In this episode, Pride Northwest Director of Programs and this month's guest host of PrideScape, Ian Morton, guides listeners through a look at one powerful piece of a broader fight for food security, a central focus of Pride Northwest's winter “Drive to Thrive” campaign. The spotlight is on Mis Tacones, a restaurant where food, culture, and social justice intersect in meaningful ways.
Owned by Carlos Reynoso and Polo Banuelos, Mis Tacones brings traditional Chicano and LA-style street food to life with a plant based twist. Beyond their vibrant menu, Carlos and Polo have created a welcoming space that offers free meals to queer and trans people of color and other underserved community members. In this conversation, they share how this initiative began, how their identities shape their work, and what it means to serve their community through food.
This episode also highlights how community efforts contribute to the broader push for food justice and offers a meaningful glimpse into how one organization is addressing food insecurity with heart, creativity and community centered care.
After tuning in:
Learn more about Mis Tacones and support their Pay it Forward program: Mis Tacones PDX.
Mis Tacones is nominated for the VegNews Restaurant Award - a national nomination amongst other vegan businesses in the country! Vote for them here.
About Carlos and Polo:
Carlos Background: "Carlos started doing social advocacy work, because he related personally to the communities he served. As an at-risk gay youth, he'd been incarcerated, struggled with substances, etc. In social services, the burnout rate is high, and the pay is never great, so he would do side jobs in kitchens. It was like two different environments, between the social justice work and the cutthroat nature of the kitchen: where no one cared about your identity. His dream? Creating an environment in the restaurant world, that cared about humanity and valued its staff, customers, and community at large. Being vegan himself for 14 years, as a stance against cruelty in all forms, it fit perfectly with his mission as a whole."
Polo Background: "Polo Banuelos' love for cooking originated at an early age - finding comfort through food & spending quality time in the kitchen with his mother, aunts, and grandma. The importance of spreading joy through family meals and traditional recipes stuck with him, through his own vegan journey. He believes that life should be respected in all forms, including animals."
Mis Tacones backstory: "Mis Tacones was born out of homesickness, a desire to integrate the couple's roots into a new city, after moving to Portland. It was an experiment, an art project, and a call for connection. Their superpower? Coming from hard-working, immigrant families. They knew what it took to run a small business, and that's the community they want to champion."
In this episode, Executive Director of Pride Northwest and PrideScape Host, Debra Porta (she/they) sits down with PrideScape special guest, Abby Ross (they/them), a truly multifaceted guest. From academia, government, to the arts, Abby shares about their journey and how they ended up in Portland.
Debra and Abby discuss one of Abby’s recent blog posts, Authoritarianism Survival Kit: On Being Ready for the Long Run, and dive into a thoughtful discussion on current events, building community, and what community resilience looks like in today’s world.
After Tuning In:
Check out Abby Ross’ Sheathed Sword on Substack: https://sheathedsword.substack.com/
In this episode, Executive Director of Pride Northwest and PrideScape Host Debra Porta, and PrideScape special guest, Representative Travis Nelson, sit down for an open and engaging conversation about the impact of recent legislation impacting the LGBTQIA2S+ community and the importance of utilizing the leverage our community has.
Rep. Nelson also touches on his journey, identity, what drives him, and how this influences his work in the state legislature.
Learn more about IP 33: the “Equal Rights for All” initiative: Equal Rights for All | ACLU of Oregon
About Representative Travis Nelson:
Travis Nelson was appointed to the House of Representatives on January 27, 2022 representing House District 44. He was sworn in on the first day of the 2022 Legislative Session. In the 2022 general election, he was elected to his first full term as State Representative. He is proud to join the legislature as the first ever Black LGBTQIA+ member.
The grandson of Louisiana sharecroppers, his parents moved his family to the Pacific Northwest before he entered grade school. He put himself through community college and then Washington State University School of Nursing by working food service, landscaping, and janitorial positions. It is this strong work ethic that has carried him to where he is today.
