A photo-documentary of the historic Portland queer performaning arts scene containing about 400 images. View inside on Instagram

Portland has not always been a safe place for queer individuals. Over the past century, Portland has shifted from having oppressive laws that lead to the incarceration of many individuals. In the 1940s, establishments with female impersonators had their liquor licenses threatened by city officials. Drag was hidden from view of the general public in the 1960s; only to be performed or demonstrated in safe spaces and underground venues, as though they were makeshift speakeasies for queer culture. It wasn’t until 1975 that Portland had its first Pride related event, which was the Gay Pride Fair held near PSU. A couple years later, Portland held its first official Pride Parade in 1977.

The last half century or so has seen Portland shift from viewing queer individuals and their performance art as vile and shameful, to a place that fosters an expanding and exceptionally talented pool of artists. In 2021, at the suggestion of Bolivia Carmichaels, I developed an online directory of local performers. When Covid 19 restrictions were lifted that year, I began spending time documenting the revival of live queer performance art.

Within this book, you will find my photography from Portland’s post-lockdown queer performance art renaissance. The performances featured occured during a twelve month period from mid-June 2021 through mid-June 2022. While all of these performances happened at queer-centered events, we respect that not all performers featured may identify as members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community.

- CJT3