The best gay bars in salem oregon

Queer life has long been linked with big, coastal cities like Portland. Per an Instagram post shared last fall, Astoria legend holds that Xanadu stands at the former location of an ice cream shop and, more recently, the Voodoo Room. Xanadu opened on March 9 next to the Columbian Theater on Marine Drive and takes its name from the cult-favorite roller-disco fantasy film starring Olivia Newton-John.

Pop culture and queer historical references are important to owner Scott Justus, who serves on the board of the Lower Columbia Q Center and as membership director of the Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce. Justus said that visitors have quickly warmed to Xanadu. It offers something for people settling into the coastal town, and for younger patrons who need a safe space to have fun and figure themselves out.

Gay bars have served as crucial meeting spaces for decades. The reason most Pride celebrations take place in June, after all, is to honor the anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which were precipitated by the police raid of the Stonewall Inn in New York City. The new space is an upscale salem bar; the new owners have continued to host queer-friendly events while working to make sure Trapdoor is a space where everyone feels welcome and safe.

But he views Ashland — where he has lived for most of the last 14 years, save a stint in the military — as a place uniquely positioned for the best of inclusive environment he has been working to create. In the s, groups of skinheads in Portland and elsewhere reportedly lurked outside gay bars, attacking patrons as they left.

This year alone, the big-box retailer Target pulled some Pride Month merchandise in response to harassment of staff, and conservatives announced plans to boycott Budweiser after the company made a sponsored-content deal with a transgender influencer. And events like drag queen story hours — the first of which was organized in the Bay Area in as a way to include gay queer parents — are increasingly the focus of protests and violent threats, as well as legislation to ban such events, or ban oregon altogether.

While more Oregon communities are holding Pride the and host queer spaces than ever before, the state is not immune to the rising backlash. He also performs in drag as Fanny Rugburn, regularly hosting all-ages events like storytime readings since I have way more support — and Fanny Rugburn has way more support — in the community than there are people speaking out against her.

Wood bars he told his fans online not to engage with the harassers in any way. Police kept the neo-Nazis and their counterprotesters separated, and the event ended with no physical violence. Wood is not alone.

PHOTOS: Line dancing comes to Salem’s gay bar

They were outnumbered by counterprotesters, about of whom showed up to circle the pub during the event, which took place early on a Sunday. Pub staff told Oregon Public Broadcasting that the pub has hosted drag story hours for years — with organizer Jammie Roberts saying they also help organize similar events in Southern Oregon — but such events have recently come under the scrutiny of far-right commentators and protesters, who accuse the performers and organizers of using the events to groom children.

The logic is, apparently, that all drag performance is inherently sexual, though that idea is difficult to square with an honest definition of drag. Colorado Springs has a population of half a million people, making it the second-most populous city in the state and comparable in size to Portland. Air Force Academy, and some national media coverage of the Club Q shooting was couched in surprise that any queer spaces existed in Colorado Springs to begin with.

Entrepreneurs and organizers in smaller Oregon cities — including Eugene as well as Salem and Bend — have worked in recent years to carve out queer-friendly spaces, more often in the form of event nights than dedicated gay bars. He also hosts the pop-up party Hey Honey, which takes place at the queer-owned restaurant Spork.

Young moved to Bend in and wanted to bring with him a vision for queer nightlife that was beginning to blossom in Portland at that time, when producers were just starting to host queer parties — like Blow Pony, Gaycation and Booty — outside the safety net of gay bars. Same goes for young queens who want to host their own drag brunch, bingo or pop-up party in the meantime.