and benefits for Oregonians who don’t trust mainstream veteran-serving organizations. This may include VA health care, service-related compensation issues, pensions, home loans, or homeless services.
Boehme’s charter includes promotion and support of a culture of inclusion for ALL veterans -- regardless of sexuality or gender identity – and work as a liason between veteran and LGBTQ serving organizations.
He’ll be working to create and sustain LGBTQ veteran events and developing community and support among LGBTQ veterans in the state of Oregon, and advocating for legislative changes to support the LGBTQ community.
Part of Nathaniel’s job – perhaps the biggest part – is assessing the needs of this underserved and undocumented community of veterans. He has created on an online survey to help with the process, and it can be found here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5PQTD7X
Nathaniel Boehme has been working with veterans and their families in crisis, specifically experiencing housing instability, for over four years in Portland, Seattle, and most recently Los Angeles. He holds two bachelor’s degrees (Sociology and Psychology) with a minor in Women and Gender Studies from Utah State University, as well as an M.A. in Sociology from Washington State University. Boehme and his partner are excited to be back in the Oregon, and looking forward to serving LGBTQ veterans and the community at large.
Email contact is Nathaniel.boehme@state.or.us. ODVA’s website is www.oregon.gov/odva
Michael Helquist Wins Joel Palmer Award
The Oregon Historical Society has named GLAPN member and author Michael Helquist the recipient of the 2016 Joel Palmer Award for the best article published in the previous year. Helquist’s article, “”Criminal Operations”: The First Fifty Years of Abortion Trials in Portland, Oregon,” appeared in the Spring 2015 issue of the Oregon Historical Quarterly. The annual prize carries with it a $300 award which will be presented during the annual meeting of OHS on Saturday, May 21, at 2pm. The meeting is free and open to the public.
“Criminal Operations” presents original research that documents every abortion trial conducted in Portland and reported in the Oregonian from 1870-1920 (27 in all). Helquist’s study reveals two significant factors that hindered prosecutions and thwarted convictions: a lack of sufficient evidence peculiar to abortion cases and the ambiguities of the abortion law itself. Prosecutors obtained convictions in only 7 of the 27 cases.
Helquist remarked in an interview, “Oregon’s anti-abortion law thrust into the public realm an inherently private and personal matter involving a woman and her provider. It was seldom a good mix for anyone involved.” He noted that physicians were reluctant to cooperate with the law, concerned with their professional prerogatives; prosecutors wrestled with the “intent” of providers and of patients; and women feared the public humiliation that might result from a trial.
One of the few doctors to provide abortions in Portland was Marie Equi, whose skill and discretion prompted other doctors to refer their patients to her (and allow her to assume the risk). Oregon State University Press published Helquist’s biography of Equi, “Marie Equi, Radical Politics and Outlaw Passions,” in September 2015. Her efforts for women’s rights and the struggle to obtain reproductive services are featured in the biography. The American Library Association named Marie Equi a 2016 Stonewall Honor Book for Non Fiction.
Helquist’s full article about “Criminal Operations” is available here: http://www.ohs.org/research-and-library/oregon-historical-quarterly/joel-palmer-award/upload/Helquist_Criminal-Operations_OHQ-116_1_Spring-2015_p.pdf
Celebrating Portland's African-American LGBTQ
Community for
Black History Month: a display in the Q Center gallery, February 22, 5-7PM
From the moment LGBTQ organizing began in Oregon, African-American members of the community have been involved in shaping local policy and leading statewide campaigns against repressive and discriminatory ballot measures.
At the same time, they were exploring the intersections of racism, sexism, and homophobia in the African-American community.
GLAPN salutes these community-builders with a display in the gallery at Q Center, 4115 N. Mississippi Ave., from 5-7PM on February 22, 2016. Light food will be catered by Adams Rib.
Regence Fund of Oregon Community Foundation awards
grant to GLAPN
A grant from the Regence Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation was the occasion for an impromptu GLAPN meeting at Q Center on January 14, 2016.
David Weir and Steve Lesky, members of the LGBTQ Employees Group at Cambia Health Solutions, presented a check for $250 to GLAPN President Robin Will at the meeting.
In the photo, that's David on the left, Steve in the center, and Robin on the right GLAPN's George Nicola took the picture.
Impetus for the grant came from a GLAPN presentation last June at for the LGBTQ employees group at The Standard, which David and Steve attended.
There were several good outcomes from the Q Center gathering. Several GLAPN members brought guests who spoke briefly about their early work in LGBT civil rights organizing and youth work, and those stories will eventually be added to our records. In addition, some of our guests were able to speak to the beginnings of LGBTQ employee groups in local businesses, and we'll also be following up on those histories.
