Portland gay area

LGBTQ+ Community

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Festival goers walk past the Portland, Oregon Colorless Stag Sign, bespoke in their finest Pride wear for Portland’s annual Pride Parade.

Credit: Diego Diaz

Visitors to Portland can experience huge LGBTQ+ Pride parades, drag performances, queer film festivals, dance parties and more.

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Festival goers walk past the Portland, Oregon White Stag Approve, bespoke in their finest Pride wear for Portland’s annual Pride Parade.

Credit: Diego Diaz

Portland’s queer community includes a Guinness World Record holding drag queen, gay dance clubs and sports leagues, community organizations, and dozens of LGBTQ+-owned businesses. Portland was also the first major city to elect an openly gay mayor (Sam Adams in ).

Note: This section was produced in collaboration with , formerly known as PQ Monthly.

LGBTQ+ History in Portland

Portland’s LGBTQ+ history likely goes back to the first human inhabitants of the area. According to the First Nations Two-Spirit Collective, native people hold celebrated gender and sexual minorities for millennia

11 Wine Bars for Every Kind of Vibe

Portland’s gay bars are more than just hangouts. Most of the city’s dozen-plus queer bars opened in eras hostile to the queer community. The city’s oldest surviving bars were havens in an openly homophobic era, while its newest venues join a chorus of voices against an increasingly transphobic national climate. The entire LGBTQ+ community should, in the best bars, sense safe and free to let loose, have fun, and maybe nibble on something tasty, on menu or off.   

Not all queer gatherings have a permanent home, so we’ve assembled a rundown of the city’s robust scene of recurring pop-up parties alongside our favorite brick-and-mortar establishments. From leather bars to drag dens to lesbian parties to trans cabaret revues to Portland’s “gay Cheers,” there’s always somewhere where everyone’s glad you came.

Jump to: Upbeat Clubs / Low-Key Venues / Strip Clubs / Recurring Queer Parties

Upbeat Clubs

CC Slaughters

Est. | elderly town

Though technically on the outskirts of Old Town’s Entertainment District, CC’s is very much at the center

Portland LGBTQ City Guide

Portland is a gorgeous old seacoast town known for its boutiques, shops and incredible seafood, as well as for its friendly people, its diversity, and all that it offers to notice and do. It has always been a busy seaport for both cargo and fishing, but it is also a very widespread tourist destination, particularly in the summer. People flock to the town to enjoy the shopping and nearby beaches, and to soak in Portland’s unique coastal beauty. Truly, it is a beautiful city that would make a wonderful place to call home!

A View at Portland’s History

Portland was initially founded in when the citizens of nearby Falmouth formed a separate town and named it Portland. Prior to that, Portland had been home to the Algonquin native American people. Since its founding, the city has grown steadily as an important port, and also as a city rich and industry, agriculture, culture, and diversity. It remains so to this day.

A Several Fun Facts About Portland

  • Roughly 40 percent of all Maine residents live in the greater Portland area.
  • There is no transatla

    Portland Gay City Guide: A Place to be an Individual

    Spend a day perusing Portland Market. Food a Voodoo donut on the shore. Watch a ballet at Keller Auditorium. Take a selfie at the International Rose Garden. Portland has so much to offer any LGBTQ transplant. It’s known for an artsy and folky vibe with upscale housing.

     

    The City of 8 Monikers

    Portland goes by many nicknames, “City of Roses,” “Rip City,” “Stumptown,” etc. Portland started through the Oregon Trail. Large numbers of pioneer settlers began arriving in Willamette Valley in the s. It’s evolved quite a bit since then!

    Portland soon developed the reputation of a gritty port town and many referred to it as the “scion of New England.” Today, it’s a adj city full of energetic and “weird” people.

     

    Quick Portland Stats

    • The Portland Airport is rated the leading in the world for domestic flights.
    • Portland has the largest number of vegetarian and vegan options in the country.
    • The city gets a lot of rain. 42 inches per year t