Street Roots • June 16-
News
Page 10
Standing OUT
Shayla Adkins found her place in Portland’s LGBTQ
community - hut she wasn’t always forthcoming about her
sexuality. Now, her Ms. Gay Pride crown leaves no doubt.
BY EMILLY PRADO
S T A F F W R IT E R
hayla Adkins was beaming in the
bathroom line at The Trap in Southeast
Portland, straightening the crown atop
her head when she caught my eye. With a
shiny sash that read, “Ms. Gay Pride,” the
newly minted pageant queen proudly belted
Lady Gaga’s “Born this Way” into the wee
hours of karaoke night. She divulged that in
addition to the evening marking her Pride
Northwest Pageant victory, she was also
celebrating officially coming out.
Since moving to Portland from the
conservative Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in 2014,
Adkins has grown immensely. She spent her
first year in the City of Roses trying to find
her place and, still reeling from heartbreak
after things ended with a longtime girlfriend,
she found solace during that time in partying.
Two days after her first anniversary in
Portland, she quit drinking cold turkey and
has been sober ever since.
Changing cities was a way to move past
the breakup and give herself room to grow.
After getting sober, she enrolled in the
School of Social Work at Portland State
University and has juggled college
coursework with jobs as a bartender and a
KJ, or karaoke DJ.
Although it took a bit of time, she
eventually found a sense of community and
safety within LGBTQ spaces in Portland. It
was this encouragement from her friends
that gave her the courage to try her hand at
the Pride Northwest Pageant - her first since
participating in a Junior Miss competition in
high school. It’s also the reason she opted to
sing Foreigner’s “Feels Like the First Time”
during the talent segment.
Leading up to the pageant, she made a
point of reminding her parents several times
that she had entered. While she had told her
parents that her roommate prior to the move
had actually been her girlfriend and they
expressed their support, further
conversations about her sexuality in the years
since proved tricky and often required tip
toeing around the issue, especially with her
father and extended family.
But being crowned Ms. Gay Pride and
sharing these photos widely on Facebook
provided an avenue to bravely rip off the
Band-Aid once and for all.
“It’s been on my heart a lot,” Adkins said.
“I kind of was out, I guess, but I didn’t feel
like it. A part of me did want to scream it at
the top of my lungs, but I wanted to be really
tactful and I didn’t want to shove it into
anyone’s face.”
Her roommate’s boyfriend encouraged her
to enter, and she figured if she won, it would
S
P H O T O B Y C A S S IE JO H N S O N
Shayla A dkins is crowned Ms. Gay Pride.
PRIDE NORTHWEST
Portland Pride
Waterfront Festival
When: Noon-8 p.m. Saturday,
June 17; 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sunday, June 18
Where: Tom McCall Waterfront
Park
Cost: $7 donation
Portland Pride Parade
When: 11 a.m. -1 p.m. Sunday,
June 18
Where: From West Burnside
and Northwest Park Avenue,
through Old Town, to Tom
McCall Waterfront Park
For more Pride events this weekend, go to pridenw.org/events/
settle the question about her sexuality
without having to explain it.
“I don’t have to say, ‘OK everybody, I’m
gay,’ and have to figure out the words. I get
to post a picture of me with a gay pride
sash on and everyone’s going to figure it
out.”
Now that she’s won, she’s committed to
maximizing her year as the Ms. Gay Pride
titleholder. She’ll be making appearances
and creating more connections within the
community by promoting events and
opportunities, and planning playful
fundraisers for local LGBTQ nonprofits.
Adkins said the community has been
welcoming as she navigates her sobriety.
The first six months of sobriety required
gauging her mood constantly. But, she said,
“it’s been pretty cool because going to
events like pageants or drag shows, the
focal point isn’t alcohol or partying. It gives
more depth when you have more of a
reason to go than just getting messed up
with friends. You’re there for a cause. It’s
self-fulfillment on top of just hanging out.”
Moving forward, she said, she wants to
build on this support, and incorporate
certain projects into the sober community.
As for the future of the LBGTQ
community in Portland, she’d like to see
further outreach for the families of LBGTQ
youth and general public.
“It would be really beneficial for us, as a
community, to have more support for
(LGBTQ) kids, but also information for
parents and reaching out before LGBTQ
kids become homeless,” she said.
She views this as a crucial tool for
intervention.
“The suicide rate is really high for
LGBTQ youth, especially (in the)
transgender community,” she said, “and I
think that all of the stigma that comes
along with being LGBTQ is not because of
being gay or having gender dysphoria or
whatever, but it’s (because of) other
people’s reactions.”
Adkins hopes that this Pride weekend,
people will consider attending the
festivities, whether for the first time or the
10th. The celebration holds a special place
in her heart.
“The very first time I found a sense of
belonging and comfort in the middle of
chaos. I felt safe and like a puzzle piece,”
she said. “I used to be really scared and
confused and came from a really
conservative place. So I just hope that if
people go to Pride or they see Pride, they
are inspired and keep an open mind and
advocate for the next generation of new,
young, confused people that will be there.”