Finally, David and Steve expressed a wish for GLAPN involvement with the Cambia Health Solutions group. It was a wish easily granted, and GLAPN will meet with Cambia employees on planning for a program in the near future.
PFLAG Portland announces mini-grant program for GSAs
For the fifth year running, PFLAG Portland will be making small financial grants for youth-originated, youth-operated projects in Gay-Straight Alliances or other nonprofit organizations in the metro area.
Grants are limited to $250 per organization per year, and this year, PFLAG is prepared to fund six of them.
Funds are available for the Tri-County (Multnomah-Washington-Clackamas) area only, and projects must be completed in the 2015-2016 school year.
For full information, follow this link to PFLAG Portland's web page.
October 3, 2015 – "Feed Your Head" at Portland City Archives
GLAPN was proud to be included in this year's celebration of America Archives Month, entitled "History: Feed Your Head" and hosted at the City of Portland Archives and Record Center on the Portland State University campus.
The event was similar to the organizationally and physically demanding Archives Crawls of previous years, but this year it took place in a single location, putting some of the city's most prominent historic preservationists together, where they could circulate, swap stories, and contemplate collaboration.
The public was invited, and showed up in droves. Exhibitors observed very few lulls in the action during the 11AM-3PM event. It's gratifying to see that sort of turnout at an event for historians.
GLAPN's George Nicola and Robin Will manned the GLAPN table, swapping stories and contact information with organizations and individuals alike. It was time well-spent for GLAPN, in terms of community visibility, and also in terms of locating people who can add to our understanding of local queer history.
George Nicola took the picture. That's Robin Will standing beside the GLAPN table.
We used the Mildred's Palace poster as a link from the front page: Mildred's was the first commercial establishment in town that was oriented to LGBTQ young people, who up until that time had gathered on the street in the vicinity of the Greyhound Depot. Both the clientele and the proprietor, Lanny Swerdlow, got an unreasonable amount of grief from Portland Police. Click on the poster at right to get George Nicola's account of the situation.
GLAPN was Out on the sQuare on September 27
Out on the sQuare was part volunteer fair for the LGBTQ organizations, and part block party in Pioneer Courthouse Square on September 27, 2015, with a good time had by all.
The event has been around for awhile – it began as "Gay Fair on the Square," sponsored by Portland Gay Men's Chorus. More recently, Q Center has organized and produced the event.
This year, Q Center's board and staff turned out in strength, aided and abetted by Cory Murphy-Helmkamp's brainchild, Iconiqs Media, and the result was received enthusiastically. Exhibit space sold out, the entertainment slate was impressive, and the weather was great.
It's not often that LGBTQ service organizations are in a position to chat with one another, so this was a great opportunity to catch up on each other's work and see how we can help each other.
GLAPN brought a display of historic posters, and enjoyed chatting with visitors about our role as a regional queer historical society.
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One more event to launch Michael Helquist's Marie Equi biography: McMenamins History Pub on October 27
The "official" September 14 launch of Michael Helquist's Marie Equi: Radical Politics & Outlaw Passions, will be followed by an expanded History Pub program on October 27, and we're looking forward to an expanded presentation about Portland's favorite lesbian-radical-rabblerouser-war protestor from a century ago.
- McMenamin's Edgefield -- Tuesday, Oct. 27, 6:30 pm (doors open at 5:00) History Pub at McMenamin's Edgefield, 2126 SW Halsey, Troutdale
Marie Equi was a Portlander 100 years ago, one of the northwest's first practicing women physicians, a lesbian who lived openly with her partner, a champion of women's suffrage, labor rights, and reproductive freedom – who ultimately served three years in San Quentin, convicted of sedition for her opposition to American involvement in World War I. Breaking boundaries in all facets of life, she became the first well-known lesbian in Oregon, and her same-sex affairs figured prominently in two U.S. Supreme Court cases.
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PURCHASE THE BOOK AT THE LAUNCH PARTIES, OR ORDER IT ONLINE NOW!www.osupress.oregonstate.edu/book/marie-equi _____________________________________________________________
Marie Equi: Radical Politics & Outlaw Passions, by Michael Helquist, Oregon State University Press.
Here's advance word from OSU Press: [Helquist's book] is a finely written, rigorously researched account of a woman of consequence, who one fellow-activist considered “the most interesting woman that ever lived in this state, certainly the most fascinating, colorful, and flamboyant.” This much-anticipated biography will engage anyone interested in Pacific Northwest history, women’s studies, the history of lesbian and gay rights, and the personal demands of political activism. It is the inspiring story of a singular woman who was not afraid to take risks, who refused to compromise her principles in the face of enormous opposition and adversity, and who paid a steep personal price for living by her convictions.
