Profiles in Queer Excellence and Resilience

A June 6, 2019 article in Portland Mercury

Ally Antoinette Edwards received Spirit of Portland Award

From the City of Portland's website

“Board honors past, commits support in Pride Proclamation”

About Multnomah County's 2019 Pride Proclamation, from the Multnomah County website

 

How Antoinette Edwards Takes Care of Portland’s At-Risk Youth

Portland Monthly magazine's article about Antoinette Edwards.

When Your Child Comes Out: Embracing an LGBT Loved One

From Ebony Magazine

Profiles on GLAPN.org

Hearts & Voices: Gladys McCoy, Personal Recollections of Oregon Gay History, by George T. Nicola

Gladys McCoy and her husband Bill, both of whom held either appointed or elected public office, were significant in early efforts towards LGBTQ rights.

Rediscovering Family: Audria M. Edwards, by George T. Nicola

Audria Edwards stepped up to support her LGBTQ children at a time when that didn't always happen. She was the first African American president of a PFLAG chapter in the USA, and today a scholarship fund is named in her memory.

Rediscovering Family: Keith, Antoinette and Khalil Edwards, by George T. Nicola

The Edwards family founded Portland's Black PFLAG chapter, have seen it grow through its current and expanded identity as Sankofa Cooperative, and spread their support far and wide through communities of color among LGBTQ young people.

Community Profile: Elton Cody, Openly Gay Rap Artist, by George T. Nicola

From his Facebookk page: "Elton's music predominantly speaks and caters, though not exclusively, to the everyday life and issues of the African American Community, LGBTQ community, and adolescents at risk.

Unwanted Child:The Story of the 14th Amendment in Oregon,by George T. Nicola.

Oregon's legislature ratified the 14th Amendment, and then withdrew the ratification – until Representative Bill McCoy pushed for re-ratification in 1973.

 

Audio and video

Oral History: Khalil Edwards

With his parents, Antoinette and Keith Edwards, Khalil was co-founder of PFLAG Portland's Black Chapter, and he has held a variety of leadership positions in the community. (includes both audio and transcriptions)

Oral History: Rupert Kinnard

Since he arrived in the community in 1979, Rupert has been involved in local publications and was one of the founders of Brother to Brother, one of the city's earliest groups for gay black men. (includes audio and transcription)

Antoinette Edwards speech at Queer Heroes NW 2017 Reception

Antoinette Edwards visited the Queer Heroes reception in June, 2017, to honor two individuals she had once mentored, and GLAPN's Bev Standish captured it on video.

Our Families: LGBT African American Stories

A video from Basic Rights Oregon.

 

Speech given by Khalil Edwards, Portland Black LGBTQ Activist

Khalil Edwards spoke at an August 24, 2013 rally commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington
Waterfront Park, Portland, Oregon

Lifetime Achievement 2017: Antoinette Edwards

Straight ally Antoinette Edwards, co-founder of Portland PFLAG Black Chapter, plus mentor and advocate for many other young people in the LGBTQ community, was recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award by Portland Monthly Magazine in 2017.

GLAPN's Queer Heroes

Since 2012, GLAPN has celebrated Pride by honoring a Queer Hero for every day in June. Each year the community nominates individuals who should be recognized for risk, sacrifice, service, example or inspiration in their service to the LGBTQ community. Their pictures and profiles are featured in a gallery show at Q Center, and all years' Queer Heroes are invited to a gallery reception at Q Center just before Pride weekend.

Here are the African American Queer Heroes who have been honored since 2012:

