Washington
At the end of last month, several Seattle LGBTQ bars were raided by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) and Seattle’s Joint Enforcement Team (JET), but after a backlash, all the citations for “lewd conduct” were reversed; The Stranger reported that the LCB sent a letter to state officials informing them of this. The board also announced that it would not issue citations for any violations reported by officers during the raids and that it has paused its collaboration with JET, which is a coalition of the LCB and police, fire, and other departments.
While the offices of the Seattle Men’s and Women’s Choruses were vandalized repeatedly, causing over $10,000 in damage, Senate Bill 5917, “concerning criminal penalties for bias-motivated defacement of private or public property,” passed in a 35-14 vote. Spokane has also suffered some vandalism, with Odyssey Youth Movement, an LGBTQ youth center, hit multiple times within a month. Two rainbow crosswalks were also splattered with paint, yet because they are considered public property, this couldn’t be classified as a hate crime. “This incident was a real blow to our community,” Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig, D-Spokane, told the Spokesman-Review. “It created a lot of anger and fear.”
The Vancouver (BC) Lunar New Year parade reversed its decision to bar progressive, LGBTQ+ groups. According to the Vancouver Sun, letters have been sent to the groups Chinatown Together and Lunar New Year for All, approving their participation in the February 11 event.
According to the Capitol Hill Seattle blog, after making major changes to the long-standing Seattle Dyke March last year, the volunteer-run Seattle Dyke Alliance organization is moving forward with a new name and new growth ahead of this summer’s march and its 30th anniversary. The Seattle Dyke March previously parted ways with Seattle Central College to find friendlier, more accessible grounds for the important annual event. “The changes were really great,” said Jill Mullins, an organizer of 15 years.
Seattle-based Five Senses Reeling, Jason Brotman‘stouring drag show company, has merged with the LA-based Producers Entertainment Group, a company with the largest roster of drag talent, Billboard reported. When we reached out to Brotman for a comment, he confirmed that he will still be part of the company, producing touring shows all over the country. In a statement, PEG president and founder David Charpentier hailed the acquisition as a game-changer for the company. “PEG has always had the mission of helping drag and LGBTQIA+ artists achieve unqualified mainstream success, and we are always looking for new strategic partners who share this mission,” he wrote in a statement. “Acquiring FSR adds major resources in the touring and artist merchandise space, which is especially important right now given how crowded and competitive the touring space has become for everyone.”
It was announced that NW treasure Jinkx Monsoon will be returning to Broadway as Matron Mama Morton in the musical Chicago for 20 performances, from June 27 to July 12. At the same time, Jinkx’s husband, Michael Abbott announced that they would be ending their three-year marriage. “With a heavy heart, I share that Jinkx and I have chosen to part ways,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “In this extremely challenging time, I want to emphasize my deep gratitude to Jinkx for the shared moments, love, and growth we experienced together. As we begin the intricate process of untangling our lives, I carry a profound appreciation for the positive impact Jinkx has had on my journey.”
Lots of Capitol Hill haunts are closing, including Ristorante Machiavelli, after 36 years. This was proceeded by the shuttering of Coastal Kitchen (30 years) and followed by Horizon Books (53 years). At press time, according to the Capitol Hill Seattle blog, both Boca Restobar and Grill and the Boca Pizzeria and Bakery were still closed after the death of founder Marco Casas-Beaux last month. According to legal documents posted on the Broadway building by lawyers for a Boca landlord, the restaurant owes more than $65,000 in unpaid rent [and] has been forced to cease operations. Additional court records show thousands more in unpaid taxes to the state. Conditions around the estate of the restaurant founder have left his daughter, Andrea Casas-Beaux, who was helping to guide the future of Boca, locked out of the business.
Editor’s Picks for March:
Emerald City Comic Con
February 29–March 3
Seattle Convention Center
Make Believe Film Festival
March 21–26
NW Film Forum, Seattle
Beyond the Build Luncheon for Habitat for Humanity
March 27, noon
Seattle Convention Center—Summit
Oregon
Oregon leaders joined forces to declare a 90-day state of emergency in downtown Portland on January 31, funneling resources into fighting the city’s deadly fentanyl crisis. Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek,Multnomah County Executive Jessica Vega Pederson and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler each made an emergency declaration to address the public health and public safety crisis, citing overdoses, deaths, and fear driven by fentanyl use, according to a press release. “Our country and our state have never seen a drug this deadly and addictive, and all are grappling with how to respond,” Kotek said. Oregon voters passed Measure 110 in 2020, which decriminalized some use of hard drugs, including fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid. The measure has received criticism, as opioid overdose deaths have steadily climbed since.
