In Other Words screens and discusses Beyond Disability:
The Fe Fe Stories to kick off the new disabled women’s sup
port group Disability Express. (7 pm. 8 NE Killingsworth St.)
Dad's Group, a monthly support/social group for men
coming out later in life, meets every third Thursday at
Q Center. (7-8:30 pm. 69 SE Taylor St.)
Eowyn Wood reads from Naked in the Rain at St. Johns
Booksellers. (7:30 pm. 8622 N Lombard St.)
FRI • JUNE 22
The Back Room— an occasional series of
presentations, symposia and bacchanals hosted
by queer scribe Matthew Stadler—presents gay
author Tom Spanbauer (The Man Who Fell in Love with the
Moon, Now Is the Hour) with a meal planned and cooked
by Morgan Brownlow (Clarklewts) and live music by Phil
Elverum (aka The Microphones, aka Mount Eerie) at
Podkrepa Hall. (7 pm. 2116 N Killingsworth St. $45 from
www. thebackroompdx. com.)
Show Me the Pink performs with Dan Deacon,
Videohippos and DJ Beyonda at Holocene. (9 pm. 1001 SE
Morrison St. $7.)
SAT • JUNE 23
The Oregon Gay and Lesbian Lawyers Association hosts
the legal workshop Financial Planning for Same-Sex
Couples at Q Center to answer questions about what to do
in light of the newly passed domestic partnership legisla
tion. (Noon-5 pm. 69 SE Taylor St. $15.)
Come to the Q-LAND/MenSpirit Celebration Feast to
honor all of the powerful transformations that men have
experienced in its old Northwest Portland studio for the
past three years. (6-9 pm. RSVP to 503-223-8822 or
www. lovetribe, org/menspirit.)
Fez Ballroom hosts the 2007 Gay Oregon
Pageant. This year's theme is 'Through the
Looking Glass—An Adventure in Chaotic
Steam Portland celebrates Pride with porn star
Matt Cole on June 16.
Characters." Proceeds benefit the Pride of the Rose
Scholarship Fund. (7 pm. 816 SW 11th Ave $15 from
www. rosecourt, org.)
The Portland Lesbian Choir presents its 20th anniversary
concert, Feel Like Goin'On, at Bridgeport United Church of
Christ. (7:30 pm. 621 NE 76th Ave. $12 from In Other
Words, It's My Pleasure or Music Millennium.)
Hey, what's your vice? Holocene presents Double Down,
the fab queer party where the player always wins, every
fourth Saturday. (Bpm. 1001 SE Morrison St. $5)
SUN • JUNE 24
The Adventure Group takes a difficult mountain bike ride
among the spectacular scenery at Mount Hood National
Grace Under Fire
Gay-owned Onda Arte Latina unveils Pepe Moscoso Paniagua's photographs of Mexican
indigenous women June 28. Don't miss the group show of Latin queer artists closing June 26I
Forest. Bring food, water and a helmet. Meet in
Starbucks at Hollywood Fred Meyer or two hours later at
trailhead. (7:45 am. 3030 NE Weidler St. Laurent
503-227-2914.)
The Adventure Group takes an easy hike at the colossal
Lewis River Falls in the foothills of Mount St. Helens. Meet
in Starbucks at Hollywood Fred Meyer. (9 am. 3030 NE
Weidler St Evan 503-701-7922.)
Q-LAND and LoveTribe take a moderately challenging
Men's Eco-Hike to Monte Cristo Ridge, a secret place
full of rare Columbia Gorge wildflowers, old-growth
forest and spectacular views of Mount Adams.
Facilitated by a naturalist and Northwest native plant
specialist. (10 am. RSVP to 503-223-8822 or
www. lovetribe, org/menspirit.)
Keshet holds a potluck for all who identify as
queer Jews as well as their spouses, partners,
significant others and good friends and family,
whether Jewish or queer or not. Bring a dish and a bever
age. (5 pm David 503-224-7075.)
'
MON • JUNE 25
Learn about opportunities to help during the Q Canter
Volunteer Orientation. (6-7 pm. 69 SE Taylor St.)
Q Center hosts the Queer Trying to Conceive discussion
group for women interested in pregnancy every fourth
Monday. (7-9 pm. 69 SE Taylor St.)
