PrideScape Podcast

PrideScape is the official podcast of Pride Northwest, home of the annual Portland Pride Waterfront Festival and Parade and much more. Each month we will be bringing you the latest Pride Northwest updates, and important news and information affecting Oregon and SW Washington's LGBTQ+ community.

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Newest Episode

dr. sandra c. comstock at hygiene4all

Published 12/20/2022

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

Natalie berning with onpoint community credit union

Published 10/6/2022

In this episode, Debra Porta meets with Natalie Berning, Financial Advisor with OnPoint Financial Services and Raymond James at OnPoint Community Credit Union. They discuss the difference between a credit union and a bank, how to decide which financial institution to bank with, how to protect yourself financially in an economic downturn, and resources for folks needing more help with financial planning. For more information on the resources touched on in this episode, please visit OnPoint's website: https://www.onpointcu.com/financial-education/

robin will and melissa lang with glapn

Published 9/14/2022

In this extended special episode, Debra is joined by Robin Will, President of GLAPN, and Melissa Lang, Vice-President. They discuss what GLAPN does, LGBTQIA2S+ history in Portland and Oregon dating back to 1912, the 30 year anniversary of the start of “the Measure 9 years” and what we can learn from that time, as well as GLAPN’s current programming and how you can support them in their efforts to keep queer history alive. Visit their website and find out more at https://glapn.org/

Keeley Helmick with Oregon SAIGE

Published 6/8/2022

Keely Helmick, President of Oregon SAIGE and owner of Connective Therapy Collective, joins us this episode to discuss all things ORSAIGE and our upcoming collaboration at Portland Pride. We discuss who ORSAIGE is, why it’s important to have a chapter of SAIGE in Oregon, their advocacy to bring a bill to legislature to ban conversion therapy in adults in Oregon, supporting LGBTQIA+ therapists and LGBTQIA+ people seeking therapy, and the new Quiet Booth we're bringing to Pride this year.

https://www.oregonsaige.org/

https://www.connectivetherapycollective.com/

Amira stanley, owner of core gut mind connection

Published 4/14/2022

Amira Stanley of Core Gut Mind Connection joins us in this episode to talk about her journey with mindfulness and self love and how she uses self compassion even during the toughest times. Amira covers how trauma can affect our ability to sit in mindfulness and the importance of therapy in addressing trauma when moving forward. The episode closes with a mindfulness exercise led by Amira.

iden campbell, twelve6

Published 12/24/2021

Listen to Pridescape's final episode of the year. This extended episode features Iden Campbell, founder of Twelve6, which focuses on suicide prevention, especially among BIPOC LGBTQIA2S+ folks. Suicide prevention is about more than just treating the person, it requires a robust response which responds and treats the underlying issues, in addition to after care. Learn more about how Iden and Twelve6 address these issues and their upcoming suicide prevention tool coming in 2022. Content Warning, this episode discusses suicide.

https://www.twelve6.org/

author patricia j. gallegos

Published 7/22/2021

Patricia J. Gallegos is a new author.  Her debut novel, The View from My Window, is a LGBTQIA Young Adult Fantasy. The book follows Willow on her journey through violence, wisdom, and love. After all, the fate of her people rests squarely on her shoulders.

As a published illustrator, her pen and ink illustrations capture the wildlife and the landscape of the Four Corners in Under the Indian Turquoise Sky, Ye Galleon Press. This collection of Native American fables was shared, in the oral tradition, by respected Native-elder storytellers with young Native American students, who put these treasured fables into writing for the very first time. This treasury was compiled by Dr. Grace Nutley and Rosemary R. Davey.

As a Nationally Certified Sign Language Interpreter, Gallegos is a student of human nature and the language of what is unsaid but clearly stated. As a Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, she has the reputation of being the Shen whisperer, She-Who-Sees-Inside-the-Spirit. She teaches and practices Traditional Chinese Medicine in Portland, Oregon. Following her own native roots, she treads softly in the footsteps of her ancestral matriarch, who was an Apache warrior and practitioner of curanderismo.

