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 ...

has a large

LGBT community The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay men, gay, bisexuality, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a comm ...

for its size. Notable LGBT people from the city include: *

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 ...

– first openly gay mayor of a large U.S. city * Matt Alber – singer-songwriter * Terry Bean – gay rights activist and political fundraiser *

James Beard James Andrews Beard (May 5, 1903 – January 23, 1985) was an American chef, cookbook author, teacher and television personality. He pioneered television cooking shows, taught at The James Beard Cooking School in New York City and Seaside, ...

– chef and cookbook author *

Byron Beck Byron Beck (born January 25, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6 foot 9 inch forward/center from the University of Denver, Beck was one of six players (along with Louie Dampier, Gerald Govan, Bob Netolicky, Stew John ...

* Brett Bigham – educator *

Jody Bleyle Team Dresch is an American punk rock band originally formed in 1993 in Olympia, Washington. The band made a significant impression on the DIY punk movement queercore, which gave voice through zines and music to the passions and concerns of LGBT p ...

– musician * Bolivia Carmichaels – drag performer *

Kate Brown Katherine Brown (born June 21, 1960) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 38th governor of Oregon since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, she served three terms as the state representative from the 13th district of the ...

– 38th Governor of Oregon *

Carrie Brownstein Carrie Rachel Brownstein (born September 27, 1974) is an American musician, actress, writer, director, and comedian. She first came to prominence as a member of the band Excuse 17 before forming the rock trio Sleater-Kinney. During a long hiatus ...

– actress, musician *

Darcelle XV Darcelle XV (November 16, 1930 – March 23, 2023) was the stage name of Walter Willard Cole, an American drag queen, entertainer, and cabaret owner and operator in Portland, Oregon. Guinness World Records had certified him as the oldest drag q ...

– drag queen * Darren G. Davis –

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

publisher and writer *

Beth Ditto Mary Beth Patterson (born February 19, 1981), known by her stage name Beth Ditto, is an American singer and songwriter most notable for her work with the indie rock band Gossip. Her voice has been compared to Etta James, Janis Joplin and Tin ...

– singer-songwriter and actress *

Sarah Dougher Sarah Dougher (born September 15, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter, author, and teacher. Dougher began her musical career playing the Farfisa organ in the Portland, Oregon based band The Crabs, and later joined Cadallaca with Sleater-Ki ...

– musician *

Donna Dresch Donna Dresch is an American punk rock musician, perhaps best known as founder, guitarist and bass guitarist of Team Dresch. Dresch has been actively involved in the queercore scene since the 1980s, as the creator of the fanzine ''Chainsaw'' an ...

– musician *

Marie Equi Marie Equi (April 7, 1872 – July 13, 1952) was an early American medical doctor in the American West devoted to providing care to working-class and poor patients. She regularly provided birth control information and abortions at a time when bot ...

– medical doctor, family planning advocate * Flawless Shade – drag queen and make-up artist * Gregory Gourdet – chef *

Laci Green Laci Green (born October 18, 1989) is an American YouTube personality, YouTuber. Her content focuses on sex education; Green also hosted ''Braless'', the first MTV YouTube channel, as part of a 12-week deal with MTV. The first episode aired Novem ...

– YouTuber *

Lou Harrison Lou Silver Harrison (May 14, 1917 – February 2, 2003) was an American composer, music critic, music theorist, painter, and creator of unique musical instruments. Harrison initially wrote in a dissonant, ultramodernist style similar to his form ...

– composer *

Alan L. Hart Alan L. Hart (born Alberta Lucille Hart, also known as Robert Allen Bamford Jr., October 4, 1890 – July 1, 1962) was an American physician, radiologist, tuberculosis researcher, writer, and novelist. Hart pioneered the use of x-ray photogr ...

– one of the first

trans men A trans man is a man who was assigned female at birth. The label of transgender man is not always interchangeable with that of transsexual man, although the two labels are often used in this way. ''Transgender'' is an umbrella term that incl ...

to undergo

hysterectomy Hysterectomy is the surgical removal of the uterus. It may also involve removal of the cervix, ovaries (oophorectomy), Fallopian tubes (salpingectomy), and other surrounding structures. Usually performed by a gynecologist, a hysterectomy may b ...

and

gonadectomy Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which an individual loses use of the testicles: the male gonad. Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles), while chemical castration uses pharmaceu ...

in the U.S. *

Todd Haynes Todd Haynes (; born January 2, 1961) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films span four decades with themes examining the personalities of well-known musicians, dysfunctional and dystopian societies, and blurred gender ...

– film director *

Jinkx Monsoon Jerick Roman Lamar Hoffer (born September 18, 1987), better known by the stage name Jinkx Monsoon, is an American drag performer, actor, comedian and singer best known for winning the fifth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and the seventh seas ...

– drag queen * Rupert Kinnard – Graphic designer, art director, activist and creator of the comic strip Cathartic Comics, featuring the first African American queer superheroes Brown Bomber and Diva Touché Flambé *

Rives Kistler Rives Kistler (born 1949) is an American attorney and judge in the state of Oregon. After college and law school on the East Coast, he moved to Oregon where he worked in private practice before joining the Oregon Department of Justice. Kistler the ...

