Hands Across Hawthorne was a rally held at the

Hawthorne Bridge The Hawthorne Bridge is a truss bridge with a vertical lift that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, joining Hawthorne Boulevard and Madison Street. It is the oldest vertical-lift bridge in operation in the United States and the ol ...

in the

American West Coast The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S. ...

city of

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, on May 29, 2011. The demonstration was in response to an attack, one week earlier, on Brad Forkner and Christopher Rosevear, a gay male couple who had been

holding hands Holding hands is a form of physical intimacy involving two or more people. It may or may not be romantic. Cultural aspects In Western culture, spouses and romantic couples often hold hands as a sign of affection or to express psychological ...

while walking across the bridge. According to the couple and the

Portland Police Bureau The Portland Police Bureau (PPB), officially the Portland Bureau of Police, is the law enforcement agency of the city of Portland, the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. While oversight of Portland's bureaus shifts among the five City ...

, a group of five men followed Forkner and Rosevear along the bridge before physically assaulting them. The assault was condemned by Portland's mayor,

Sam Adams Samuel Adams ( – October 2, 1803) was an American statesman, political philosopher, and a Founding Father of the United States. He was a politician in colonial Massachusetts, a leader of the movement that became the American Revolution, and ...

, and its police chief, Mike Reese, and news of the attack spread throughout the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

and the United States. The attack prompted volunteers from the

Q Center Q Center is an LGBT community center and non-profit organization located in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. History The community center was established in 2005, championed by then-city Commissioner Sam Adams. Kendall Clawson, an Afr ...

, a nonprofit organization that supports the

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

community, to form street patrols as a means of monitoring Portland's downtown area. Several LGBT and human rights organizations sponsored Hands Across Hawthorne in response to the attack, with the purpose of linking hands across the entire span of the Hawthorne Bridge to show solidarity. More than 4,000 people attended the rally, which had been publicized on a single

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page 72 hours previously. Forkner, Rosevear, Mayor Adams, and other community leaders spoke at the rally. The event received attention throughout the United States. On June 5, residents of

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...

, held a similar hand-holding rally called "Hands Across Monroe", crossing the Monroe Street Bridge in Riverfront Park.

Background

Hate crimes in Portland

Portland Police Bureau statistics showed a decrease in the number of "bias crime assaults", or "

hate crime A hate crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime or bias crime) is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) of a certain social group or racial demograph ...

s", from 26 incidents in 2007 to 15 in 2009. In 2010, of just over 50 hate crime incidents reported in Portland, 20 involved gender or sexual orientation, far outnumbering racial hate crimes. In May 2010, a group of men in drag were harassed and assaulted by a group of five men. The filing of a police report resulted in a community forum at Portland's Q Center (a nonprofit organization supporting the

community), which was attended by Portland Police Chief Mike Reese, Mayor Sam Adams, and Deputy

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

Rod Underhill, together with more than 100 city residents. The attacks led to the formation of the Queer Patrol (or Q Patrols) in July 2010, which consisted of foot patrols specifically designed to protect the LGBT community in downtown Portland.

Sarah Mirk Sarah Shay Mirk (she/they) is an author, zinester, and journalist based in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. Education Mirk attended Grinnell College, graduating in 2008. Career She worked for the ''Portland Mercury'' from 2008 to 2013. ...

of ''

The Portland Mercury ''Portland Mercury'' is an alternative bi-weekly newspaper and media company founded in 2000 in Portland, Oregon. It has a sibling publication in Seattle, Washington, called '' The Stranger''. Contributors and staff Editor-in-chief: Wm. Steven ...

'' attributed the rise in the recorded number of crimes related to gender or sexual identity in 2010 to the increased number of filed police reports, this due in part to the work of the Q Patrols. Hate crimes continued in the city; in November 2010, a man perceived to be gay was severely beaten and left unconscious while walking home in southeast Portland. According to Portland Police, eight bias crimes were reported between January 1 and April 30, 2011, half the number reported during the same period in 2010.

Assault

Brad Forkner and Christopher Rosevear (aged 23 and 24, respectively) were attacked on the

Eastbank Esplanade The Eastbank Esplanade (officially Vera Katz Eastbank Esplanade) is a pedestrian and bicycle path along the east shore of the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States. Running through the Kerns, Buckman, and Hosford-Abernethy neighb ...

on May 22, 2011, after holding hands while walking across the Hawthorne Bridge in Portland, Oregon. Details of the attack were released by Portland Police on May 24. Forkner and Rosevear said a group of five men followed them from

Tom McCall Waterfront Park Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park is a park located in downtown Portland, Oregon, along the Willamette River. After the 1974 removal of Harbor Drive, a major milestone in the freeway removal movement, the park was opened to the public in 1978 ...

across the bridge, then beat them as they came down a ramp along the Esplanade. According to the description released by Portland Police, "as he couplewalked they knew several men were behind them talking, laughing and pointing but they were not sure it was directed at them." Three of the five men attacked the couple from behind. Forkner was pushed into a railing and punched multiple times before breaking away to call

9-1-1 , usually written 911, is an emergency telephone number for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Palau, Argentina, Philippines, Jordan, as well as the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), one of eight N11 codes. Like other emergency nu ...