	The late Gladys and Bill McCoy were both active politically, and were the first African-Americans in the positions to which they were elected. Each of them also contributed to gay civil rights on the legislative front. Read more …
	From the beginnings of LGBTQ civil rights efforts, there have been members of the clergy working to include all colors of the rainbow in the community of faith. Rev. Cecil Prescod wasl nominated as Heroes for the work he did in the LGBTQ community. Read more …
	Kathleen Saadat helped organize Portland's first gay rights march in 1976. She was a leader in defeating the Oregon Citizens Alliance measures of the 1990s, and she has touched all levels of government in Oregon. Read more …
	The late Lady Elaine Peacock left an indelible mark on Portland with her beauty, talent, fundraising and networking skills, and her legacy continues today. Read more …
	Harold Strong has been active in the LGBTQ community since the 1970s. He was the first African-American Emperor in the International Court System, and he is generous with time and talent as a fundraiser, a historian, and a youth mentor. Read more …
	As an African American, gay, paraplegic artist and activist, Rupert Kinnard has been a thoughtful and creative voice in Portland's LGBTQ comunity since he arrived here in 1979. Read more …
	Many Portlanders know of Poison Waters: she is an entertainer and ambassador who transcends all boundaries of gender, race, and situation. Not so many people are aware of the work that Kevin Cook has been doing in our community for decades. Read more …
	Antoinette and Keith Edwards are co-founders of Portland PFLAG's Black Chapter, the first Black PFLFAG chapter in the USA. Read more …
	Cliff Jones' first volunteer gig was at Pride in 1981, and he has been active in Portland's LGBTQ community ever since. Read more …
	Leila Hofstein is a powerhouse among queer and trans youth of color, connecting them to community resources and teaching them how to work together to create a powerful community. Read more …
	As an African-American lesbian, Margaret-Ann Jones stands at the intersection of several kinds of discrimination. Having recently turned 65, she found herself turning the corner at another intersection. Read more …
	The Audria M. Edwards Scholarship Fund has been granting aid to LGBTQ students in Oregon and SW Washington since the early 1990s. The story of creating, naming, and continuing this organization involves some of the most prominent names in Portland's LGBTQ community. Read more …
	The late Amani Jabari was one of the first activists to address the crisis of AIDS among people of color in Oregon. Read more …
	Giovanni Blair McKenzie is founder of Queer Intersections (Qi), advocating for LGBTQ youth of color. Read more …
	Kendall Clawson was Q Center's first executive director; and she went on to serve as Deputy Chief of Staff for two of Oregon's governors. Read more …
	Llondyn Elliott is a high-school student in Portland, already active for racial justice and LGBTQ causes in her community. Read more …
	Since his own diagnosis in 1983, Maurice Evans has worked locally and at the state level to improve services for HIV/AIDS patients. Read more …
	Cory L. Murphy is an emerging leader in Portlands African American and LGBTQ communities. Read more …
	Darion Demartez Jones has been involved in LGBTQ activism for almost half of his life. He is currently on the board of PFLAG Portland's Black Chapter. He is creator and host of QTPOC Talk on KBOO-FM, supporting Portland’s Queer and Trans Community of Color; and in a full-time job in our region's philanthropic community he's bringing new focus on inclusion and equity. Read more …
	Geeta Lewis found Q Center when she needed it, and volunteered to help there wherever she could. Now she's on Q Center's board of directors, advocated for programming that is more accessible to working poor people, people of color, and transgender women. Read more …
	Judge Kemp works quietly in the Governor's office, helping to make Oregon state boards and commissions more representative of the state's population, including LGBTQ folks, women, and people of color. He's more likely to be known as an eloquent writer or one of the forces behind Portland's iconic Red Dress Party. Read more …
	Jaycen Marcus, a transgender male, wanted to live in the men's dorm with his friends, and George Fox University denied the request. The resulting legal case made headlines nationwide. Read more …
	Tyler TerMeer was diagnosed with HIV at the age of 21, and decided to spend his life openly as an HIV positive gay man of color, helping others living with HIV, and advocating for effective HIV policy. He has a remarkable record of service at state- and national levels, and he was recognized in 2012 by the Obama White House as one of the Nation’s Emerging LGBTQ+ Leaders, and then again in 2013 as being among the Emerging Black LGBTQ+ leadership in the country. In 2014, Tyler TerMeer was hired as Executive Director of Cascade AIDS Project (CAP). Read more …
	Tashia Harris (they/them/theirs and he/him/his pronouns) came to Portland to work at Western States Center as the Racial Justice Program director. Tashia is fresh from leadership at George Mason University’s Women and Gender Studies Department, Fairfax, VA. Tashia is being praised for quick and clear analysis of intersectional issues, plus insightful and appropriate action. However, most of the praise comes from the teaching that lifts up everybody who spends time around them. Read more …
	After years of addiction, homelessness and jail time, LaKeesha Dumas and O'Nesha Cochran-Dumas got clean in 2011 after they met and fell in love. After that, going back to jail and being separated from one another was too hard to bear. They joined PFLAG Portland's Black Chapter early in recovery, and eventually sat on that organization's Board of Directors. Both women are now in recovery, with jobs in the mental health sector, and providing outreach and training in the community. Read more …
	Charles Jordan was appointed in 1994 to fill a vacancy, becoming the first African-American on the Portland City Council. He immediately proved himself an ally to the LGBTQ community, voting in December 1974 for a ban on sexual orientation discrimination in city employment. As police commissioner, he put a stop to harrassment of LGBTQ young people at Portland's only all-ages nightclub that welcomed queer youth. His commitment to police accountability limited his career, but later he returned to city government as Director of Parks and Recreation. Read more …