Q-LAND and MenSpirit present Life Circle of a Man,
a workshop to help men rediscover their dreams, the play-
Warm, Lo-Fi and Fuzzy
At first glance, Semper Fi looks like
Grizzly Bear is an indie band based in Brooklyn that’s generated considerable buzz during the past few
a standard-issue queer confessional with all
years for its gorgeous and ghostly elegies, especially with its second album, Yellow House, released last fall on
the expected elements: a gay kid growing up
Warp Records. The album’s title refers to the yellow house of band founder Ed Droste’s mother, where it was
in the Bible Belt and harassed as a “sissy”;
recorded. Its 10 eerily timeless songs evoke the peaceful, easy feeling of dozing in a hammock on a honeyed
the minister praying for his hetero redemp
summer day or leafing through old photo albums, interrupted by sudden surprise bursts of energy.
tion; the father who “can’t understand it”;
Droste
(rhymes
the loving mother who gives unstinting
with “toasty”), who is
acceptance. The opening scene of a some
gay and in a long
what awkward, and seemingly amateurish,
term relationship (and
one-man play with the film’s star, Jeff Key,
happens to be the
in Marine dress uniform talking about his
cousin of Pink Martini
experiences as a gay soldier seems like some
chanteuse
thing we’ve heard before.
Forbes), is more or
The early section of the film explores
Semper Fi premieres 8:30 p.m. June 25 on Showtime.
China
less the band’s front
his upbringing, with revealing interviews
man but, in typical
with family and friends; it’s the kind of “God, don’t let me be gay” narrative that’s depressingly familiar.
indie style, shies away
Then something unexpected happens. Key quickly emerges as a thoughtful, charismatic man who cannot
from rock star self-
live inauthentically. He comes out to his parents and eventually moves to California. There, he finds
aggrandizement. He’s
a new family in the form of loving friends, and shocks them by living a boyhood dream of public service—
quick to point out that
in this case signing up, at age 34, to serve in the Marines. Soon he’s shipped to Iraq. His experiences there,
the
both as soldier and gay man, are the meat of the film, and he paints a remarkably vivid, sometimes heart
album, unlike its 2004
breaking picture both of the conflict at ground level and his unusual place in it.
debut, Hom of Plenty,
band’s
second
Key is a gifted storyteller whose stories are deepened by still photographs and video footage he shot in
was written not by
Iraq. As in any war, there are sad and startling extremes everywhere. One of the most haunting scenes
him alone but collabo
profiles Key’s friendship with a 10-year-old ragamuffin who tattoos the Marine’s name on his arm. Another
ratively, with contri
telling moment occurs when Key and his company realize the “unparalleled humanitarian effort" they’ve
butions from all four members. The band recently played a number of festivals, including Coachella, All
been told would rebuild Iraq fails to materialize. They desperately dispense M&M’s to the hungry
Tomorrow’s Parties in England and the just-concluded Sasquatch Festival in George, Wash. Of these,
children leaping around them.
Droste says, “Coachella was great just for how huge it was, Sasquatch had the most beautiful scenery, and
In a brilliant sequence unfortunately not caponed on film, he tells of meeting a gorgeous Iraqi soccer
Grizzly Bear founder Ed Droste (second from left) shies away from rock
star self-aggrandizement.
we played the best at ATP.”
player in the desert and trying to figure out a way to connect. It’s clear there’s an intense mutual attraction—
The day I spoke with Droste, he was preparing to entertain friends at his Brooklyn flat and was hav
not surprising considering Key’s strapping 6-foot-4 form and rugged handsomeness—and each knows the
ing trouble with his Cuisinait. The next day the band was flying to Barcelona, Spain, to take part in the
important questions to ask: “Do you have a wife.7” “Nor The Iraqi presses his lips to his palm and holds it
Primavera Sound Festival, to be followed by a stateside tour in support of Canadian singer/songwriter Feist,
up to Key—a bittersweet stand-in for the kisses they can’t manage to exchange.
including a June 26 gig in Portland. Droste says that this will complete Grizzly Bear’s support for Yellow
Contrary to the cliché, Key’s queemess caused barely a ripple with his company. Those who claim
openly gay soldiers would compromise the unity and trust within the platoon need to watch this film. Not
only was Key accepted (after a few homophobic remarks are crushed by supportive straights), he was
I louse but that a follow-up has yet to take shape, save for a couple of incipient songs.
“I can’t write songs when I’m traveling," he says. “To write music I have to be at home, stationary, in
a zenlike, almost catatonic state.”
admired, respected and loved by his fellow soldiers, whose interviews are among the most poignant in the
The man’s easygoing demeanor is much what you’d expect, at least based on his music. He seems to
film. All in all, Semper Fi is a beautifully wrought portrait of a man driven to serve a country that proba
take everything calmly in stride, whether it’s hanging out with Paris Hilton, Mika and Peaches at
bly doesn’t deserve him.
Coachella or making cabbage in a Cuisinart.
—Gary Morris
Tony LeTigre