COMMUNITY
BEYOND LABELS
Community of Allies Downtown businesses host queer social events
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By Angie Helvey, Contributing Writer Photos courtesy of Beaverton Downtown Association
t’s no secret that Portland has a vibrant and bustling queer community with plenty of welcoming spaces for LBGTQIA2+ folks and their allies. But last summer, Beaverton Downtown Association Chair Kirsten Agard was meeting with City Councilor John Dugger to discuss their plans for downtown when they realized Beaverton was seriously lacking in that arena. “Our Beaverton Pride had 16,000 attendees last year,” says Kirsten. “So we know there is a large queer community here. We saw that most of our queer friends were traveling to Portland for the social scene and we wanted to change that.” Kirsten collaborated with local representatives and her friend and popular drag queen Poison Waters to start Beyond Labels, a monthly event dedicated to creating support and visibility for the LBGTQIA2+ community in the Beaverton area. “We should be celebrating it all the time, not just in June,” she says. Whether it’s Drag Queen Bingo, Sip-and-Paint Night or Team Trivia, the current phase of Beyond Labels features monthly events held at different downtown locations. The first was a Drag Queen Latte Art Throwdown held at Lionheart Coffee Company with drag queen host Pluto Momo. “It’s been fun to see the individual businesses get creative to integrate their piece while also bringing visibility to the queer
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community,” Kirsten says. Any scheduled entertainers are LBGTQIA2+ and some events are in community spaces suited for all ages, including one at the downtown library. Another cornerstone of the program is a commitment to helping houseless youth. Home Plate Youth Services is a local nonprofit supporting that community. “Teenagers make up a huge percentage of our houseless population here in Beaverton,” explains Kirsten. “Every event will be somehow tied to Home Plate, whether the business splits the proceeds with them or we do a supply drive or other fundraiser.” The Downtown Beaverton Association has teamed up with multiple community partners invested in celebrating the queer community in Beaverton, including city representatives, downtown business owners, the mayor’s assistant, and the library director. The Central Beaverton Neighborhood Association Committee is working on a grant to help businesses cover the costs of hosting events. “We are all recognizing we need to do better,” Kirsten says. “Beaverton has grown enough that we need our own identity to include our entire community. This initiative is so important to all of us, and everyone is pitching in and working together to support it.” The next phase of Beyond Labels will be even more focused on young people. “The plan is to organize a youth career day with resume and interview prep,” shares Kirsten, “We want something more tangible and impactful.” So grab a friend and come out to enjoy queer-friendly entertainment in a safe space with good company and for a good cause. For future event dates, times, and details, please visit downtownbeaverton.org.
MARCH
Bar JUNE APRIL
Clover and Booch MAY
Beaverton Library JUNE
AUGUST
The Real Work SEPTEMBER
Central Station Tap House OCTOBER
The Reser NOVEMBER
Raindrop Taphouse
Bootleggers Whiskey Bar
JULY
DECEMBER
Mutts Coffee
TanTan