ual & Gender Minority Youth Resource Cen-
ter (SMYRC), PFLAG Black Chapter, Oregon
Safe Schools and Communities Coalition, and
TransActive are always looking for help in their
quest to make the world a safer, better place for
the youngest members of our acronym. If you
are drawn to working with the other end of the
age spectrum, Friendly House’s Gay and Grey,
Q Center’s *eRa*: encouraging Respect for
aging, and the Elders in Action programs are
great outlets to serve the people who paved the
way for our movement today. If you’re interest-
ed in community health and wellness, Cascade
AIDS Project, Bradley Angle House, Outside
In, and Quest Center for Integrative Health
are always looking for dedicated volunteers to
further their missions. As the old saying goes,
many hands make for light work!
Adventures in Advocacy
The art of influencing the political, econom-
ic, and social landscape for our cause is ever
evolving and 2012 was no exception. Q Pa-
trol’s community-driven safety efforts, Basic
Rights Oregon’s Trans Justice work, Q Center’s
Inter-Community Dialogues, HRC Oregon &
Southwest Washington’s election efforts, the
Community of Welcoming Congregations
working to create allies in faith communi-
ties, and PFLAG changing hearts and minds
of families and friends all kept the queer fires
burning all year long. Large-scale celebrations
like Pride NW, Portland Latino Gay Pride, the
Portland Gay Men’s Chorus Gay Fair On The
Square event, and GLAPN’s Measure 9 Victory
Anniversary Celebration helped to keep our lo-
cal visibility front and center in the media as
well as over dinner tables and by water coolers
across the region.
Just Do You
While supporting and getting involved in or-
ganized activism efforts is key to the process
of our becoming truly equal citizens, some of
the most important work we can do as LGBTQ
people is just to be ourselves wherever we go.
Being out about who we are and our experience
in the world as regular people is an essential
piece of the freedom pie, and just being open
with everyone you know about what it really
means to be queer can create a wave of aware-
ness no financial gift could ever purchase. Ul-
timately, you are the most powerful vessel of
change. There is strength in numbers, so: come
out, come out, wherever you are. §
Logan Lynn writes In The Trenches for Just Out. He is a
Portland based musician, activist, writer, and is a regular
contributor to The Huffington Post.
Reach him at Logan@JustOut.com
January 2013
JustOut.com
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