Michael Helquist is an historian, journalist, and editor and has written for several publications including the Oregon Historical Quarterly, the Journal of Homosexuality, the American Medical News, MS Magazine, The Advocate, and the San Francisco Bay Guardian. He has edited four volumes on health communication, social marketing, and behavior change. He directed a global AIDS and health communication program and worked on campaigns for safe streets and alternative transportation, development of GLBT history archives, and community resilience and sustainability. Helquist is a Portland native, now living in San Francisco.
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Elder LGBT Oral Histories
SAGE, First Congregational UCC and Multnomah County Library are teaming up for an afternoon of storytelling and oral histories on July 5, 2015, 3PM-6PM.
Click on the image at right to download a full-size PDF about the event.
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Marcy Westerling, March 1959-June 10, 2015
Marcy Westerling, one of our community's most prominent and effective activists, died June 10, 2015 after a long struggle with ovarian cancer.
Marcy founded the Rural Organizing Project (ROP) in the 1990s to help small communities in Oregon organize against the spate of anti-gay Oregon Citizens Alliance ballot measures, and ROP has gone on to become significant in a variety of ways in the life of Oregonians outside of regional population centers.
She was one of GLAPN's Queer Heroes for 2012, and this link leads to the profile and picture we created at that time.
A full obituary appears on Marty's blog at http://livinglydying.com/2015/06/11/in-memory-of-marcy-westerling/
Memorial plans are not yet complete, but the date of Sunday, August 23, 2015 has been chosen. More information will develop at
http://livinglydying.com/2015/07/18/please-rsvp-for-marcys-memorial-celebration/
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On June 9: The history of lesbians and other women in the earliest days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic
A facilitated storytelling round-table conversation.
All ages, all genders, all everything. Please join us.
Many of us who are still alive, and old enough to remember, recall the 1980s as a time of injustice, mass death and human indifference. AIDS decimated a community seen as disposable.
BUT, we also saw heroes and angels step up when no one else would, serving as caregivers, companions, nurses, blood donors, activists, and witnesses who comforted the dying and buried the dead. These are people, many of them women, who we thank and celebrate.
Join us and sit with friends and other fine folks on June 9th to tell and listen to our stories, and to remember the strength that comes from compassion, and the peace that comes from remembrance.
Tuesday, June 9th, 2:30-4:30, Q Center, 4115 N. Mississippi Avenue, Portland, OR
Part of an observance of National HIV/AIDS Long-Term Survivors Awareness Day.
Co-sponsored by *eRa* at Q Center, the Gay & Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest (GLAPN), and SAGE Metro Portland. Questions? Susan@pdxQcenter.org
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February is Black History Month!
If we don't know where we've been, how will we know where we're going?
PFLAG Portland Black Chapter shares a timeline of Black LGBTQ History in Oregon through photos and video to guide the conversation of the future of the Black LGBTQ Movement. Join a panel of longtime organizers and activists as we remember our past and build towards our future.
Celebrate our rich history as Black LGBTQ Oregonians!
Refreshments Provided
PLEASE RSVP: http://bit.ly/BLGBTQHM2015
Check out our website for event updates and details: pflagpdx.org
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December 2014 marks 40th anniversary of Portland City Councils first LGBTQ Rights resolution:
This month, December 2014, is the 40th anniversary of the first success Oregon had in getting some sexual orientation non-discriminatory government protection. The action was not an ordinance but a resolution stating that the City of Portland would not discriminate based on sexual orientation in municipal employment. It passed by a margin of one. Portland banned gender identity discrimination at a later date.
http://glapn.org/6012MilestonesLGBTQLaw.html
_________________________________________________________________________Cascade AIDS Project kicks off 30th anniversary celebration, Nov. 15-Dec. 7
During the Reagan presidency, AIDS wasn't a Federal concern, and research and relief efforts went unfunded. Communities dealt with the AIDS crisis as best they could – and people of a certain age will never forget the grief and rage of those early years.
From November 15 to December 7, Multnomah County Library (downtown, in the Collins Gallery) presents a display of CAP and ACT-UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) materials, showing the rich and sometimes uncomfortable history surrounding AIDS in Portland, through memorabilia, posters, program materials, and artifacts.
From the passion and creativity of its grassroots beginnings in Portland's gay and arts communities to today's nationally recognized program, this exhibition captures 30 years of HIV prevention, outreach and advocacy in Portland.
This exhibit was made possible in part by a grant from the Oregon Heritage Commission to Cascade AIDS Project, and curated by members of GLAPN.
We strongly recommend it.
