qPDX.com - Queer news, views and events for Portland » Gender (Free) for all

A weekend of beauty parlors, homo talent, old school cafeteria and house parties and the chance to earn some booty

alleyhector — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 21:06:58 +0000

Last year's Homo's Got Talent winners Nicolette and Pony, aka, Art School Dropouts

Tonight

The Cafeteria at Vendetta – The inaugural lunch lady themed new gay night at my new local bar mere blocks from my new gay house! It should also be the perfect cool down from Last Thursday, and it’s, you guessed it, within walking distance. Lunch trays and crunk gays (and $1.50 Pabst) within stumbling distance? I’m there.

Purple Rhinestone Eagle’s tour kick off – Awesome queer punk tour kickoff with STLS, Forever, and DJ Permanent Wave in between sets at Backspace (125 NW 5th). Um, have you ever heard a band with two drummers? Now is your chance dude. It’s time to rock out with whatever you got out.

BITE (Bringing Individuals Together for Equality) – More into low key noshing for a cause? 30% of food sales from the day at the Gilt Club (306 NW Broadway) will go back to Basic Rights Oregon. And they made the city’s top 10 list of burgers. So it’s going to be especially worth it for my fellow carnivores.

Friday

Play/Start, Vibrato & Tender Hooves – Looks like it’s yet another weekend where rock reigns supreme. And this show’s so punk it’s at a house. Remember those good parts of high school? Yeah!

Parlor - On the opposite end of the spectrum, you might want to get all fancy and have a big queer spa day. I think these tired bones are more for mani/pedis and massages at this point in my life than sweating it out in a basement, but to each their own. This is a benefit for both In Other Words and community member Naomi, who is currently in beauty school and will be the lead cosmetologist for the evening. Did I mention hot DJ jams and infused drinks?

Gay takeover at Snap!

Blown - Blown is back, apparently, but I’m not sure I ever went before. I did, however, attend many a good night at the Crown Room (205 NW Fourth Ave), and they have hella cheap drinks before midnight. So it’s worth checking out.

Snap! – Not explicitly a queer night Snap! is put on by awesome community member Coco Madrid and it’s their 3 year anniversary. Besides, once we had a queer takeover organized in one day and it made the whole night totally gay. I mean, the 90s were pretty gay anyway right?

Saturday

The Great Gay Treasure Hunt – I love this idea. I mean, I love a dance party, a BBQ, a river trip, all the stuff we do all the time. But a novel idea? Even better. An Amazing Race around stumptown with a real cash prize of a 1000 bucks. Nice. Tomorrow is the last day to register your 2-4 person team online, or you can register the day of for an additional charge. But it all goes to charity so you’re good either way.

Homo’s Got Talent in the Jupiter Courtyard – Last summer’s HGT was pretty off the chain, but it was in the dank E Room Tomb. I am much more looking forward to this year’s sunny Jupiter courtyard (800 E Burnside). Last year’s food mashers, naughty bit danglers and WINNERS the Art School Dropouts will be gracing the stage once again to hand over their crown. This time the harsh criticism will come from celebrity judges Mr. Charming, Sea Man and Sossity Chiricuzio. But who will take the crown? No one knows but I’m sure they’ll step up to outdo last year’s acro-balance superheroes, choreographed yo-yo ing, dinosaur tango, pony-prancing, whip-cream & twinkie debauchery.

Chunky Dunk

Sunday

Rabbit Rabbit Double Rainbow summer garden party and BBQ – The line between public and private parties has always been blurry in Portland, but especially so when there are houses that host public events often. What I have dubbed in our events calendar as All Summer, No Bummer is a private abode, but they want the queers to come out for dancing, eating, and lounging in the kiddie pool this Sunday afternoon. It starts as early as 2 and will wind down in the nighttime hours with some live acoustic music and jam sessions. Plus they have a killer fire pit. Sweet, lazy fun.

Chunky Dunk Trans Fat edition benefiting the Gender(Free) For All – I’m kind of a public pool hater. Yes, I realize all kinds of people and animals pee in the river, but in the pool it’s a small contained area that is only cleaned by eye-searing chemicals like chlorine. And you never know what to wear when you’re not quite the body size or gender norm. Well, annoying hordes of screaming kids and nasty stares have been replaced by this party which celebrates a diversity of bodies kickin’ it poolside. And Penninsula (700 N Rosa Parks) is nicely large and interestingly rounded pool with a ton of free play toys to balance and float on, or battle with. I’m just hoping queers go inside to use the potty.