Throughout his career as a Registered Nurse he saved lives by practicing constant attentiveness along with being a strong advocate. He specialized in Emergency Nursing, Critical Care Nursing, Medical-Surgical Nursing and Rehabilitation Nursing. Serving as a union representative honed his advocacy skills and allowed him to begin tackling the many problems inherent in our healthcare system. He is a member of the Sierra Club, American Nurses Association, Oregon Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, the NAACP and a former Vice President of the Oregon Nurses Association. He knows healthcare is intersectional and is entwined with our environment, housing policy, racial justice, and so many other social determinants of health. It is this intersectionality that initially drove him to run for office.
Follow Representative Travis Nelson’s new Facebook page to get regular updates on what he is working on in Salem.
Season 4, Episode 1: " A History of Ballroom in Portland"
Whether you’re a ballroom veteran or just curious about the world behind ballroom culture: join Debra Porta and Daniel Giron as they dive heels-first into the vibrant and resilient history of Portland’s ballroom scene. This episode explores how ballroom culture took root in the Pacific Northwest, the pioneers who carved out space for self-expression, and how the scene continues to evolve today. Hear personal stories, cultural reflections, and the legacy of voguing, houses, and community-building. This episode highlights the work and mission of The Rebound a 503(c) non-profit, devoted to ethically spreading the legacy of ballroom in the PNW through events, classes, panels and performances.
About our guest:
Originally from Veracruz Mexico, Daniel Giron is a well rounded entertainer and community leader featured on HBO Max hit show LEGENDARY Season 3.
You may recognize Daniel from being immortalized as a meme with the floor performance in the sand heard ’round the world. Daniel uses his social media not only as a platform to educate on Ballroom culture, but to activate and create change through movement. Shattering gender norms while using their engagement as a means of resistance and equity within communities of Queer people of color.
You can learn more and donate to Rebound PDX on their Website: The Rebound – Portland's Bimonthly Kiki Ball
You can also find Rebound PDX and Daniel on Instagram: @reboundpdx / @dnlgiron
Join us as we spend some quality time with cartoonist and community-builder Rupert Kinnard, to talk about his journey and latest project "Ooops...I Just Catharted!: 50 Years of Cathartic Comics!"
Rupert Kinnard is an American cartoonist who is best known for creating the first ongoing gay/lesbian-identified African-American comic-strip characters: the Brown Bomber (a teenage superhero) and Diva Touché Flambé (his ageless lesbian partner). Originally from Chicago, aside from a seven-year stint in San Francisco, Rupert has made Portland his home since 1979. In addition to becoming the first African-American person to serve on the Portland Town Council, Rupert was instrumental in the early years of Just Out and was a founding member of Brother to Brother, a social organization for African-American queer men.
Rupert's latest project, "Ooops...I Just Catharted!: 50 Years of Cathartic Comics!", is a collection of Rupert Kinnard's long-running comic strip, Cathartic Comics. From the 1970s through the 1990s, Cathartic Comics made its way from the Cornellian, the student newspaper of Cornell College, to the queer-focused alternative weekly newspapers that popped up in communities across the country. Along the way, readers delighted to the exploits of the Brown Bomber, comics' first black and gay superhero, and Diva Touché Flambé, master of the ancient practice of Slapthology. These two satirized the political and social mores of the age, touching not only upon the divide between liberal and conservative or gay and straight, but also between Black and white in the queer community and beyond. Back this project on Kickstarter.
In this episode, Pride Northwest Executive Director Debra Porta is joined by the Development Director of Rose Haven, Liz Starke. Debra and Liz discuss the services Rose Haven provides day-to-day as the only day shelter and community center specifically serving women, children, and gender-diverse people in Portland. The conversation also includes topics such as how the LGBTQIA2S+ community is impacted by homelessness and the barriers they face accessing services, the landscape of current needs for houseless and housing-insecure people in Portland, and the no-daytime camping ban in Portland and how that has affected houseless folks, shelters, and service providers.