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GLAPN's George Nicola and PFLAG Portland recognized
with "Spirit of Portland" Awards
Portland historian George Nicola and PFLAG Portland will be among individuals and groups recognized with a Spirit of Portland award in a ceremony on November 6 at Legacy Emanual Hospital.
It's a cause for celebration when LGBTQ-related activists and/or organizations win this sort of public honor.
George Nicola has moved gracefully from his role as an early gay activist (he wrote and lobbied for the gay civil rights bill that was introduced in the Oregon Legislature in 1973) into his current role as chronicler of local LGBTQ history.
PFLAG Portland (Parents, Friends & Family of Lesbians & Gays) has been providing support and advocacy in the LGBTQ community since the mid-1970s. PFLAG, a national organization, now operates three chapters in the Portland area, with the addition of an East County chapter, and the nation's first Black PFLAG chapter.
Follow this link to view the City of Portland press release announcing the Spirit of Portland honorees for 2014._________________________________________________________________________
Oregon Archive Crawl Set for October 18, 2014
By Robin Will
Historians are able to do their work because people save old stuff. When it is done systematically, it's called archiving. Folks who refer to this practice as "hoarding" are clearly not enlightened historians.
The truth is, behind every learned text, behind every museum, behind (or inside of) every library, stand literally tons of archival material that was saved because somebody recognized its value and made space for it.
Portland area archivists open these seldom-seen spaces once a year for the Oregon Archives Crawl, and this year it happens on October 18. Oregon Historical Society, Multnomah County Library, and the City of Portland Archives & Records Center will all be giving the public a look at how professionals deal with raw history.
Other groups will be participating, including Gay & Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest, which will have a display in the lobby of Oregon Historical Society.
The event happens from 10AM-3PM in three different Portland locations. There's plenty of time to visit all three.
Click on the small poster at right to open a full-size version, and check the fine print to see a list of the other historical organizations which are participating.
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GLAPN member named to "Brilliant List"&
Portland Latino Gay Pride Mariposa Awards
GLAPN's George Nicola, a prolific documentor of local queer history and somewhat of a historic figure in his own right, was included on PQ Monthly's Brilliant List, the magazine's annual feature honoring movers & shakers in Portland's LGBTQ community, on July 16, 2014.
George substantially wrote and tirelessly lobbied for Oregon's first gay civil rights bill – in 1973 – leaving the field only when he finally needed to get a job and support himself. Approximately 35 years later, with the job behind him, he returned to the field as a historian, documenting the struggle for LGBTQ rights.
A link to PQ Monthly's Awards page is here.
On July 22, 2014, Portland Latino Gay Pride released their annual Mariposa Awards, and George's name was on that list as well.
Mariposa Awards recognize (1) History of community involvement and volunteerism, (2) Advocacy and support of the Latino and/or LGBTQ community, (3) Commitment to arts and culture as a means to educate and inspire, and (4) demonstrated leadership and dedication to social justice.
A link to Portland Latino Gay Pride is here.
An index of George's writings on post-Stonewall LGBTQ history may be viewed on our Pacific Northwest Queer History page.
George was selected as one of the GLAPN/Q Center Queer Heroes NW in 2013, and here's a link to George's Queer Heroes profile.
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QDoc and GLAPN present the story of the first gay rights organization in Europe, Sunday May 18 at Kennedy School
GLAPN will be partnering with QDoc, Portland's queer documentary film festival, in a Sunday, May 18, 2014 screening of The Circle, which tells the story of the first gay rights organization in Europe.
Held in the Kennedy School Theatre (5736 NE 33rd Ave., Portland), the showing begins at 2:45pm. General admission tickets are $10; tickets for students and seniors 62+ with ID are $8; youth 23 and under are admitted free by reservation only (reserve at this link.) http://www.queerdocfest.org/tickets/.
"Stefan Haupt's docudrama about the origins of Switzerland's – and Europe's first gay rights organization in the 1950s, won the Teddy Award for best documentary highlighting LGBT issues at this year's Berlin International Film Festival.
Set in Zurich in 1958, the film follows the life of Ernst Ostertag (Matthias Hungerbuhler), a young teacher who falls in love with the transvestite star Röbi Rapp (Sven Schelker) and is torn between his comfortable middle-class life and the ostracized life that is the fate of the out-of-the-closet homosexual. Ernst becomes a member of The Circle, a gay rights organization that becomes a pioneer of gay emancipation throughout Europe. [Röbi and Ernst went on to become the first gay men married in Zurich.] Anatole Taubman, Marianna Sagebrecht and Antoine Monot Jr. also star."
Read more, or purchase tickets, at this link.