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Gender Free For All: Let’s build from the ground up! – A letter from Katey Pants

alleyhector — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 22:43:25 +0000

Katey Pants for Diesel Femme. Photo by Kina Williams

Community member, DJ, and femme fashionista Katey Pants has never been a qPDX contributor per se but this is at least the second time I’ve asked to borrow her erudite thoughts that she has publicly posted in other forums. Girl’s got a lot to say and I hope we all have a lot to say back.

Take it away KP!

In August, 2009, city officials in Multnomah County Oregon declared August 1st-8th Transgendered-Americans Week. In conjunction, organizers held a Gender-Free –For-All rally in Portland. I was not part of the organizing of the rally but an attendee. I also consider many of the organizers to be close allies and some friends. The march started with a celebration of the enactment of the Transgendered-Americans Week and a number of speeches, made predominantly by Portland politicians. From there our short and permitted march went through a neighborhood in NE Portland, led and surrounded by police.

The entire rally was weird and unlike any other that I have attended. This is because when I have done work in the streets it has been with those that are most marginalized in our world and I have never been in a march where the police were actually invited. In an effort to articulate my weirdness about the prioritizing of police and politicians- I took a step back for the past couple of weeks and engaged in some self-study, dialogue with my friends and allies, and decided to write something. I hope this piece can provide some talking points about the profound implications of prioritizing politicians and police presence over those that are directly affected by state and police repression for a queer movement. This critique comes from wanting to see my queer/trans friends and allies everywhere engage in strategic political work that encourages fresh visions for securing justice, freedom, and democracy. This also comes from a political and emotional commitment to create a world free of heterosexism, homophobia, and compulsory oppressive gender relations. I want to be part of movement that also serves as a challenge to a dehumanizing status quo of state violence and capitalist bloodshed.

I want to start out by talking about the hyphenated American and its political relevance. Historically, the state acknowledges oppressed groups by tacking “American” to the end of their title, i.e.; African-American, Asian-American, and now, Transgendered-American. Celebrating the incorporation of the trans-gendered American is problematic for many reasons. Historically, queer and trans-people have been direct recipients of state violence. One need only look at incarceration rates, access to dignifying health care, and life expectancy for evidence of this. This is certainly exacerbated for queer and trans people of color. By adding the -American to queer, Transgendered or gender-queer people, the state removes itself from taking responsibility for the damage it has done on the bodies of queer and trans folks. Transgendered-American week as prescribed by Multnomah County does not address the targeting of queer and trans-folks by the police and moreover, it does not offer a solution to the intense injustice done to queer and trans-folks. Also, the incorporation of hyphenated American implies that those who are American deserve rights simply because they are American as opposed to deserving respect and dignity because they are alive. Hence, it places the deserving American above those considered undesirable and invisible in the United States. What this does is alienate queers/trans people who are immigrants, those who are in prison, those who are sex workers, and those who are simply rendered outsiders of hegemonic American society.

When attempting to build a movement for Queer and Trans freedom, it is of the utmost importance to be engage with those from below and not at the top. We should place our organizational priorities on building relationships with people who are the most oppressed as opposed to placing our organizational energy in building relationships with those already in power. Liberation can not be achieved by employing the powers that so often serve to oppress, alienate and brutalize queer, trans, and gender-queer people. The liberation struggle for queer and trans-folks can and should be connected to the struggles of oppressed peoples everywhere. This connection is not only politically relevant, as it insures that Queer and Trans people do not engage in short sided reform projects that in reality secure neither freedom or justice; but is also necessary if we are to remain true to building a better society of all queer and trans people.

Gender binary ends: Australia’s bold new move towards gender freedom

perrywinkle — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:32:37 +0000

Norrie is officially acknowledged as "zie", photo from the SMH

Coo-eee mate! I love Australians and I love Australia. A huge, far away country, with a small population (18 million) yet some of the most diverse, welcoming and radical queer communities I have ever been involved in.
The year I spent there was the most liberating of my life and so it is no surprise to me that Australia has just now become the first country in the world with a state that recognizes that people may exists outside of a binary gender system. Even more reason to true blue love you, aussies! <3

According to the website Pinknews.co.uk and the Sydney Morning Herald, being genderless or genderfree is now an actual possibility in Australia. After a life of changing gender and going in and out of transition, Norrie, a New South Wales resident, is finally officially recognized as “zie” or by the state, paving the way for others who do not wish to ascribe to any specific gender box. Amazing and liberating, a truly historical moment.

Tonight! I love your stuff/Gaycation

perrywinkle — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 22:59:17 +0000

I Love Your Stuff!

