june 18*2004'
DIVERSIONS
Loving what is
A
bout a month ago I attended a City Club
forum in which three of Portland’s heavy
hitters in the arts— directors of the Oregon
Symphony, Portland Opera and Oregon
Ballet Theatre— spoke of the city’s place in the
larger arts community. All three are relatively
new to Portland, and all emphasized wanting to
take their respective organizations to the next
level of excellence, putting them on par with the
nation’s premier companies.
Nothing wrong with that.
Now let me tell you about my month. (It all
comes together profoundly in the end, I promise.)
On June 8 I went to see Lily Tomlin at the
Schnitz. Lily certainly isn’t the most out enter
tainer, but she did take some potshots at President
Bush’s proposed constitutional amendment to the
uproarious delight of the Portland crowd, who she
recognized as being particularly appreciative of
certain, uh, more liberal aspects of her show.
Then on June 10, I went to see the world’s
most famous out musician, k.d. lang, again at the
Schnitz. The number of older straight couples in
attendance surprised me. But it didn’t stop k.d.
from cracking a U-Haul joke (which are only
still funny when she makes them) and noting
she thinks chicks look hot in Audis.
Consummate queer pianist Thomas Laud
erdale opened for k.d. and took the opportunity
to introduce a trio of musicians called Sneakin’
Out. He announced that he met the group at
“G ail’s Dirty Duck, which is,” he paused, “a
leather bar.” I don’t know if the straight, over-50
crowd from the West Hills knew exactly what he
meant, but they seemed to like this idea a lot,
and I wanted to kiss his little face.
The pianist then indulged in a costume
change to play with the all-queer band— and
came out wearing a sophisticated little pink
dress, complete with matching boa and kicky
little heels. The crowd ate this stuff upi
Two nights later I attended Artist Repertory
Theatre’s world premiere of The New House by
Portland playwright Joseph Fisher (not queer, but
off pens queer culture). A sharp ensemble produc
tion— two of the characters are lesbians who are
not only way more functional than the play’s other
characters, but not afraid to swap tongues onstage.
The very next day found me at Panorama to
assist in judging the Mr., Miss and Ms. Gay Pride
Pageant, hosted by two of Portland’s fave counter
culture celebrities (not just in the queer communi
ty, but in the community period), Misha R<x:k-
afeller and Poison Waters.
Down the street on the very same night Dar-
celle XV was bursting with enthusiasts for the Miss
Gay Latina Pageant, a celebration of Latino drag
and gay culture.
June 19 and 20 you can find me at one of the
biggest Pride celebrations in the country for a mid
size city. Which of the four special Saturday night
Pride parties will I attend? Oh, and there’s one Sun
day, too, after the city’s third-largest parade.
At the City Club meeting Christopher Stowell
of Oregon Ballet Theatre said he thinks Portland is
suffering from an “inferiority complex,” unfavorably
comparing its arts and culture scene to other West
Coast cities.
1 don’t know about greater Portland, but in queer
Portland, we’ve got one world-class outfit. |H"1
Miss Sweetheart Dementia Contagious and
Mr. Sweetheart Joshua Davida invite you to
the Drag Queen Dunk during Pride weekend
Crown me a winner!
T
in celebration of Pride Month.
The hilariously fun event is the brainchild
of Barfly magazine publisher Jen Lane, who
pairs up two teams every month: Stoners vs.
Lushes, Irish vs. English, etc. “We had Jews vs.
Christians for our holiday show,” she chirps.
Barfly conducts surveys with normal
Feud-type questions in bars around Portland.
So the answers, she notes, “skew towards
what drunken Portlanders think is funny.
Like a typical question would he, ‘Name
something you eat on Sunday morning,’ and
the TV answers would be, like, ‘An om elet!’
‘Pancakes!’ ‘Eggs Benedict!’ And on our
Feud it would be like, ‘P BR !’ ‘Pussy!’ ‘Eggs
Benedict!’ ”
Last year the Bears juuuust edged out the
Queens, which captain Poison Waters (natu
rally) attributes to their being “older and
sober.”
“It’s the best Feud we’ve ever had,”
exclaims Lane of last year’s match. “And
we’ve had some great Feuds.”
Cinemax presents Paternal Instinct in
celebration of Father’s Day
old contending with his parents’ divorce and
his dad’s announcement that he is gay. It’s
1982, which may account for the dorky dia
logue and retro lighting, but Jack is an after-
ncxm special gone prime time, nothing more.
Meanwhile, Cinemax presents the docu
mentary Paternal Instinct, which follows
New York City couple Mark and Erik in their
quest to become fathers. They choose the
route of surrogacy and set about finding a
woman to help their dreams come true.
Instinct at least promises the poignancy of
being a true story— a story that might not be
new to queers but possibly will be for your
straight grandparents flipping around the dial.
Meanwhile, over on PBS, the Betty
DeGeneres-narrated documentary I C an ’t
Marry You finally makes its debut, but with
out having been updated to include recent
same-sex marriage rights won in Massachu
setts, nor the abundance of civil actions taken
by leaders in other states. Sadly, production
values are low, and way ttxi many couples
were interviewed for the one-hour runtime,
j creating a complicated mishmash
g of experience, rather than deeply
? felt and focused profiles.
|
So, try to stomach this drama lite
I for now and keep the faith that queer
| TV will get past its growing pains.