Support local bookstores and buy her book on Indie Bound (direct link to book)

katherine fitzgibbon and elizabeth bacon brownson with resonance ensemble

Published 5/27/2021

Catch up on what is happening with Portland Pride this year. Kari Anne, the Program Assistant and Debra Porta, the Executive Director of Pride Northwest give us the low down on the official events of Portland Pride this year. This episode features one of the organizations Pride Northwest partnered with for Portland Pride this year. Katherine FitzGibbon and Elizabeth Bacon Brownson with Resonance Ensemble fill us in on how they have been using music to address the many issues that COVID19 and the pandemic have brought up for LGBTQ+ and Black, Indigenous and Communities of Color. Learn about the piece they are premiering at Pride with music by Mari Esabel Valverde and words by Dane Figuero Edidi.

Dana Louis with Gather:Make:Shelter

Published 11/21/2022

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/

Tony camacho martinez with p:ear

Published 10/20/2022

Executive Director of Pride Northwest Debra Porta is joined this episode by Tony Camacho Martinez, Program Director at p:ear, a local Portland organization that works with houseless youth. Started in 2002 and founded by 3 women, p:ear focuses on establishing connections and relationships with homeless youth, supporting them through art, education, recreation, mentorship, and work programs. Tony and Debra discuss the work that p:ear is doing and their mission, the current needs of homeless youth and how that has changed throughout the pandemic, our Pride Days of Service partnership for October, and how listeners can support p:ear. To learn more about p:ear and support their programming, please visit https://www.pearmentor.org. To learn more about the last Pride Days of Service day at p:ear and sign up to volunteer, please visit https://www.pridenw.org/volunteer-1.

Miri Cypers, Director of Northwest Region Anti-Defamation League

https://www.adl.org/

Published 4/22/2022

Director of the Northwest Region of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) joins us this episode to discuss the evolution of the ADL. Including how the way hate is directed at folks has evolved over the years and the ways the ADL is working on these issues, including technology and current hate laws.

year in review

Published 3/4/2022

Join Pride Northwest's Executive Director, Debra Porta and our Program Assistant, Kari Anne Horton as they reflect on this past year's programs. While Pride Northwest is most well known for the Portland Pride Waterfront Festival and Parade, there are a number of programs that the organization works on year round. Including community organizing around housing, and food insecurity, LGBTQIA2S+ youth programs, and our commitment to using our platform to uplift the accomplishments and history of our community. Pride is more than a party, it is a starting point. Hear how Pride Northwest puts that Pride spirit into action.

co-producers of the never look away mural, zoe piliafas and ruban lawrence

Published 8/24/2021

Learn about the original vision for the mural, the community effort that went into making it become a reality, and what the goals and hopes are for this project going forward. Hear from two of the Co-Producers Zoe Piliafas and Ruban Lawrence.

Published 6/15/2021

Catch up with the new Executive Director of the Q Center in downtown Portland, Ian Daniel Morton. Ian fills us in on some of the programs that are taking place at the Q Center, how it has been taking on this new role in the middle of the pandemic, and what is on the horizon for Q Center. 

maria peters lake and kimberlee van patten with peacock productions, inc.

Published 4/20/2021

Debra speaks with Maria Peters Lake and Kimberlee Van Patten, founders of Peacock Productions, Inc. and administrators of the Audria M. Edwards Scholarship Fund. Learn how Peacock in the Park and the scholarship fund began, the history of Peacock in the Park, and how the culture of these large events has changed over the years. They also touch on how COVID-19 and the pandemic will affect our community and LGBTQ+ events going forward. 

https://peacockinthepark.org/

a conversation with aarp’s community engagement director bandana shrestha

Published 3/11/2021

This episode examines the needs of older LGBTQ+ individuals, specifically focusing on folks who are 50+. Building across generational communities and the effect the pandemic has had on older LGBTQ+ folks and where we go from here. 

rick jung, executive Director of the portland gay men’s chorus

Published 4/5/2021

Rick fills us in on what has been happening with the Portland Gay Men's Chorus, how COVID has affected the choir and how they perform, and what's coming up this season!

state of lgbtq oregon and katie cox with equi institute

Published 2/11/2021

Debra Porta and the new Executive Director of the Equi Institute, Katie Cox discuss a new project Pride Northwest and Equi Institute will be partnering on in 2021.

welcome to pride northwest

Published 1/27/2021

Debra Porta is your host and the Executive Director of Pride Northwest. She is joined this episode by Kari Anne Horton who is the Program Assistant. Learn more about Pride Northwest programs and events, how COVID-19 upended the annual Portland Pride Waterfront Festival and Parade, and what is coming in 2021.

Have suggestions for guests or topics on the podcast? Leave them below!