nTTîTTTÏÏTnninews
O ut of T his W orld
Gay globetrotter goes on on international adventure
by Tom Stevenson
efore you read this
story,
take
a
breath— a deep,
deep breath. Be
cause after you
learn about Brian Westbrook,
it’s almost a guarantee you
will be exhausted.
T his 25-year-old gay Port
lander is, in all respects, a
man on the go. If you need a
cliché to judge him by, think
of the Energizer Bunny, dou
ble the action, and you might
come close.
Westbrook has spent the
past year roaring through queer
festivals worldwide. He has
celebrated in the midst of tens
of thousands of gay men and
lesbians at Walt Disney World
in Orlando, Fla.; served as a
key party man at Portland’s
own Pride event; checked out
the newest, honest and best
clubs in Washington, D.C.;
and whooped it up with the
throngs in London, Paris and
Italy.
It all started in May with
his trip to Orlando for Gay
Days 2002. He describes the B rian W estbrook
event as a “fun-filled weekend
o f circuit parties, Disney magic and plenty of hot
shirtless gay boys.... I think I was the only one
not on drugs, which made it even more fun.”
Westbrook says Portland Pride 2002 in June
gave him a chance to see the other side o f the
celebrations. He volunteered his time by run
ning errands, coordinating various aspects o f the
event and dealing with the media.
“I enjoyed Portland’s Pride because it was
local and because it’s a great chance to hang with
all my friends here in town,” he says. “I most
enjoyed the festival and working with all the vol
unteers. I worked long, exhausting days, but it
was a great sense o f pride when it was all done.”
Less than a week later, Westbrook was off to
W ashington, D .C ., to celebrate his father’s
retirement after 30 years in the A ir Force. He
transformed it into yet another special adven
ture. “It was Dad’s retirement turned Brian’s
weekend out in D .C .,” he says with a chuckle.
After another long flight home, he left just
three days later for Paris and London. He is no
stranger to Europe and has friends in both cities.
Westbrook arrived in Paris on a Saturday, cel
ebrated Pride, then fulfilled a longtime dream by
traveling via the Eurostar high-speed train to
London. He arrived in time to “do some clubbing"
and to enjoy that city’s gay Mardi Gras festival.
Since then he’s taken trips to San Francisco
for September’s Folsom Street Fair, Anaheim,
Calif., for October’s Gay Days 2 at Disneyland;
St. Louis to visit friends; and New York City on
business. He also just spent Thanksgiving in Italy,
and he’ll he ringing in the new year in Europe.
estbrook, who says he is single but accept
ing applications, has made his home for
the past year in the W est Hills o f Portland. He
grew up in Vancouver and Kent, Wash., as well
as Southern California.
He has been out to himself since age 18 or 19
but came out to his parents, friends and co-
workers two years ago. “Now 1 take a very laid-
W
-
Mutual Funds Investing
IRAs and Roth IRAs
Sure, you can get a lot of information on the Internet. Too much information, in
IRA Rollovers
fact. Where do you begin? How do you know it's reliable? And, most important,
Estate Planning
Retirement Planning
Investments for
Retirement Income
Savings Plans
for College
Tax Advantaged Investments
how does that information apply to your specific situation 7
Those are some of the reasons to meet with Eric Brown, a personal financial
advisor from Waddell & Reed. Eric takes the time to get to know you and your
family and help you create a workable, personalized, financial plan specifically
tailored to help you reach your goals.
For information without the confusion, call Eric Brown, financial advisor from
Waddell & Reed.
Working with the
Gay and Lesbian Community
for over Ten Years
waddell.com
in Times Square
back, ‘those who need to know, know’
approach,” he says.
Westbrook works as the Internet developer
for the Portland Trail Blazers and its affiliates:
the Portland Fire, the Rose Quarter, Jammin
95.5 FM, NewsRadio 750 KXL and some cable
networks. He also has done on-the-air work for
the radio stations, reporting on “mostly techy-
type stories.” He enjoys both facets of his job.
“I am responsible for 18 Web sites,” he says. “It’s
challenging and rewarding, but most of all it’s a lot
of fun. I’m fortunate to work for a supportive com
pany, and I really enjoy the people I work with. I’m
out to most of my co-workers, and nobody really
seems to be bothered by it.... Working in radio has
proven to be a dynamic industry... lots of changes
and plenty of interesting people to work with.”
O n top o f all his travels, Westbrook served as
co-host o f “T h e Rocky Horror Picture Show
Party” in O ctober at Boxxes. He and Portland
drag queen Misha Rockefeller put on the wild
event, which featured water guns, a costume
contest and “lots of lingerie.”
Considering his vast experience exploring
the “gayborhoods” o f so many cities, Westbrook
has been able to formulate a few observations
about how Portland stacks up. He says some
queer districts are obvious, with rainbow flags
and same-sex couples holding hands; in other
places, people have to know where they’re going.
His advice for the Rose City? “Portland’s
‘gayborhood’ needs an identity,” he says.
“T here’s no recognition, and even those in the
community itself don’t even know what that
means. I know there’s an initiative to officially
recognize the neighborhood...hut a true ‘gay
borhood’ like the Castro in San Francisco or the
Dupont area o f D .C. are more defined, where
people live and play.. .not just where a few bars
and clubs happen to be located together.” |T1
T om STEVENSON is a Portland free-lance writer
who can be reached at ruraltom@yahoo .com.
AVADDELL
«Sa: REED
Investing. With a plan.
A member of the community
that you can trust
LGBT Pride is a celebration of community, and community is all
about trust. Call a community-owned investment team for
on.
service that you
l^\\
www.griffonfmancial.com
ÉK
information not driven by commissions
or proprietary products.
• We can M a you get back on track to meeting your
finarteial goals.
/
,
* * Our team has over 35 years combined experience
in the investment business.
• Access to individual stocks, bonds and
over 6,000 mutual funds. \
£
G riffon
F inancial
G roup , L L C
Financial and Estate Planning Services
Antoinette laferriere
President GFG, Financial,
Antoinette's Direct Line: 503.528.2800
'
Toll Free: 888.434.5552 • 503.203.8585
5440 SW Westgate Drive, Suite 110 Portland, OR 97221
Securities and financial planning offered exclusively through
Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. Member NASD/SIPC