To learn more about Rose Haven's crucial work in the community and how to get involved, please visit rosehaven.org. To stay updated on Pride Northwest's programs, visit pridenw.org. To contribute to Pride Northwest's Fall & Winter Community Impact Drive, of which Rose Haven is a beneficiary recipient, please check out our Impact Drive page here: https://www.pridenw.org/community-impact-drive
Pride Northwest is excited to support Portland Backpack as part of this year's Community Impact Drive. Portland Backpack's Mission is to serve children who are at risk of hunger by providing food sacks for weekend days when food scarcity is higher. They believe that engaging the community in their efforts creates a greater impact that reached beyond reducing hunger. Learn more about this growing organization and how you can help support their efforts.
For this PrideScape conversation, Pride Northwest Executive Director Debra Porta sat down with Madi Bourdon, local school counselor, GSA leader, and children's book author. Madi was formerly the school counselor and GSA leader for a Portland area elementary school that faced extreme backlash, doxxing, and violent threats over a planned Pride event that ultimately was cancelled for the safety of everyone involved. Debra and Madi discuss and break down what happened with Madi's former GSA and the anti-LGBTQIA2S+ vitriol over their Pride event, how she, the other organizers, and the school community were impacted, and how they were able to pivot in order to still hold a (private) Pride event for the GSA members and their families. The two also discuss the children’s book surrounding chosen family that Madi is crowdfunding for, and how people can help. Due to safety concerns, the crowdfunding page is not public, but if you are interested in contributing to Madi's book fund, please email debra.porta@pridenw.org and a link to the page will be shared with you.
As always, please check out pridenw.org for more details about Pride Northwest's year-round work supporting the LGBTQIA2S+ community in Oregon and Southwest Washington.
In this extended episode, Executive Director of The Equi Institute Katie Cox returns to the PrideScape program to chat with Pride Northwest Executive Director Debra Porta once again. The two discuss updates from Equi and how the landscape of LGBTQIA2S+ supportive services looks currently, the work being done in the LGBTQIA2S+ housing collaborative the two organizations are founding members of, the wave of queer and trans newcomers to Oregon from conservative states, and the LGBTQIA2S+ Oregon survey project launching at 2024 Portland Pride. To stay up to date on the crucial work The Equi Institute is performing for the trans, queer, gender diverse and intersex community, and to support their efforts, please visit their website at https://www.equi-institute.org/.
In this episode, Executive Director Debra Porta sits down with Ian Morton, the new Director of Programs at Pride Northwest. The two discuss what this new position means for Pride Northwest, goals for the upcoming year and beyond, and how this year's Portland Pride Waterfront Festival and Parade went. To learn more about Pride Northwest's programs and get involved, visit pridenw.org.
In this episode, Pride Northwest Executive Director Debra Porta speaks with Cayla McGrail and Eden Dabbs from the LGBTQ+ Historic Sites Project, which is housed within the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability’s Historic Resources Program. The LGBTQ+ Historic Sites Project is a multi-year effort that works to identify, document, and preserve historic places and resources associated with lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer+ histories. Debra, Cayla, and Eden discuss the origins of the project, its timeline and goals, why it's important to document and preserve LGBTQ+ histories, and how you as a community member can get involved. If you are interested in submitting a site to be considered, please follow this link: https://www.portland.gov/bps/planning/historic-resources/lgbtq-historic-sites/questionnaire Additionally, you can contact Cayla at cayla.mcgrail@portlandoregon.gov.
In this episode, Executive Director Debra Porta spoke with Vegas Flights, an up-and-coming drag performer, producer, director, and more. For those unaware, Pride Northwest and Vegas Flights previously partnered on The Takeoff, an all-queer youth drag show that premiered in November 2022. Debra and Vegas discuss Vegas's experience growing up, what brought them to performing, and their experience producing The Takeoff. They also touch on what is needed right now in terms of support for queer youth, as well as what's coming next for The Takeoff. To support Vegas Flights, please check out their Instagram. Make sure to watch both their page and Pride Northwest's accounts for updates regarding The Takeoff 2!
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
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/
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.
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/
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/
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.
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.
Amira Stanley of Mind Core Gut 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.