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We're proud that GLAPN member Heather Burmeister has an article in the Spring 2014 Oregon Historical Society Quarterly that excerpts her research on the lesbian back-to-the-land movement of the 1960s & 1970s.
Women's Lands in Soutern Oregon: Jean Mountaingrove and Bethroot Gwynn Tell Their Stories
by Heather Burmeister
The photo, from Special Collections and Archives at the University of Oregon, is captioned, "Jean Mountaingrove (right) with her partner Ruth Mountaingrove stand in front of the cabin they shared for five years at Golden, a mixed-gender, gay community outside Wolf Creek, Oregon."
Young women of the 1960s and 1970s countercultural revolution era were not only active in a wide range of social justice movements but also began organizing and advocating for women. A number of women during that time emerged as lesbians, finding a place for themselves in the back-to-the-land movement, another emerging subculture. Separating themselves from mainstream society, Jean Mountaingrove and Bethroot Gwynn created safe spaces for women to interact.l Historian Heather Burmeister argues that the women's experience on their own lands and creation of publoished material helped create regional, national, and even global networks through which women could re-create themsleves and construct and express their new identifies through art, spirituality, and other forms of creative culture. Burmeister's introduction is followed by edited selections from oral histories she conducted with Mountaingrove and Gwynn.
The article, accompanying photos and footnotes, occupies 30 pages in the OHS Quarterly, which is a print-only medium available at libraries or for purchase at OHS.
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At PSU January 23: History of Portland's Gay Press
The History of Social Justice Organizing Program presents an evening with three pioneers in gay journalism, with a discussion entitled History of Portland's Gay Press.
The program takes place Thursday, January 23, 7-8:30PM in 298 Smith Memorial Center, 1825 SW Broadway, on the Portland State University campus.
The personnel are:
Renée LaChance is the former editor of the NW Fountain and The Cascade Voice, and was co-founder and publisher of Just Out;
Rupert Kinnard, an award-winning graphic designer and art director who has worked for NW Fountain, Cascade Voice, and Just Out.
Learn what was happening – from the people who were making it happen.
See the video of the event, courtsy of History of Social Justice OrganizingL
The History of the Gay Press in Portland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kaUcgQ5hyk
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At PSU: A History of the Portland LGBTQ Movement
UPDATE: Here's a link to the video of the October 24 program:
Portland State University's "History of Social Justice Organizing" program presents a stellar group of LGBTQ history-makers in a panel discussion on Thursday, October 24, 7-8:30PM, at the Urban Affairs Building, 2nd floor gallery, 506 SW Mill.
Steve Fulmer, Cliff Jones, Susie Shepherd, Pat Young and George Nicola will all be attending.
For more information, follow this link:
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Remembering Joe and Jadin Bell
Anyone wishing to help the Bell family with arrangements for Joe Bell may visit this link, or click on the Faces for Change picture with this article, to donate via Pay Pal. Any remaining funds will support the Faces for Change program.
By Robin Will
In a grim test of how much a single family can stand, Joe Bell was hit by a truck and killed as he walked along a highway in eastern Colorado on Wednesday evening, October 9, 2013.
Joe was on a cross-country walk to raise awareness about bullying after his son, Jadin Bell, was hounded to suicide at his high school in La Grande, OR, on January 19 of this year.
Although brain-dead, Jadin's body didn't die until February 3, after his family removed him from life support.
Dealing with Jadin's death took two public forms: one, the family founded Faces For Change, a non-profit organization set up to combat bullying, and two, Joe Bell set off to walk across the USA, speaking to community groups along the way.
In April, 2013, members of the Bell Family visited the Shepherd Scholars' Class Act fundraiser, where a special offering jump-started the Faces for Change account at Equity Foundation.
An apparently sleep-deprived truck driver put a stop to Joe's walk in Lincoln County, Colorado. Joe died beside the road, and the driver was cited for negligence.
Services for Joe Bell will be held Thursday, October 17, 2013, at the Gilbert Center on the Eastern Oregon University campus in La Grande, OR, at 2:00PM.
Anyone wishing to help the Bell family with arrangements for Joe Bell may visit this link, or click on the Faces for Change picture with this article, to donate via Pay Pal. Any remaining funds will support the Faces for Change program.
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Rita Knapp, one of PFLAG Portland's co-founders
passed on October 2, 2013
Following a long illness and after the death of her husband Charles last summer, Rita Knapp passed on the evening of October 2, 2013.
GLAPN will announce plans for a memorial service as we receive them from the family.
Rita and Charles were co-founders of Portland's PFLAG chapter in the mid-1970s, along with Bill and Ann Shepherd.
