Just out., July 02, 2004, Page 22, Image 22

22
• july2»2QÛ4
Our Big Fat
Queer
Celebration
Revelers chime in on
what floated their boat this year
by Meg Daly • Photos by Marty Davis
The Rev. Glenna
Shepherd of
Metropolitan
Community Church
of Portland and her
partner, the Rev.
Kermie Wohlenhaus
ueers have arrived! At the mainstream
table, that is. And our Portland Pride
2004 celebration showed it, with a toned'
down air of community first, raunchy sex
second...or, rather, barely there.
Or was it.?
For some, the lighthearted, upstanding-citizen
feel of Pride was a welcome development.
“It seemed more light this year, more like a true
celebration.. .like we were really celebrating the
accomplishments of 2004 and all the people who
have done all this work,” said Richard Colombo,
a musician and gay member of Portland Parents,
Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.
Q
Confessions of a Mormon Boy star Stephen Fales went even fur­
ther, saying: “Having been to Pride events around the country
where it seems to be more about the parties and seeing the pom
stars as the marshals of the parade—got to have RentBoy.com!—
it was refreshing to see the spiritual and political community out­
shine all the sex.”
Not everyone was so pious, however. Stacy Bias, creator of Fat-
GirlSpeaks and owner of TechnoDyke.com, was all too happy to
recount: “Fetish diva Midori walked past my booth in the most amaz­
ing getup...a skin-tight, fire-red latex gown with black flames licking
up from toes to nose. God damn! 1 lost track of what I was saying to
my customer and had to recount change!”
Speaking of Midori, Just Cut Arts and Culture Editor Lisa
Bradshaw commented,
“
Midori’s generalized 10-
On the cover, clockwise from
minute speech was a huge
left: Meesha Peru, the original
disappointment!
Whereas
Ms. Gay Latina; keynote
Drago’s was interesting and
speakers Drago and Midori; a
informative,
and he had the
wedding kiss; Aaron Hornstein
guts to take shots at the
and Tim Bias on a bronco ride
Human Rights Campaign and
the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force for their lack
of effort around interpreters.”
Trans activist Llewyn Máire McCobh also appreciat­
ed the more radical elements in the air. “The most
extraordinary aspect of Pride this year was the presence
of genderqueers and Pink Bloc activists sharing their
views on the politics of exclusivist capitalism that now
directly affects Pride,” said McCobh.
Back in the more mainstream limelight, Pride
celebrated various champions of queers in city
and county government. Writer and editor
Kathy Beige’s boundless enthusiasm
for Multnomah County Com­
missioner Maria Rojo de
Steffey earned her a full-on
kiss. “[Rojo] came by in
the cute convertible
with Serena Cruz
and Lisa Naito,”
said Beige. “After
cheering as loudly
as I could for
these three amaz­
ing women, 1 snapped a photo and then
Maria grabbed my arm, pulled me to her
and planted one big smack on my lips!”
Indeed, giddiness was in the air. Gwenn A.
Baldwin, co-chairperson of the LGBTQ Com­
munity Center Fund, noticed it, too. She said:
“People were so enthusiastic about every­
thing—the parade, the weather, the victories
in marriage and the defeat of the recalls. It was
as if we couldn’t wipe the grins off our faces all
weekend.”
Baldwin’s community center co-hort
David Martinez, also a staff member with
Rojo (you know how that six degrees of queer
separation works), said that marching with
Poder Latino de Oregon was his favorite part
of Pride. “¡Habia música increíble, colores
brillantes, y bailables! We had incredible
loves ya, baby?