Oregon has a new member in its House of Representatives, and he’s okay with being called a “Christian nationalist.” He also thinks “the ever-expanding alphabet movement” is discriminating against his religion. Dwayne Yunker was appointed to his seat in December after Republican Rep. Lily Morgan resigned to become the city manager of Gold Hill, according to the Oregon Capital Chronicle. Several posts from his campaign website have resurfaced in light of his appointment, highlighting his self-professed “homophonic” [sic] record. In a post from August titled “No to Gay Pride Month,” Yunker ranted about why he chose to skip the beginning of a Grants Pass City Council meeting, of which he is a member, to protest its recognition of June as LGBTQ+ Pride Month.
Two Portland LGBTQ+ historic sites — downtown’s Crystal Hotel and the Rose City Park neighborhood’s Erv Lind Field — are on the way to being listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Historic research and written nominations have been completed, and public comments are invited before the city submits the request to the National Park Service, which manages the national register, The Oregonian reported. If the nominations are accepted, the sites would follow the state’s first LGBTQ+ national landmark: the Old Town drag venue Darcelle XV Showplace, which was recognized in 2020 for presenting an art form as long as a half century ago that officials say contributed to a broader societal acceptance of gay rights.
Portland advocates for parks and public spaces were excited when city officials announced a plan to overhaul and reopen O’Bryant Square, the downtown park now named Darcelle XV Plaza after the late, renowned drag performer. Now, roughly a year since the plaza’s rebirth process began, some early project stakeholders and urban design leaders fear the plans are being swayed by private business interests. According to the Portland Mercury, after completing the necessary construction (demolishing the underground parking structure and filling the hole left in its wake), the city plans to reopen the plaza in 2025 with a fresh design. The plaza will open on an interim basis for three to five years in a “beta” phase, which will save the city money and allow planners to see what will and won’t work for the space.
,Playhouse 46, the off-Broadway theater that has housed Portland-based, Triangle Production‘s Make Me Gorgeous!, reported of loss of $40,000 from its bank account when someone broke into the office, stole a check, and fraudulently cashed it, according to the theatre’s executive director, Jennifer Pluff. Playbill first learned of the event via a report in the crime reporting app Citizen. According to Pluff, the theft was discovered on Saturday, February 3, when an unauthorized withdrawal from the theater’s bank account, used for operating expenses, was identified. No employees or production staff were present when the theft happened. Also no funds from Triangle’s hit show were affected.
Editor’s Picks for March:
Qabaret Quesa: “Somewhere That’s Queen”
March 8, 10pm
The Back Door Theater, Portland
Tickets: fusetheatreensemble.com/qabaret-quesa
Holly Near: Singer in the Storm
April 10 , 7pm
The Alberta Rose Theatre, Portland
Tickets: www.etix.com/ticket/p/88579565
Montana
A new certificate looks to improve queer inclusivity at the University of Montana, as reported by Montana Kaimin. In mid-April 2023, Beth Hubble, the director of the women’s, gender and sexuality studies program at the university was asked why the LGBTQ+ studies class, which was once offered at UM in 2019 but is no longer, still appeared in the course catalog. She could only respond with the truth: the course was not being funded. Hubble, along with a team of faculty members and LGBTQIA+-identifying students on campus, worked to establish a new undergraduate certificate that will allow queer-identifying students to learn subjects relating to them and their experiences over history.
Editor’s Picks for March:
WAKAAN Expansion Tour with Liquid Stranger
March 8, 8pm
Wilma Theatre, Missoula
A Night of Patsy Cline with Juliette Angelo
March 23, 6pm
Babcock Theatre, Billings
www.arthousebillings.com/patsycline
Big Sky Reptile Expo
March 30–31
Montana Pavillon at Metra Park, Billings
Idaho
Idaho’s ban on gender-affirming care for trans minors, which makes its provision a felony, will remain blocked while a lawsuit against it proceeds, a federal appeals court ruled on January 30. A week later, the Idaho House of Representatives voted to pass legislation defining “male” and “female,” and stating that there are “only two sexes.” According to the Idaho Press, the vote was 54-14, with one absent, to send HB 421 to the Senate. As of press time, the Senate referred the bill to the State Affairs Committee.