	Beryl "BJ" Jones is featured in the Basic Rights Oregon video “Our Families: LGBT African American Stories,” relating how in the 1980s, her lesbianism resulted in loss of custody of her daughter. Over the years she has been an active volunteer in PFLAG – both the Portland and the newer Washington County chapters. Read more …
	Anthony Rivers created a "Black Health Matters" campaign in Portland as part of his HIV prevention outreach through Cascade AIDS Project, working with Sankofa Collective Northwest and A6 (African American AIDS Awareness Action Alliance). Read more …
	Dianne Riley arrived in Portland in 2008, and since then has has held a series of increasingly influential positions promoting justice and equity. Oregon Food Bank, Coalition for a Livable Future, and Social Justice Fund NW have all benefited from her leadership, and she works with with the City of Portland, Office of Community & Civic Life to support Portlanders working together and with government to build inclusive, safe and livable neighborhoods and communities. Read more …
	In 2017, Mercy M’fon Shammah observed that the wilderness in the Pacific Northwest is segregated along lines of race and social class, and decided to do something about it. She launched a $6,000 Go Fund Me campaign for what would become Wild Diversity, a Portland-based nonprofit, to help get queer folk and people of color out into the forest in the way that feels the best for them. Read more …
	Dani Sommerville moved to Portland from Detroit after graduating from high school in 2017 to be part of the queer and trans community. He immediately built up a community of fellow queer, trans, BIPOC, chronically ill and disabled community organizers and activists. In terms of accomplishment, involvement, and the lives he touched, he made enormous contributions to his community before his death by suicide in December, 2018. Read more …
	Erin Waters is the community health navigator at Kaiser Permanente’s Gender Pathways Clinic, where she is working hard to help transform one of the Northwest’s largest health systems to be more gender affirming for trans and nonbinary people. Read more …
	Jonathan Patterson is one of two openly gay Black male attorneys in the state of Oregon. Jon led the successful nationwide effort to establish the first LGBTQ division within the National Bar Association (“NBA”), the nation’s oldest and largest national organization of African American lawyers, judges, educators, and law students. Locally, he chaired the Oregon State Bar Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion and served for a time on the board of OGALLA: The LGBT Bar Association of Oregon. A contemporary says of Jon “He’s done more for minority communities than most people I know. And he’s only a few years out of law school.” Read more …
	NIKEISAH NEWTON is a part of the long line of Black lesbians whose activism has made the world a better, safer place for everyone. She began her business, Meals 4 Heels, to provide vibrant, healthy food options to sex workers. She immediately saw opportunities in underserved parts of the LGBTQ community; she rose to the occasion to provide food for frontliners and health care workers during the COVID-19 shutdown; and during the Black Lives Matter revolution, she is partnering with groups like Snack Bloc, a collective that provides free food for protesters. Read more …
	KAREN WELLS has been a social justice worker for more than fifty years. She says she's retired, but she carries a business card with the job title "change agent." From the 1970s-1990s, she was involved in the local women's culture as an artist/poet within the progressive political scene. Most recently, she was active with the planning committee of the 2020 Portland Womxn's March, leading a series of discussions about white supremacy, examining the ways we perpetuate a system of privilege and oppression, consciously or unconsciously. Read more …
	JAMAR RUFF came to Coos County from Georgia in 2017, and has been a force for good in the LGBTQ community ever since. Jamar was central to the committee that got Southern Oregon Coast Pride on track and made it happen in 2019, and he is active in a variety of LGBTQ+ community groups on the Southern Oregon Coast. Read more …
	Allinee "shiny" Flanary is a farmer on unceded Wapato territory that is now known as Sauvie Island. She is part of the Raceme Farm Collective. She grows herbs and both sells and teaches at local farmers markets, teaching and organizing for Community Supported Agriculture and Black and Indigenous farmers and makers. Read more …
	Isaiah Tillman was a shy and withdrawn kid with body image issues. Music and dance gave him the tools to help deal with all of that. Today Isaiah is ranked among the top 50 most influential burlesque performers in the world. He still describes himself as an "introverted hermit of a person," but in addition to his professional successes he teaches locally and internationally to inspire, educate, and mentor other B.i.P.O.C. He sais, "Someone needs to see me because I am like them." Read more …
	As a gay Black man, Travis Nelson had to fight through racism and stereotyping to realize his dream of becoming a nurse and a union rep for registered nurses. Travis graduated from Washington State University with BSN and RN degrees. Travis became an Emergency Room nurse, then a union representative, and a committed volunteer for the Democratic Party of Oregon.Within the Democratic Party he was the first black gay male to Co-Chair the 2020 OR Delegation to the Democratic National Convention and was the first out gay male as Director of the Western States Region Democratic Black Caucus. Read more …
	Karol Collymore is an ally who has always fought for and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with her LGBTQIA brothers and sisters for long-denied respect and rights. Among other community service, Karol has served on the Cascade AIDS Project board since 2014, became president of the board in 2018, and has signed on for another two-year term. Karol currently works at NIKE, directing the Inclusive Community Portfolio, where she focuses a considerable amount of her work on the intersections of race and orientation. Read more …
	Fay Stetz-Waters served her country as a U.S. Marine, and worked as a 911 dispatcher before attending Trinity College and Lewis & Clark Law School. She was appointed to the Linn Country Circuit Court by Governor Kate Brown to fill a midterm vacancy, but was not re-elected. Since April 2019, Fay has been Senior Assistant Attorney General, serving as Director of Civil Rights at the Oregon Department of Justice, managing the Bias Response Hotline, supervising civil rights litigation in Oregon and coordinating multi-state litigation on civil rights, education, and labor rights issues. Read more …