latinogaypride
JULY 1,2011
WWW.JUSTOUT.COM
Mariposa Moment
Portland Latino Gay Pride spreads its wings with waterfront festival
BY ERIN ROOK
After five years as the official kickoff for
Pride in Portland with its early June festivi
ties, Portland Latino Gay Pride is shaking
things up in 2011 with a midsummer date
(July 14-17) featuring a festival on the East-
bank Esplanade, a full day of events for the
women and the near guarantee of warm sum
mer weather.
“It was a significant discussion because it’s
an investment,” says David Martinez, co-
founder and chair of PLGP, “but folks felt
ready.”
All signs pointed to an expansion of the
event. PLGP, now in its sixth year, had out
grown its home at the Jupiter Hotel, more
people were asking about the event during
Portland Pride and the organization had been
named Grand Marshal for the Portland Pride
Parade.
“Because of that honor we can maximize
our exposure, we can get people Excited,”
Martinez, 43, says. “So we’re excited—a little
scared, hut excited.”
This year at Portland Pride, Martinez was
able to tell people, “Mark your calendars.
Pride continues.”
Martinez and the planning committee are
building on the momentum from last year’s
celebration, which he said maxed out the Ju
piter’s capacity at 650 people and probably
saw 1,000 visitors over the course of the fes
tivities. This year, PLGP is planning for up to
1,000 people at one time and expects a total
of 1,500 to 2,000 attendees.
If even half that many people pay the $5
suggested donation, PLGP will raise $5,000
for its scholarship fund—this year, Seattle’s
Pride Foundation has offered to match festi
val donations up to $2,500.
“They’re doing that because they believe in
us,” Martinez says.
The event’s growth is evidence of the plan
ning committee’s commitment to creating an
event that reflects the diversity of the
community.
“This celebration is for everyone, we really
wanted to make that clear,” Martinez says.
But in the early years of PLGP, “a couple of
segments of the population weren’t as in
volved. Women were one.”
That’s all changing in 2011. Although the
participation of women has increased over
the past few years, this is the first time PLGP
will dedicate an entire day to the chicas.
“Portland Latino Gay Pride has been cele
brating the Latino LGTBQcommunity since
2006. Latina (Chicas)-specific events were
added to the tradition in 2008 with Chicas
Who Brunch—an event designed to give
Latinas a space to meet other Latinas in the
Portland metro community,” says Vanessa La
Torre, chair of Chicas CelebrAccion (see pro
file, p. 23). “This year, we are expanding on
this tradition by offering Chicas CelebrAc
cion—a full day of activities that offers a little
of everything for everyone.”
In the spirit of inclusiveness, Chicas Cele
brAccion both honors LGBTQ_Latinas and
embraces all those who love them.
“Without our allies—our friends, families,
colleagues and acquaintances—we wouldn’t
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we’re expecting to continue to draw
[people] and become a destination for
folks throughout the nation.”
-DAVID MARTINEZ,
CO-FOUNDER & CHAIR, PLGP
be who we are, or where we are today,” La
Torre, 30, says. “Chicas CelebrAccion is a day
to celebrate the Latina voice, especially the
Latina LGBTQ_voice. We hope that anyone
and everyone can come celebrate us... regard
less of how you identify—or don’t.”
Martinez says PLGP is also trying to make
the event more accessible to Spanish-speak
ing Latinos. To that end, the festival will be
presented in both Spanish and English. The
longstanding involvement of bilingual news
paper E l Hispanic News (publisher Melanie
Davis co-founded PLGP with Martinez)
helps reach Spanish speakers as well.
“I think it’s something we continue to rec
ognize and want, to be inclusive of the entire
community,” Martinez says. “In every com
munity there’s diversity. We’re trying to find
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I ways to increase the participation of every
^ segment of the Latino community.”
It was the recognition of that diversity in
the midst of Portland Pride 2005 that in
spired Martinez and Davis to start PLGP.
“The first celebration was sort of a brain
storm vision that Melanie Davis and myself
had at the Pride festival and parade,” Marti
nez explains. “We had heard about other La
tino gay prides and, for both of us, it just
seemed like an exciting possibility.”
At the time there was a Latino gay pride
celebration in San Jose, Calif. While that
event has since ceased, Chicago started an
event the same year as Portland, and Wash
ington, D.C. joined in the following year.
“W hat’s been great for us is when we’ve
been able to connect with other Latino gay
prides,” Martinez relates, just a few days be
fore flying out to a Latino leadership confer
ence in Cincinnati that would give him the
opportunity to do just that.
The fact that more events are popping up
around the country reflects the need for cul
turally specific Pride celebrations.
“From that first one we were just stunned
by all the support and the interest and the
personal stories we heard from people who
did not realize that there were gay Latinos,”
Martinez says. “And so [PLGP] sort of just
grew from there.”
Martinez is quick to point out, however,
that there were Latino events and organiza
tions in town before PLGP was established.
Still, Portland Latino Gay Pride brings some
thing different.
“W hat’s interesting is a lot of bars will have
Latino nights—Boxxes and Embers and Sil
verado—so there’s definitely a population.
And then the pageants, there’s Poder Latino
and Latin Look (see profiles, p. 21 and p. 19,
respectively)— they’ve been around and been
part of the community,” Martinez says. “I