Rita Knapp is famous in queer circles for her eloquent address in 1973 to the Oregon House Committee which was receiving public input on HB 2930, the first Oregon statewide bill that would ban employment and housing discrimination based on sexual orientation. Her address began, “I am the parent of a gay woman … “ It was the first time a parent had spoken for a gay child in a public meeting where the press was present.
Her speech lasted just a few minutes. But her words in support of her lesbian daughter were so moving and sincere that they would become the Gettysburg Address of parents who love their gay children.
Rita had come to know her daughter’s friends as socially conscious, intelligent, educated, warm and happy persons. She continued, “People must recognize that everyone has the right to be free to choose the life style he [or she] wishes. We of the establishment must disengage ourselves from myths and vague fears.” (“Homosexual issue argued in the House”, Oregonian, 5-3-1973).
The crowd could not hold back after hearing Rita’s words, and burst into a thunderous ovation. Not expecting this, in the process of rising from her chair, Rita knocked over the microphone.
At that time, few gay people were out to straight people, unless it was to their closest friends. The vast majority, fearing rejection, probably kept it secret from their families. Parents of gay children were supposed to be ashamed of their kids. Wasn’t that a shortcoming of their parenting? And even if they were not ashamed, they certainly would not talk about it in public.
But here for the first time, an Oregonian spoke in support of her gay daughter in a very public meeting where the press was present. Rita’s testimony was the lead paragraph in the Oregonian article about the hearing. The first sentence of the Oregonian article read “A mother spoke.” The letters before that – “AP” -- indicated that Rita’s story would go over the wires throughout the country through the Associated Press.
In the subsequent years, the Knapps worked with a number of organization promoting LGBT equality and acceptance. For instance, they campaigned against the very anti-gay Ballot Measure 9. They were members of the Portland’s First Congregational Church, the United Church of Christ. UCC’s national organization had already been promoting the acceptance of gays for a couple of decades. As moderator for his local church from 1991 to 1992, Charles led his led First Congregational in becoming open and affirming of LGBT people.
But perhaps the Knapps are best known for their contributions to Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). Several years after Rita addressed the legislative hearing, Rita and her husband Charles teamed up with another couple named Ann and Bill Shepherd to found what is today called PFLAG Portland. The Shepherds had a gay daughter named Susie.
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Queer historians explore "Untold History of Portland" on September 9
GLAPN's Pat Young is one of three panelists appearing in the Oregon Encyclopedia's September 9, 2013 program entitled, "100 Years Ago But Not So Far Away: Exploring Portland's 1912 Homosexual Controversy and Exploring Its Legacy."
Click on the picture at right to open the poster for the event.
The program will explore consequences of Portland's 1912 Vice Clique scandal, in which 68 men were eventually involved in a "scandal" that involved nothing more than consensual sex.
Peter Boag, Professor of History at Washington State University and author of Same-Sex Affairs: Constructing and Controlling Homosexuality in the Pacific Northwest (2003) and Re-Dressing America's Frontier Past (2011) will provide an overview of the event and will then explain the implications it had for Oregon state law. In the years following Portland’s 1912 homosexual scandal, legislators increased penalties for those arrested for homosexual acts, ranging from longer sentences to sterilization.
Kimberly Jensen, Professor of History, Western Oregon University, will highlight the social and political climate of Portland during the time of the 1912 scandal and perhaps talk about influential women (especially Esther Lovejoy) who were active at this time.
Pat Young, faculty member of Portland State University’s Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies and founding member of the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest, will provide information on current issues that LGBTQ community members are facing today including Oregon anti-gay ballot measures in 1988, 1992, and 1994.
The event takes place Monday, September 9, 2013, 7:00-9:00pm, at McMenamins Mission Theater, 1624 NW Glisan St. Patrons will be able to purchase food and beverages, and minors are welcome when accompanied by an adult. This event is sponsored by The Oregon Encyclopedia with support from The Oregon Humanities.
Read George Painter's article about the 1912 Vice Clique Scandal by clicking here.
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GLAPN's President Appointed as State Library Trustee
In April of 2013, Ismoon was appointed by Governor John Kitzhaber to be a member of the Trustees of the State Library. Ismoon is currently president of GLAPN. She is also the Head Librarian of Q Center’s Kendall Clawson Library.
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New Seasons donates Pride booth to Queer Heroes Northwest
GLAPN had a place to show our stuff at Pride 2013, thanks to a donation from New Seasons Market.
The booth provided a much-needed space to set up the Queer Heroes Northwest display where folks could pause to read without blocking traffic. It also allowed GLAPN to display some of the materials gleaned from our archives: The "Scandal May Bring Death" headline about the 1912 Vice Clique Scandal actually did stop bypassers in their tracks.