Idaho legislators also introduced a bill to criminalize advertising illegal services or products — like marijuana — in Idaho, according to the Idaho Capital Sun. Marijuana is illegal in Idaho and in federal law. But neighboring states, like Washington, Montana, Nevada and Oregon, have legalized it for recreational use in recent years. The bill would take effect immediately after being passed.
Editor’s Picks for March:
Magic Hunks
March 4, 8pm
Kamiah Hotel Bar, Kamiah
Tickets: Eventbrite
MC Presents One Night of Queen
March 6, 8:30pm
Morrison Center for Performing Arts, Boise
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Mania: The ABBA Tribute
March 22, 7:30pm
The Egyptian Theatre, Boise
Tickets: Ticketmaster
2nd Annual Transgender Day of Visibility Show
March 30, 8pm
The Balcony Club, Boise
The Taylor Party: The TS Dance Party
March 30, 9:30pm
Knitting Factory, Boise
Free, 18+, www.taylorswiftnight.com
California
Castro Community on Patrol, a volunteer organization that seeks to deter crime by walking beats around the historically LGBTQ neighborhood, said that its longtime fiscal sponsor, SF SAFE, abruptly canceled their partnership in November after nearly two decades of working together. The decision left CCOP with some $11,000 in bills that it had expected to pay using city grant funding passed through SF SAFE, according to Greg Carey, the group’s chief of patrol, the San Francisco Standard reported. SF SAFE’s board responded by launching its own investigation and firing the executive director, Kyra Worthy, after discovering that the bank accounts at the nonprofit were depleted and indications of possible check forgery. The nonprofit was also temporarily shut down.
A California mother is suing a county government and a prison medical provider for allegedly failing to provide HIV medication to her inmate son, leading to his eventual death, ABC News reported. Police in El Dorado County arrested Lesley Overfield’s 38-year-old son Nicholas in February 2022 after he failed to appear for a court date. Upon his arrest, she gave the arresting officers his HIV medication and told them of his HIV status, so he could receive medical treatment in jail.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed into law a bill that makes HIV-prevention medication available to residents without a prescription. SB 339 authorizes pharmacists to furnish preexposure prophylaxis, commonly called PrEP, a drug that helps prevent HIV infection, as well as postexposure prophylaxis, used by patients exposed to HIV, if specified conditions are met, The Hill reported. The California State Board of Pharmacy has until October 31, 2024, to adopt emergency regulations to implement the law.
The owner of a South San José donut shop was arrested on drug charges after he allegedly manufactured and sold “pink cocaine,” officials told CBS News. According to police, the narcotics linked to Luis Carrillo-Moyeda go under various other names, including “Tusi,” “2C,” “Pantera Rosa,” and “Pink Panther.” The substance was described as a new synthetic drug made from a mixture of ketamine, MDMA, methamphetamine, cocaine, and opioids.
The Los Angeles-based comedian Margaret Cho, who has deep roots in the Ocean Beach area of San Francisco, appeared onstage at the Great American Music Hall in the Tenderloin, along with the Red Room Orchestra and musician and singer Petra Haden, according to AsAmNews. The artists performed the soundtrack from Harold and Maude (1971), a quirky dark comedy directed by Hal Ashby.
Another Oakland business says it’s shuttering. The Port Bar, a gay bar on Broadway in downtown, says its landlord will not renew its lease. The owners say the landlord, who has not responded to ABC7 KGO’s requests for comment, is demanding they stop holding queer programming. The managers of the bar hope to relocate.
One of the nation’s most celebrated gay bars is being forced from its home amid the financial fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The Stud is the longest continually running gay bar in San Francisco (54 years) and known throughout the country as one of the bohemian, gender-bending, anything-goes institutions that made San Francisco into a gay mecca, according to the AP. “Because of a lack of revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the historic bar will be announcing that [it is] permanently closing [its] location and will be holding a drag funeral to honor the end of an era of LGBT nightlife,” said one of the owners, Honey Mahogany, in a news release.
Editor’s Picks for March:
Sacramento LGBTQ Pageant
March 2, 4:30pm
Faces Nightclub
SFGMC’s Drag Me to the Movies
March 28, 7:30pm
Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco
