JANUARY 19, 2007 justputjza
Everyone in the triangle has an opinion
by Julie Sabatier
he official word is all well and good, but
comfortable there,” she said
this reporter puts no lesser merit on the
quickly before grabbing her
proverbial word on the street. I coaxed a
friend’s hand and pulling him out
friend, Dallas Oliver, a 24-year-old
the door, reminding him that she
Portland artist with a dazzling smile who
hadn’t had a drink all night.
describes himself as “sexually free,” into hitting the
As I sipped my second gin and
bars with me on a recent Wednesday night for tonic,
a lit Dallas lit up a cigarette and
tle bait-and-switch. He was the bait. I was the switch.
we relaxed a little with a few inter
As we headed over to Stark Street, which
views under our collective belt.
Dallas lovingly refers to as “Vaseline Alley,” I asked
That’s when a tall, tan guy with
my traveling companion what he thought about
stringy blond hair approached,
the changes going on there. “Sometimes you just
asking Dallas if he could bum a
want to go where there’s lots of homy gay men, and
cigarette. We said he could have
that’s what Stark Street is, but I think some
one in exchange for an interview,
changes could be really positive," he answered in
and I think we got the short end of
his Georgia drawl. (Dallas moved to Portland from
that deal.
Atlanta just over a year ago.)
“This is not where we need to
Dallas Oliver, a “sexually free“ Stark Street dweller, sees
Our first stop was Scandals’ new location at
be. We need to be more located,”
changes coming for the gay district.
1125 S.W. Stark Street, where we met Porter, 30,
said the blond dude, who identi
who told us he loves the new digs and comes in
fied only as Leroy. He explained that he moved
“Less trolling, more hipsters!” shouted someone
nearly evety night when he gets off work.
from Malibu, Calif., a year ago and recently
at the table. There seemed to be a consensus all
“{Scandals] is the only good gay bar on the strip,”
purchased a condo in the Pearl. Leroy quickly got
around that this was a good thing.
he said, but he had some harsh words for nearby
a little too friendly with Dallas, and we decided it
“I definitely agree with the whole less-trashy
Silverado. “I can’t wait ’til they leave Stark Street
was time to down our drinks and move on.
thing,” said Jody Buckelew, 26, who described
because it’s the scummiest bar here.”
We made our way east on Stark Street, stop
herself as “bisexual or what you might call
When we asked our new friend what he
ping into the Red Cap Garage. While Dallas flirt confused.” She went on to say: “I want to go to a
thought was happening to the whole area, he said:
ed with the bartender, I introduced myself to James
bar. 1 love the gay environment, but I don’t want
“It’s going to be Pearl-ized, and that’s OK. That’s
Larson, who was perched on a nearby bar stool.
to be seeing pom on the TVs. That’s why 1 like
just fine. {Scandals] won’t go anywhere."
When I asked him if he thought Stark Street
[the Red Cap Garage].”
Just as 1 was finishing my conversation with
was becoming less queer, the gay 25-year-old said:
Though it’s not exactly on Stark Street, Dallas
Porter, Dallas pulled Benjamin Oaks in with his
“1 actually was asking myself that question. I’m
and I felt no visit to the Burnside Triangle would be
tractor beam. Oaks, donning his coat and hat,
starting to see, in the gay bars, a lot of straight peo complete without stopping in to Spartacus, the adult
announced he and his friend were leaving Scandals
ple coming out more, and I kind of feel like I need
toy store that’s open late, even on Wednesdays.
for the Eagle, which will remain open at 1300 W.
to now ask everyone, ‘Are you gay or are you
“1 wouldn’t say it’s getting less gay. I’d say it’s
Burnside St. until mid-February.
straight.7’ It gets annoying after a while.”
getting a different kind of gay," said Anya Keyes,
“I kind of feel like, especially with the Eagle
Larson’s candid comments were practically
23, an assistant manager at Spartacus who says
going out really soon, it’s both a disappointment
drowned out by a raucous table of three guys and
she’s “technically bisexual.”
and not that the gay scene is kind of splintering off a woman, whooping it up on a Wednesday night.
“I’m feeling like the crowd is more upscale, like
right now," said Oaks, 26, who was born and raised
1 approached and asked them what they thought
the Pearl District crowd,” Keyes continued. “I’d say
in Portland. “[Being gay] is very accepted in this
about the changes happening on Stark Street.
it’s gocxl because it’s giving a little bit more diver
city, and so of course it’s going to splinter off, and
“I think Stark Street is totally gay and it will
sity to the store."
yet it’s really easy for me to go to all the places that
always be gay,” offered John Linneman, 28, who
Dallas and 1 did a little shopping before ulti
are here in one place.”
identifies as “straight-ish.” (It was hard to tell what
mately deciding it was rime to wrap up our report
When asked why he was leaving Scandals for
he meant by this, as he said things like “1 like pussy”
ing for the night. On the way home, I asked him if
the Eagle, Oaks said his female companion, Leslie,
and in the same breath told Dallas how adorable he
his feelings about Stark Street had changed at all.
who is straight—“Actually, I’m bisexual," she
is.) “The Pearl’s moving in here, and Stark Street is
“Well, I really feel like I need to come down
countered—well, anyway, she’s not a gay man, and
becoming gentrified as far as sexual orientation.”
here more often because I feel like it’s going to be
she prefers the Eagle, Oaks explained.
Asked what a “straight” guy was doing in a gay
gone a lot sixmer than I thought it would be," he
“I like dingy bars," Leslie said. “And they have
bar, Linneman said he enjoys the drink specials and
said. “It feels more imminent now than it did prior
to coming out witf^you tonight.” ©
pinball. And they’re cheaper. And I just feel more
“guys will buy me drinks more than girls.”
T
the move. “We really didn’t move that far, hut the
physical space is really nice compared to what it
used to be, and it just sort of upped the ante a little
hit,” he explained.
If the decision to keep Scandals on Stark is a
barometer for the surrounding area, it appears that
the future holds a slicker look, aimed at milking
customers for more dough to make up for rising
rents. This mighteventually mean that the gayness
of the triangle will diminish as more and more bars
leave the area, but for now, Scandals’ owners are
making a powerful social and economic statement
by choosing to stay on Stark. If you ask them,
they’re here, they’re queer, and they’re in it for the
long haul. ©
JULIE S abatier is a Portland writer and radio
producer. Her half-hour show DIY, Portland airs on
KBOO-FM and is available as an iTunes podcast.
You can e-mail her at julie.sabatier@gmail.com .
.
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