Q Center actually received the donated both, made the decision to separate the Queer Heroes NW display from the Q Center program booths, and asked GLAPN if we could contribute display materials and staffing.
It worked well for everybody concerned. GLAPN members got a chance to talk to local history buffs, and introduce GLAPN to folks who had never heard of us. We certainly hope for a similar opportunity next year.
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Pride Northwest honors GLAPN's George Nicola
with Community Activist Award
The Community Activist award is given on alternating years, and recognizes individuals and organizations who are participating in grassroots efforts with limited resources. The intent is to highlight nominees that are working on the front lines of important LGBTQ issues and concerns, which might not otherwise gain broad attention, and bring visibility to that work. This year, Pride Northwest is proud to recognize George Nicola, for his tireless work in bringing visibility and action to a number of LGBTQ issues and efforts. Active in the Portland LGBTQ community since the early days of the modern movement, George has given countless hours to keeping LGBTQ issues at the forefront of public policy and preserving Pacific Northwest LGBTQ history, all with a grace and humor that belies the impact he has, and continues to have on our community.
George began his activism in the early 1970s with The Second Foundation of Oregon, a group which appeared in Portland not long after the Gay Liberation Front began to organize. He lobbied the legislature extensively for gay rights until 1974, when it became necessary for him to get a paying job.
In 2008, George was one of the speakers at GLAPN's Our Stories event marking the passage of the Oregon Equality Act and the Oregon Family Fairness Act – 35 years after gay rights bills were first introduced by Oregon lawmakers. Since then he has been contributing regularly as a writer and speaker about the history of Oregon's LGBTQ movement.
Many of his articles are on GLAPN.org at this link: Click here to read the reminiscences and research of this important Oregon historian.
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Daniel Spiro's documentary on Sister Paula Nielsen
debuts at Portland Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, Sept. 30, 2012
PLGFF presented the world premiere of Sister Paula: The Trans Evangelist on September 30, 2012 in Portland.
The film, a work-in-progress, tells the story of Portland native Paula Nielsen, a transgender pioneer, legal secretary, cabaret performer, Pentecostal preacher and public access television star.
Daniel Spiro, who produced and edited the 103-minute feature, is an active member of Gay & Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest (GLAPN).
Through interviews, television appearances and her sermons, the film tells Paula’s story in her own words. Born Larry Nielsen in 1938, Paula transitioned to female on May 1, 1963 and has lived as a transwoman ever since. In 1950 she became a born again Christian and a preacher. During the 1970’s Paula was the first church secretary for Metropolitan Community Church in Portland, Oregon, when she came out publicly as a transwoman. In 1980 Paula became a featured attraction as a cabaret entertainer at the legendary Darcelle’s. Throughout the 1990’s Sister Paula made guest appearances on national and international television programs and was a featured guest on PM Magazine, Jenny Jones, Joan Rivers and The Daily Show.
Sister Paula continues to spread the gospel on public access TV, her podcast and internet radio.
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Ismoon featured in September's PQ Monthly!
GLAPN President Ismoon Maria Hunter-Morton was featured in column entitled "Local Hero: Ismoon Hunter-Morton – Rebel librarian at large"
This is the first in a series of "Local Hero" articles by PQ Monthly's Sunny Clark.
Read it here: http://www.pqmonthly.com/2012/09/local-hero-ismoon-hunter-morton-rebel-librarian-at-large/
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GLAPN supports International Queer Archive Convention
We proudly sent a donation at the "sponsorship" level to the IHLIA LGBT ALMS 2012 convention which was held in Amsterdam, August 1-3, 2012. We're happy to support such an event in any way, and of course, it puts GLAPN on the world map of LGBTQ archives.
IHLIA is Dutch: Internationaal Homo/Lesbich Informationcentrum en Archief. It's the world's biggest LGBTQ archive, and it's located in Amsterdam. The full link to their English pages is http://www.ihlia.nl/english/english/english_home.
ALMS is an acronym for Archives, Libraries, Museums and Special Collections.
Here's the text of the thank-you that our treasurer, C. Allen Giles, received.
Dear Charles,
The LGBT ALMS 2012 conference has succesfully taken place in the great
venues of the Public Library of Amsterdam in the beginning of august.This was not only a succes because it just happened, it was aspecially
succesful for the participants who never before have been able to meet
each other, to exchange ideas, knowledge and experiences.
For the first time, IHLIA succeeded to create an opportunity, with a very
divers and interesting programme, within reach for people from over 30
countries in Europe and elswhere.
This could only happen with your support. We are very greatfull for your
gift and like to thank you for that.