?
Jack and Paternal Instinct Kith
premiere at 8 p.m. June 20. Jack
repeats at 1:45 p.m. June 26, and
Instinct repeats at 6:30 a.m. July 31.
I C an’t M any You airs on Oregon
Public Broadcasting at 11 p.m.
June 23.
wo queer pageants graced Portland venues
June 13. Panorama hosted the Mr., Miss and
Ms. Gay Pride pageant, a completely giddy
Dunk a drag queen
event, in which Mr. Gay Pride 2003 Bennie and
he Sweethearts of Portland have found a
Ms. Gay Pride 2003 Savannah Jackson (Pnde’s
unique way to raise some money (bucket
first transsexual titleholder) waved goodbye to
loads, I’d wager) for the Pride of the Rose
the crowd (Miss Gay Pride 2003 Viridia was
Scholarship Fund during Portland Pride week
notably absent) before the 2004 contest began.
end June 19 and 20: sponsor a drag queen dunk
A panel of seven judges gave points in formal
tank.
wear, swim wear and creative club attire to two
“One dollar a ball, and people can come
contestants for Mr. and Miss (a drag title) and
and dunk whichever drag queen they want,”
one for Ms. The winners are: Mr. Gay Pride
proclaims Sweetheart X V Tamra Marx, who
2004 Kahala, Miss Gay Pride 2004 Slylyka
will herself sit in the tank Sunday along with
Foxx and Ms. Pride Alexandra Paris (who
Rose Empress XXV Champagne. Saturday,
gained notoriety in Portland with her cool cable
dance show Galactic Groove).
Kahala, who is the 6-year-old
pageant’s first Asian American
winner, ran “as a dare,” he laughs.
His friend said if she ran for Miss
Gay Pride, he’d have to run for
Mr. “I didn’t think they would
run, so I said sure.”
His overall performance cer
tainly didn’t come across as
forced. “1 determined if I’m gonna
do it, I’m gonna do it,” he says.
Kahala did well in all three
categories but especially made a
splash with his brightly colored,
tight-knit swim trunks, complete
Lambda announces
with snorkel and a mobile of fish
wmners
dangling in front of him. The
he Lambda Literary Founda
crowd went crazy as he swam
tion held its 16th annual
around on his stomach. “Being
awards ceremony for authors of
bom and raised in Hawaii, it was
queer
literature June 3 in Chicago.
just one of those things.. .1 want
Top prizes went to Nina
ed to make it more interactive,
Revoyr
in Lesbian Fiction for her
live kind of swim wear.”
Kxik Southland and to Christo
All three new titleholders will
pher
Bram in Gay M en’s Fiction
open Portland’s Pride weekend
From left: Mr. Gay Pride Kahala, Miss Gay Pride Slylyka Foxx and Ms.
for Lives of the Circus Animals.
and host a few events and fund
Gay Pride Alexandra Paris will officially open Portland Pride weekend
One award winner, She’s Not
raisers this summer.
There
by
Jennifer
Finney Boylan in the
too, should make for an eventful time with
While Gay Prides were being sashed on
Transgender/Genderqueer category, drew
Kith the reigning Rose Empress Lotta Marie
Stark Street, Pebbles Campbell Starr was
some heat from trans activists for its decided
Liquor
and
Poison
Waters
each
taking
a
turn.
being crowned Miss Gay Latina VII down at
ly lighthearted (some would say trivializing)
The Sweethearts, led hy Mr. Sw eet
Darcelle XV. The competition was a little
manner
of describing the author’s male-to-
heart
X
V
I
Jo
sh
u
a
Dadiva
and
M
iss
stiffer at this one, with Pebbles Ideating out
female transition.
Sw eetheart X V I Dem entia C ontagious, is
three other “beautiful candidates,” says the
Other notable winners include Minnie
a
nonprofit
that
raises
money
fot
A
ID
S
original Miss Gay Latina Meesha Peru. The
Bruce Pratt’s The Dirt She Ate for Lesbian
organizations.
pageant is “important to all the Latinos,” notes
Poetry; Henri Cole’s Middle Earth and Mark
Peru. “We just want to let everybody know we
Bibbins’ Sky Lounge, which tied for Gay Men’s
are here, too!”
The best in bubble gum
Poetry; Lillian Faderman’s Naked in the
viewing
Promised Land for Memoir/Autohiography; and
Alison Bechdel’s Dykes and Sundry Other
on ’t count on two new June cable spe
Name a night
Carbon-based Life-forms to Watch Out For for
cials or the long-awaited documentary
you don’t want to miss
Humor. See a hill list of nominations and
I C an ’t Marry You to serve up hearty
winners at www.lambdalit.org | H
Pride
Month
fare.
he claws should certainly come out at
Showtime’s Jack is based on A.M. Home’s
Dante’s monthly Dysfunctional Family
Compiled by L isa B r a d sh a w , M ec . D aly and
1989
novel and stars Anton Yelchin (Along
Feud from 6 to 8 p.m. June 30. It’s the
G ra h a m T urner
Came a Spider) in the title role as a 15-year-
return of the Oregon Bears vs. Drag Queens
T
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