THE BRILLIANT LIST
“A STRONGER SENSE OF COMMON PURPOSE”: GEORGE NICOLA
Photo by Eric Sellers By Daniel Borgen, PQ Monthly
Raised in the Midwest in the 1950s, during a time of rigid conformity, George Nicola has a unique perspective on the history of our LGBTQ movement. Then, especially, homosexuality was thoroughly demonized. Young people at the time were alienated from their hometowns because they associated those places with the homophobia they experienced when they grew up; many of Portland’s early activists were transplants from other cities.
Nicola came to Portland in 1968; there were no openly gay organizations, almost no positive literature on homosexuality, no gay support groups. He looked for gay bars but could not find them. As with many other gay people, the fact that gays were demonized made Nicola afraid to talk about to anyone about his feelings. He decided that if he could find a way to come out, he would have to make sure others would never go through what he did. On February 7, 1970, an alternative newspaper called the Willamette Bridge carried an interesting article. An anonymous young gay man who said he was lonely wanted to find someone like him. The newspaper refused to carry the ad because they thought it was sexual, which it was not. So a 21 year old gay newspaper staff member named John Wilkinson wrote a reply to the anonymous man suggesting that Portlanders organize a Gay Liberation Front (GLF) like what had recently been done in other cities. Eventually the Portland GLF was formed, and I came out through that. It was the parent of Oregon’s LGBTQ movement. Later, Nicola joined a newer gay group called the Second Foundation. That was the basis of his lobbying for Oregon’s first attempt to ban sexual orientation discrimination. These days, you’ll see George Nicola supporting a slew of local causes—Queer Intersections, PFLAG, Q Center, and many more. He also works tirelessly to record our state’s queer history—with GLAPN—and has been a regular contributor to PQ Monthly. PQ Monthly: What has it been like watching equality slowly unfold in a progressive city like ours? George Nicola: Portland has not always been progressive. By 1970, the city no longer attempted to close all the gay bars, but homophobia was still rampant. Since I came through the birth of Portland’s and Oregon’s LGBTQ movement, I have seen it all. The early gay organizations like the Portland Gay Liberation Front and the Second Foundation of Oregon produced some changes just but by being out. But it was a long time before we made any progress. There was a gradual change in attitude in the 1970s and 1980s. However, between 1988 and 2004, Oregonians endured about 34 anti-gay ballot measures, almost surely more than any other state. Eventually, all of these plus an earlier anti-gay ballot measure were overturned by legislative action or court order. Overall, there has been a gradual progression toward tolerance and inclusiveness. But it did not just happen. It occurred because we and our allies worked so hard. It was not until 1991 that the City of Portland passed an ordinance banning GEORGE NICOLA page 29
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