PDX PRIDE 2010: Mega-Packed Post With Pics of Cruise, Pre-Func, Parade, Festival, Block Party and Boogie Boutique
Boys Will be Boyz: Jake Mast (center) and friends at Sunday's Stark Street Block Party.
PORTLAND PRIDE, 2010: So much pride. So little time.
That's what it felt like this weekend as Portland celebrated its ass off (literally) in celebration of gay, lesbian, bi, trans (and whatever else fits into the queer category) pride.
Now some of the following photos may not exactly be safe for work, so browse with a bit of an eye on who might be looking over your shoulder. And I will do my best to do a little bit of commentary on each of the events. But, frankly, I know that you're here to look at all the cute boys, girls and "girls" who filled our streets to the rim over the weekend. And, oh yes, Amanda Lepore. Man, it was an amazing weekend.
PRIDE CRUISE (3-6 pm, Saturday, June 19): The weather was a bit on the dreary side, but that didn't stop several hundred cheery gay men and women from boarding the Portland Spirit for an afternoon cruise on the Willamette River. The weather may have not been so hot, but the boys more than made up for whatever the heavens couldn't.
POISON'S PRE-PRIDE PARADE PARTY (8:30-11 am, Sunday, June 20): Poison Water's hosted the second annual Pre-Pride Parade Party on the second floor of The Original Dinerant with complimentary Voodoo Doughnuts, coffee and plenty of big wet kisses to a crowd of pre-funk-ing parade-goers including the Pride Grand Marshall Darcelle XV, who was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (see above, left, with Poison and Cupcake Jones Lisa Watson) for such an early morning.
PRIDE PARADE & FESTIVAL (11:30 pm- Late Afternoon, Sunday): I love walking in the parade and this year was no different (now matter how cold and wet it was). But I really love running around before the parade to see all the different floats and walkers—and this year they broke a record with somewhere around 140 entries—as well as racing around the waterfront at the Pride Festival fairgrounds. Interesting things I noticed: Mayor Sam Adams button that said "If you don't like gay marriage, then don't marry a gay person;" a very cute and very adoptable pooch from the Oregon Humane Society (above); the truck that carried the sling-swinging dude had "Tupperware" boldly printed on one of its windows; six-packs abs really do exist in Portland; the new parade route sort of sucks but is really cool towards the end; and that someone finally figured out how to silence the ever-smaller "haters" crowd who were nowhere in sight of the parade by the time it kicked-off.
STARK STREET BLOCK PARTY/BOOGIE BOUTIQUE (3 pm until very late, Sunday): Congrats to Juan Garcia, Ron Mitchell, Justin Buckles and everyone else who made Sunday's Stark Street Block Party at RedCap/Boxxes/Brig so friggin' fun. First off, the music was great. So was the crowd (btw, where do all these cute boys live?). And the performers? Well, they were simply amazing. Popstars Chelley and Erika Jayne, porn stars Roman and Benjiman, and superstars Caswell and Amanda Lepore (that's me between them above, left) were fab-u-lous. I even had a chance to go backstage and speak to Amanda Lepore, one of the most fascinating trans people the world has ever seen and the muse of photographer David LaChappelle. I asked her if it ever freaks her out when people climb on the stage to "touch" her, as did one hippy chick on Sunday. "I love it," says Lepore. "As long as they are nice. And, usually everyone in the first three rows are nice." Amanda says, after a painful life, she feels she is truly on the right track. "I love to perform," she said applying a dab of gloss to her mega-sized lips. "It makes me happy." As for happiness, the rest of the night belonged to NYC superstar DJ Larry Tee (above right) who spun an incredible set into the wee hours at "Boogie Boutique," the pride-after party held at Aura. What a weekend, indeed.
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