. The attackers reportedly continued hitting Rosevear on the head, face, back and ribs until Forkner was able to call for police help. Forkner later recalled that he did not hear specific homophobic remarks, but believed the attackers may have been yelling in a foreign language. Forkner had swelling on his face, and Rosevear required stitches in his lip. The victims said that several witnesses were nearby, but did not offer help in any form. Police investigated the case as a "bias crime", noting the lack of provocation. the five men who attacked Forkner and Rosevear remained unidentified. The attack was reported by newspapers in the

and by gay-oriented media outlets nationwide. Sam Adams, Portland's gay mayor, and Police Chief Mike Reese both spoke out against the attack. Adams said, "We seek to be the city of the most equal opportunity, and we can only be that city if all people are safe and have a sense of safety on our streets and in our parks." The Cascade AIDS Project, where Forkner was the Pivot Center Coordinator at the time, launched a Facebook campaign following the attack called "Holding Hands, In Solidarity", encouraging people to post pictures of hand-holding. The Q Center also condemned the attack. The assault once again prompted Q Center volunteers to form Q Patrols as a means of monitoring the streets and reporting hate crimes to police. Plans were made to have Q Patrols available between 11 pm and 3 am until the weekend of

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

Rally

Following the attack,

Basic Rights Oregon Basic Rights Oregon is an American nonprofit LGBT rights organization based in Portland, Oregon. It is the largest advocacy, education, and political organization working in Oregon to end discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender iden ...

(BRO), Cascade AIDS Project, Pride Northwest, the Q Center, and local churches organized a rally to link hands spanning the length of the Hawthorne Bridge to show solidarity. The event was publicized by a single Facebook page, created only 72 hours previously from Cascade AIDS Project's hand-holding photo gallery. Stephen Cassell, event organizer and Q Center board member, reportedly "thought of the action plan in the middle of the night and quickly posted the idea on Facebook." The organization Progressive Oregon, which advocates for

progressivism Progressivism holds that it is possible to improve human societies through political action. As a political movement, progressivism seeks to advance the human condition through social reform based on purported advancements in science, tec ...

within that state, also advertised the event. More than 4,000 people attended the event, which began at 7:30 pm. Members of the Community of Welcoming Congregations, a coalition of more than 100 congregations in Oregon that welcome members of the gay community, and the Portland chapter of the

Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...

, also attended the rally. As demonstrators gathered at the west side of the bridge, the rally began with speeches by Forkner and Rosevear. Forkner said that this was not the first time he had feared for his safety, nor did he expect it to be the last: Sam Adams, Hands Across Hawthorne

Following Forkner's speech, Basic Rights Oregon executive director Jeana Frazzini thanked the couple, spoke of the symbolism of the hand-holding rally, and encouraged supporters to volunteer for the Q Patrol. During the rally, the crowd sang

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' "

I Want to Hold Your Hand "I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and recorded on 17 October 1963, it was the first Beatles record to be made using four-track equipment. With advance orders ...

". According to Cassell, Hands Across Hawthorne marked one of the first instances where Portland's major LGBT rights organizations worked together on an event other than the Portland

Pride Festival A pride parade (also known as pride march, pride event, or pride festival) is an outdoor event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, legal rights, and pride. The events ...

. Details of the rally were reported by various publications. ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'' contributor Chuck Currie, a

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximately 4 ...

minister from Portland, used the attack and rally to question the impact of conservative evangelical religion and other anti-gay-rights organizations. Progressive Oregon and ''

Just Out ''Just Out'' was an LGBTQ publication in Portland, Oregon founded in 1983 by Jay Brown and Renee LaChance. It ceased publication as a semimonthly newspaper in December 2011. In February 2012, Glenn-Kipp Publishing, Inc purchased the Just Out bran ...

'' (an LGBT newspaper in Portland) noted the failure of the city's largest newspaper, ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...

'', to cover the rally; the former sent a letter and petition to the paper's publisher N. Christian Anderson III, requesting "fair and balanced" coverage. Peter Bhatia, editor for ''The Oregonian'', responded to the criticism and petition signed by more than 1,400 people by saying the paper's lack of coverage was a "mistake" caused by "

human error Human error refers to something having been done that was " not intended by the actor; not desired by a set of rules or an external observer; or that led the task or system outside its acceptable limits".Senders, J.W. and Moray, N.P. (1991) Human ...

". One week after the rally, Mayor Sam Adams and his staff linked hands at Portland City Hall in solidarity. On June 5, residents of

, held a similar hand-holding rally in solidarity with the Portland community called "Hands Across Monroe", crossing the Monroe Street Bridge in Riverfront Park. That event was sponsored by The LGBT Center.

References

External links