Tonight is a busy night! We suggest the following…

Start off at “I love your stuff S*express Y*ourself”.
All proceeds go to support the Gender (Free) For All March.

DJ’s Freddie Fagula and No-No will be spinning and it’s a great pre-funk event.

Starts at 7pm @ The E Room.
$5-$10 sliding scale.

Gaycation Turns 4!!

Then later, GAYCATION turns 4!
21+/$5
Holocene is the Homoscene
1001 SE Morrison!

Gender (Free) For All March is TODAY

perrywinkle — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 23:27:59 +0000

I know we are a little late on this – but our friends over at the Gender (Free) For All March are probably already setting up at Unthank Park for today’s march and celebration for the freedom of gender expression for all! This is the *new* and sparkly incarnation of the transmarch that marched with the dyke march up until last year. So come on out for some pre and post march entertainment, and make some noise for gender freedom for all!

The festivities will be at unthank park from 5-10pm TODAY. More details can be found here!

See you there!

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Tonight: Gender (Free) For All Benefit @ IOW, Fruitcake!

perrywinkle — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:37:11 +0000

Fruitcake, or Michael Jackson? Same diff

The times are a little quieter right now, it’s true, what with Seattle pride and San Francisco Pride dueling for our attentions this weekend. QPDX.com will mostly be staying in town, due to overworked livers and overworked bank accounts, but nevertheless there are a few opportunities to party this weekend. We already wrote a little preview for the GFFA benefit happening at In Other Words tonight, which should be lots of fun…after the benefit, come rock with us and maybe do the moonwalk at Fruitcake, which is happening tonight at Rumpspankers. If you’re in town, this is where you should be!

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Friday: Gender (Free) For All Fundraiser @ IOW

perrywinkle — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:32:57 +0000

Gender (Free) For All will be more colourful than this logo suggests, promise

The *new* TransMarch, our friends at Gender (Free) For All, are holding a fundraiser to help offset the cost of the march/concert/awesomeness/fuck yeah this Friday at In Other Words Bookstore, 8 NE Killingsworth St. Come on drag (your interpretation!), Have fun, mingle, snack, win prizes such as sex toy stuff, tattoo stuff from adorn, massage, pet stuff, and and and. It will be fun! Srsly. Come support this fantastic, liberating cause. Put down that star wars LP you were nerdily eyeing and bring your dollars here instead. It’s way sexier.

From their facebook:

WHEN: Friday, June 26, 2009. Door at 7, Show at 8
WHERE: In Other Words Bookstore, 8 NE Killingsworth St
COST: $5-20 sliding scale, costumes encouraged

ACCESSIBILITY: This event is wheel chair accessible and will be ASL Interpreted

WHAT
An evening of Gender (Free) For All fun! Come in drag, come in costume, come as you are and see some of Portland’s favorite musicians and performers! Featuring the tunes of Cat & Lex, Jim Strange with the Proud and the Damned, and Slim and the Competitive Eater as well as local queer/genderqueer stand-up comic Whitney Streed, the charming Johnny O, and the ever talented dance troupe, Untrained I.

Nibble on munchies and grab some raffle tickets from the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence for a chance to win goodies from Adorn Body Art, Babeland, Good Margot’s Naughty Delights, Presents of Mind, Laughing Planet, Healthy Pets Northwest, local massage therapists, artists, and more!

PURPOSE
Funds will be used to help defray the cost of the Gender (Free) For All march, as well as the pre-march rally and concert.

NEEDS
In-kind donations for snacks during the benefit, raffle/door prizes.

REWARDS
A chance to be a part of the gender freedom movement, and a tax write-off
for donation to a 501(c)3 organization.

WHY MARCH?
TransMarchPDX is moving forward to a new name, date and message!
On August 1st, 2009, trans, genderqueer folk and allies are moving toward a message of freedom of gender expression, putting it and our sexuality where it belongs: in the unbridled, infinite realm of possibility!

See you there!

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Just In: Portland’s Trans March changes name, launches website

perrywinkle — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:56:25 +0000

The Portland Trans March, which previously marched alongside the DykeMarch as part of Pride is moving in a different direction and emphasizes this with a name change: The Trans March is now “Gender (Free) For All”, and the march will be taking place on August 1st, outside of Pride.

PDX Trans March changes name, concept to "Gender (Free) For All"

Gender (Free) For All has just launched their own new website where you can join in the discussion and find out more about the march, the organizers, this transition (oh come on, i had to) and direction change and much more.

QPDX.com supports Gender (Free) For All and of course we will be covering their fundraising efforts (mark your calendars for a fundraiser at In Other Words on June 26th!).