PrideScape

Join us as we spend some quality time with cartoonist and community-builder Rupert Kinnard, to talk about his journey and latest project "Ooops...I Just Catharted!: 50 Years of Cathartic Comics!"

Rupert Kinnard is an American cartoonist who is best known for creating the first ongoing gay/lesbian-identified African-American comic-strip characters: the Brown Bomber (a teenage superhero) and Diva Touché Flambé (his ageless lesbian partner). Originally from Chicago, aside from a seven-year stint in San Francisco, Rupert has made Portland his home since 1979. In addition to becoming the first African-American person to serve on the Portland Town Council, Rupert was instrumental in the early years of Just Out and was a founding member of Brother to Brother, a social organization for African-American queer men.

Rupert's latest project, "Ooops...I Just Catharted!: 50 Years of Cathartic Comics!", is a collection of Rupert Kinnard's long-running comic strip, Cathartic Comics. From the 1970s through the 1990s, Cathartic Comics made its way from the Cornellian, the student newspaper of Cornell College, to the queer-focused alternative weekly newspapers that popped up in communities across the country. Along the way, readers delighted to the exploits of the Brown Bomber, comics' first black and gay superhero, and Diva Touché Flambé, master of the ancient practice of Slapthology. These two satirized the political and social mores of the age, touching not only upon the divide between liberal and conservative or gay and straight, but also between Black and white in the queer community and beyond. Back this project on Kickstarter.

In this episode, Pride Northwest Executive Director Debra Porta is joined by the Development Director of Rose Haven, Liz Starke. Debra and Liz discuss the services Rose Haven provides day-to-day as the only day shelter and community center specifically serving women, children, and gender-diverse people in Portland. The conversation also includes topics such as how the LGBTQIA2S+ community is impacted by homelessness and the barriers they face accessing services, the landscape of current needs for houseless and housing-insecure people in Portland, and the no-daytime camping ban in Portland and how that has affected houseless folks, shelters, and service providers.

To learn more about Rose Haven's crucial work in the community and how to get involved, please visit rosehaven.org. To stay updated on Pride Northwest's programs, visit pridenw.org. To contribute to Pride Northwest's Fall & Winter Community Impact Drive, of which Rose Haven is a beneficiary recipient, please check out our Impact Drive page here: https://www.pridenw.org/community-impact-drive

Pride Northwest is excited to support Portland Backpack as part of this year's Community Impact Drive. Portland Backpack's Mission is to serve children who are at risk of hunger by providing food sacks for weekend days when food scarcity is higher. They believe that engaging the community in their efforts creates a greater impact that reached beyond reducing hunger. Learn more about this growing organization and how you can help support their efforts.

For this PrideScape conversation, Pride Northwest Executive Director Debra Porta sat down with Madi Bourdon, local school counselor, GSA leader, and children's book author. Madi was formerly the school counselor and GSA leader for a Portland area elementary school that faced extreme backlash, doxxing, and violent threats over a planned Pride event that ultimately was cancelled for the safety of everyone involved. Debra and Madi discuss and break down what happened with Madi's former GSA and the anti-LGBTQIA2S+ vitriol over their Pride event, how she, the other organizers, and the school community were impacted, and how they were able to pivot in order to still hold a (private) Pride event for the GSA members and their families. The two also discuss the children’s book surrounding chosen family that Madi is crowdfunding for, and how people can help. Due to safety concerns, the crowdfunding page is not public, but if you are interested in contributing to Madi's book fund, please email [email protected] and a link to the page will be shared with you.

As always, please check out pridenw.org for more details about Pride Northwest's year-round work supporting the LGBTQIA2S+ community in Oregon and Southwest Washington.

In this extended episode, Executive Director of The Equi Institute Katie Cox returns to the PrideScape program to chat with Pride Northwest Executive Director Debra Porta once again. The two discuss updates from Equi and how the landscape of LGBTQIA2S+ supportive services looks currently, the work being done in the LGBTQIA2S+ housing collaborative the two organizations are founding members of, the wave of queer and trans newcomers to Oregon from conservative states, and the LGBTQIA2S+ Oregon survey project launching at 2024 Portland Pride. To stay up to date on the crucial work The Equi Institute is performing for the trans, queer, gender diverse and intersex community, and to support their efforts, please visit their website at https://www.equi-institute.org/.

In this episode, Executive Director Debra Porta sits down with Ian Morton, the new Director of Programs at Pride Northwest. The two discuss what this new position means for Pride Northwest, goals for the upcoming year and beyond, and how this year's Portland Pride Waterfront Festival and Parade went. To learn more about Pride Northwest's programs and get involved, visit pridenw.org.

In this episode, Pride Northwest Executive Director Debra Porta speaks with Cayla McGrail and Eden Dabbs from the LGBTQ+ Historic Sites Project, which is housed within the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability’s Historic Resources Program. The LGBTQ+ Historic Sites Project is a multi-year effort that works to identify, document, and preserve historic places and resources associated with lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer+ histories. Debra, Cayla, and Eden discuss the origins of the project, its timeline and goals, why it's important to document and preserve LGBTQ+ histories, and how you as a community member can get involved. If you are interested in submitting a site to be considered, please follow this link: https://www.portland.gov/bps/planning/historic-resources/lgbtq-historic-sites/questionnaire Additionally, you can contact Cayla at [email protected].

In this episode, Executive Director Debra Porta spoke with Vegas Flights, an up-and-coming drag performer, producer, director, and more. For those unaware, Pride Northwest and Vegas Flights previously partnered on The Takeoff, an all-queer youth drag show that premiered in November 2022. Debra and Vegas discuss Vegas's experience growing up, what brought them to performing, and their experience producing The Takeoff. They also touch on what is needed right now in terms of support for queer youth, as well as what's coming next for The Takeoff. To support Vegas Flights, please check out their Instagram. Make sure to watch both their page and Pride Northwest's accounts for updates regarding The Takeoff 2!

This month, Pride Northwest Executive Director Debra Porta sat down with Dr. Sandra C. Comstock, Executive Director of Hygiene4All, to discuss how Hygiene4All came about and what they do, how the pandemic has affected the local houseless community, what the landscape of resources looks like now, and how folks can engage to support Hygiene4All's mission. They also address the City of Portland's plan to tackle the homelessness crisis by building city-sanctioned camps. For those unaware, Multnomah County recently voted to approve a plan to spend more on homeless services, and their plan did not include funds for such camps. The camps are still planned to be built, but Multnomah County will not pay for them. Debra and Sandra talk through how these camps will cause undue harm to those who are already most marginalized. To read more about this recent decision from the County, you can view this article from OPB. To learn more about Hygiene4All and how to support them, please visit their website: h4apdx.org

In this extended episode, Pride Northwest Executive Director Debra Porta talks with Dana Louis, Executive Director and Shepherd of Gather:Make:Shelter, a local organization that works with populations experiencing houselessness and poverty to engage in collaborative, skill-building creative projects. Debra and Dana discuss the origins of Gather:Make:Shelter, the collaboration between Pride Northwest and GMS at 2022 Portland Pride, and various projects completed at the C3PO villages in Portland. Dana also describes stories of those she has engaged with throughout the years, and what she would like the public to know about people experiencing houselessness. If you'd like to learn more about Gather:Make:Shelter and find ways to connect with their work, please check out their website: https://www.gathermakeshelter.org/