LGBT culture in Portland, Oregon

Entrances to Darcelle XV Showplace and CC Slaughters in 2012

Scandals (pictured in 2015) occupies a Stark Street building which previously housed Three Sisters Tavern

Currently operating LGBT drinking establishments and nightclubs include: CC Slaughters, Crush Bar, Eagle Portland, Santé Bar, Scandals (1979), Silverado, and Stag PDX (2015).[9] Silverado and Stag are also strip clubs, along with Fuzzy Navels.[10][11] Back 2 Earth was established in 2023.[12][13]

Coffin Club (formerly Lovecraft Bar) has also been described as an LGBT-friendly bar. The Sports Bra, established in 2022, is an LGBTQ-owned bar focused on women's sports. Rebel Rebel is in Old Town Chinatown.[14] 2022 also saw the openings of the LGBTQ video bar Sissy Bar, and Doc Marie's, a lesbian bar.[15][16] Misfits Bar and Lounge has been described as a "laidback queer hangout".[10]

The drag venue Darcelle XV Showplace was established by Darcelle XV in 1967 and continues to host shows regularly. Other notable drag performers from Portland include Bolivia Carmichaels, Flawless Shade, and Poison Waters.

Gay bathhouses operating in Portland include Hawks PDX (2012–present) and Steam Portland (since 2003).

Monthly Blow Pony dances were established in Portland by Airick Redwolf in 2007. Inferno monthly dance parties hosted by Hot Flash Productions owner/operators DJ Wildfire (Jenn Davis) and Armida Hanlon that first began in Portland in 2004 and are now held regularly in Portland and Seattle.[17][18] Portland also hosts Bearracuda dance events regularly.

The queer-owned vegan restaurant Mis Tacones was established as a pop-up restaurant in 2016 and relocated to a brick and mortar space in 2022. The queer-owned and operated Taqueria Los Puñales opened in 2020.

Exterior of Embers Avenue, 2014

Defunct establishments include Egyptian Club (1995–2010), Gail's Dirty Duck Tavern,[19] Red Cap Garage (1987–2012), Starky's, and Three Sisters Tavern (1964–2004), which also operated as a strip club. The gay bathhouse Club Portland closed in 2007. Embers Avenue, established during the 1970s,[20] and Escape Nightclub both closed in 2017.[21]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hobo's and Local Lounge closed in 2020 and 2021, respectively. In late 2021, Daniel Bund opened The Queen's Head, an English-style pub and lounge hosting drag shows and burlesque performances frequently.[22] The bar closed in 2022.

The Roxy was an LGBT-friendly diner along Southwest Harvey Milk Street. The restaurant opened in 1994 and closed in March 2022. Sullivan's Gulch Bar & Grill (formerly known as Joq's Tavern,[23][24] or simply Joq's) has also been described as an LGBT establishment. Shine Distillery and Grill, which closed in 2023, was described as a gay bar.

Barbarella

Logo
The nightclub's exterior in 2020
Address	125 Northwest 5th Avenue
Location	Portland, Oregon, United States
Opened	February 14, 2019 (2019-02-14)

Located at Northwest 5th Avenue and Davis Street in Old Town Chinatown, Barbarella (sometimes Barbarella PDX) was a nightclub in a building which previously housed a "grimy" music venue called Someday Lounge, followed by the Las Vegas-inspired Fifth Avenue Lounge. The bar was part of an Austin, Texas-based chain of nightclubs. Andrew Jankowski of Willamette Week described Barbarella as "a dance club with dirt-cheap drinks, themed parties running from the '50s through the '80s and an overall vibe best described as 'a straight person's idea of a gay bar'".[25] He compared the bar to neighboring amusement arcade Ground Kontrol, but without the video games, and said, "Barbarella's aesthetic is as delightfully kitschy and low-budget as a bar named after a campy sci-fi cult classic should be."[25] Jankowski wrote:

On paper, Barbarella should be a sensation, particularly with central eastsiders who rarely deign to cross the river into the Old Town entertainment district. Sure, the lack of specialty drinks feels like a missed opportunity, and even the bartender recommended against ordering food. But with no cover charge and wells at or below $2 each, you'd imagine the place would be packed with people headed to or from the arcade bar, the gay strip club or the scores of other party spots in the neighborhood.[25]

Daily Xtra described Barbarella as a "video/dance dive bar" with dance parties, disc jockeys, and queer events in its 2019 overview of "gay Portland".[26] The venue had two dance floors and a loft. The interior featured lava lamps, pinball machines, and mid-century modern furniture. There was a painting of a topless woman on one wall, as well as two "tributes" to Jane Fonda, who starred in the 1968 science fiction film Barbarella. According to Jankowski, "The only 21st-century features are the video projections and gently rippling rainbow LED lights behind the pre-existing sheet-metal grates."[25]

Barbarella opened on February 14 (Valentine's Day), 2019,[25] and closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The venue had hosted Mac DeMarco.[27][28]