– first and, then, only openly LGBT state supreme court justice in the U.S. *

Tina Kotek Tina Kotek (born September 30, 1966) is an American politician and the governor-elect of Oregon. Kotek served as Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives from 2013 to 2022. She was the first openly lesbian person to serve as a speaker of ...

– openly gay member of the Oregon Legislative Assembly *

Storm Large Storm Large (born Susan Storm Large, June 25, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and author. She attracted national attention as a contestant on the CBS reality television show '' Rock Star: Supernova''. For many years solely a rock ...

– singer * Thomas Lauderdale – musician *

Michael J. McShane Michael J. McShane (born 1961) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon. He previously served as a state court judge on the Oregon Multnomah County Ci ...

– United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon *

Jonte' Moaning Jonte' Moaning (born October 9, 1982 in Portland, Oregon), also known as Jonte, is an American choreographer, dancer, singer-songwriter, and model. Life and career Jonte' was born on October 9, 1985, in Portland, Oregon. He began his dance care ...

– choreographer and dancer * Lynn Nakamoto –

Oregon Supreme Court The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States.Andy Ngo Andy Cuong Ngo ( ; born ) is an American conservative journalist, author, and right-wing social media influencer known for covering and video-recording demonstrators. He is the editor-at-large of '' The Post Millennial'', a Canadian conserva ...

– journalist *

Chuck Palahniuk Charles Michael "Chuck" Palahniuk (; born February 21, 1962) is an American freelance journalist and novelist who describes his work as transgressional fiction. He has published 19 novels, three nonfiction books, two graphic novels, and two adul ...

– author *

John Paulk John Paulk (born April 13, 1963) is an American activist who, from 1998 to 2003, was an advocate of the ex-gay movement and conversion therapy. In April 2013, Paulk disavowed his belief in gay reparative therapy and issued a formal apology for his r ...

– former gay reparative therapy advocate * Poison Waters *

Johnnie Ray John Alvin Ray (January 10, 1927 – February 24, 1990) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Highly popular for most of the 1950s, Ray has been cited by critics as a major precursor to what became rock and roll, for his jazz and blu ...

– singer, songwriter, musician *

Aria Sa'id Aria Sa'id (born 1989/1990) is an American transgender advocate and political strategist based in San Francisco. She is a co-founder (along with Janetta Johnson and Honey Mahogany) and the executive director of The Transgender District, and founde ...

Dale Scott Dale Allan Scott (born August 14, 1959) is an American former umpire (baseball), umpire in Major League Baseball. He worked in the American League from 1986 to 1999, and officiated in both leagues from 2000 until his retirement after the 2017 sea ...

Ari Shapiro Ari Michael Shapiro (born September 30, 1978) is an American radio journalist. In September 2015, Shapiro became one of four rotating hosts on National Public Radio's flagship drive-time program ''All Things Considered''. He previously se ...

– journalist *

Gail Shibley Gail R. Shibley (born c. 1958) is an American politician who was the first openly gay person to serve in the Oregon State Legislature. She was appointed to the Oregon House of Representatives in January 1991, to fill a vacancy caused by Phil K ...

– first openly gay person to serve in the Oregon State Legislature * Tammy Stoner – writer, artist *

Gus Van Sant Gus Green Van Sant Jr. (born July 24, 1952) is an American film director, producer, photographer, and musician. He has earned acclaim as both an independent and mainstream filmmaker. His films typically deal with themes of marginalized subcultur ...

– filmmaker *

Corin Tucker Corin Lisa Tucker (born November 9, 1972) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for her work with rock band Sleater-Kinney. Tucker is also a member of the alternative rock supergroup Filthy Friends, and previously recorded ...

– musician *

Holcombe Waller Holcombe Waller is an American composer, singer and performance artist. He lives in Portland, Oregon, and has performed across the United States and Europe, both solo and with his ensemble, The Healers. His father was from France, therefore he ...

* Minor White – photographer *

Cameron Whitten Cameron Whitten (born April 8, 1991) is an American community activist best known for advocacy on affordable housing, racial justice, and LGBT rights. Early life and education Whitten grew up in Sterling, Virginia, outside Washington, D.C. He ...

– activist *

Kaia Wilson Kaia Lynn Wilson (born 1974) is an American musician from Portland, Oregon, best known as a founding member of both Team Dresch, a revered 1990s queercore punk band, and The Butchies, a pop-rock spin-off from her solo work. In addition to sing ...

– musician *

Martin Wong Martin Wong (; July 11, 1946 – August 12, 1999) was a Chinese-American painter of the late 20th century. His work has been described as a meticulous blend of social realism and visionary art styles. Wong's paintings often explored multiple ...

– artist *

Lidia Yuknavitch Lidia Yuknavitch ( ; born June 18, 1963) is an American writer, teacher and editor based in Oregon. She is the author of the memoir ''The Chronology of Water'', and the novels ''The Small Backs of Children,'' '' Dora: A Headcase,'' and ''The Boo ...

– writer * Peter Zuckerman – journalist

References

{{LGBT Americans by location * LGBT people from Oregon Lists of LGBT-related people

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 ...

Portland, Oregon-related lists Lists of American LGBT people