Do you like to stay connected? Describe for our newsletter at
lgbti.alms.2012@gmail.comThank you again, kind regards,
GLAPN joins regional archivist group
GLAPN president Ismoon Maria Hunter-Morton was about to join NW Archivists, Inc., a cool local professional association for archives and archivists. She planned on joining on her own, but discovered the possibility of organizational membership, so she joined in GLAPN’s name.
It seems to be the first time GLAPN has joined a professional organization of this type, and the potential for networking is huge.
As a result, we will be featured in their newsletter, in the New Member Spotlight, November, 2012.
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GLAPN announces new officers
Ismoon Maria Hunter-Morton and C. Allen Giles were elected president and treasurer, respectively, of Gay & Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest at the organization's March, 2012, meeting.
Ismoon is currently Q Center's librarian, among other community jobs and activities, and Allen brings the experience and perspective of a professional archivist who, among other things, has been working with the Cascade Aids Project's archives.
Robin Will continues as GLAPN's secretary/webmaster. _________________________________________________________________________
October 1, 2011 – Walking Tours benefit
Oregon Safe Schools & Communities Coalition
GLAPN's famous walking tours are back, this time benefiting Oregon Safe Schools and Communities Coalition on October 1, 2011, the day before AIDS Walk.
GLAPN's Rob Douglass and Dave Kohl will be leading the tours, which are chock-full of juicy anecdotes about queer life in Portland over the last century or so.
Two expeditions are planned, with a break in-between at Hobos (120 NW 3rd Avenue) for refreshments and presentations by GLAPN and OSSCC. Really enthusiastic walkers will be able to take in both tours!
Tour 1: Who's on Third will take folks through Old Queer Portland. In the old days, Portland's "vice district" spread along Third Avenue as far south as Lownsdale Square, the "gentlemen's gathering place" of the 19th Century. Gather in front of Hobos for a 1:30pm step-out, stroll south along SW Third Avenue and return along SW Broadway to Hobos at 3:00pm.
Intermission at Hobos: From 3:00-4:30pm, participants will mingle upstairs at Hobos. GLAPN will present a pictorial display and a short discussion of their role in preserving northwest queer history, and OSSCC will describe their campaign to keep schools and communities safe for all of us.
Tour 2: The Stark Truth will explore more recent developments in Portland's queer community. As the name suggests, SW Stark Street will be its focus. It is scheduled to end back at Hobos, at 6:00pm.
Tickets (for one tour) are $30, available through OSSCC's website, OregonSafeSchools.org.
“Welcome to a day of living history. In collaboration with GLAPN, the Gay, Lesbian Archives of the Pacific NW, OSSCC will be leading downtown history tours, honoring our community’s rich past and remembering those who made our journey possible.”
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May 3-5, 2011
A portion of the receipts from the grand opening will benefit GLAPN's treasury.
As if you needed a reason to see what has happened to the old Silverado and the Portland Baths!
By Robin Will, Secretary & Webmaster
Gay & Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest
A couple of years ago, GLAPN was contacted by Tim Hills, staff historian for McMenamins, the business which has become as famous for their historic buildings as it is for food, brew, and hospitality.
The McMenamin brothers had just purchased a [smallish] city block in Portland's Gay Triangle, the old Majestic Hotel, site of the Silverado Bar and the Portland Baths.
McMenamins celebrates the history of every property they acquire.
"Could GLAPN help them in their research of this site which had lots of history in the LGBTQ community?"
Several GLAPN members responded. The job wasn't easy, because like most gay history, very little about this site was written down. Personal memories were explored. Personal contacts were exploited. One recollection triggered another. And in the end, it was surprising how much information we were able to generate about this Queer Portland landmark.
The renovation is complete, and the property will open to the public on May 3, 2011.
Of course, Tim Hills didn't stop with the queer portion of the property's history. Judging by pictures on the walls through all four stories, it appears that he looked at every city directory, every newspaper article, and every deed and tax record in existence for that little triangle of land -- and tracked down descendants of original owners, and got access to their family scrapbooks.
There are even pictures of the farmhouse that was on the property before Stark Street came so far west!
This is a see-to-believe proposition. As a Portlander since 1956 (I was in third grade -- go ahead and do the math!), I was amazed at the memories Tim's work brought back.
In appreciation for GLAPN's contribution to the historical research, a portion of the proceeds from the May 3-4-5 Grand Opening celebration, which will include the Crystal Hotel, Ringlers Annex and the Crystal Ballroom, will be donated to GLAPN. There will be food, libations, and music in several venues in the new Crystal complex.
That provides any number of good reasons to visit, and see the new life that McMenamins has breathed into this old Portland landmark.
