To say that Portland supports the LGBTQ+ community may be an understatement. Oregons largest city, with a population of 630,000, goes out of its way to honor the community. Portland became the first major U.S. city to elect an openly gay mayor, Sam Adams, in 2008, narrowly beating out Houston by a year for that honor. That tradition of acceptance has only grown since then.The citys famed drag artist, Walter Willard Cole, who performed under the name Darcelle XV, died in 2023 at the age of 92. Cole founded his drag show bar Darcelle XV Showplace in 1967. The Guinness Book of World Records named him the oldest performing drag queen in 2016. Darcelle XV Showcase was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2020, and the club continues to be very popular today. The city is building a park that will be named Darcelle XV Plaza in Coles memory. The new space, formerly OBryant Square, will include a stage and a Wall of Fame for notable LGBTQ+ Portlanders. Portlands Architectural Heritage Center also plans an exhibit to honor Cole and the LGBTQ+ community.The Darcelle XV Showcase, where drag queen Darcelle XV performed, is now a landmark in Portland. Photo: Ed WalshIn 2018, Portland named a 13-block stretch of Stark Street downtown as Southwest Harvey Milk Street in honor of the assassinated gay San Francisco supervisor. The street had been named after Benjamin Stark, who was appointed a U.S. senator in 1861 and had supported slavery.Nightlife Portland has an abundance of small businesses run by members of the LGBTQ+ community or strong allies. One of the newest nightlife options is the lesbian bar, Doc Maries, on the east side of the Willamette River, east of downtown. The bar opened three years ago and is named for Dr. Marie Equi, a pioneering lesbian known for her work with working class and poor patients. She was born in 1872 in Massachusetts and moved west to be with her high school girlfriend in Oregon.The biggest concentration of gay bars and nightclubs is on the west side of the river in and near Old Town Chinatown. A name that is familiar to San Franciscans, Badlands, opened last June in the space formerly occupied by the Embers Avenue LGBTQ+ dance club, which closed in 2017. It is part of the Splash chain whose owner is TJ Bruce, a gay man who also owns SF Badlands, Badlands Sacramento, and the Splash bars in San Jose and Fresno.CC Slaughters is in the heart of Old Town Chinatown, four blocks from Badlands. It was established in 1981. It closed indefinitely in October 2020 because of the COVID pandemic but reopened in April 2021.Scandals, on SW Harvey Milk Street, is just a 10-minute walk west of Badlands with a big outdoor patio on the pedestrian-only section of the street, ideal for people-watching on a nice day. It has been going strong since 1979.Silverado and Stag PDX are a couple of gay strip bars in Old Town Chinatown. Eagle Portland is about a 10-minute drive or a 30-minute bus ride from Old Town Chinatown and has a couple of back outdoor patios. If you want to play pool without being encumbered by clothes, check out the bar on Thursday nights, where you can hangout nude or in your underwear and play pool. Oregons rules are apparently more lax than California. Portland has two gay bathhouses, Steam Portland and Hawks PDX. AccommodationsThe Sentinel Hotel is a great choice for anyone looking for a full service hotel with character. A scene in the classic 1991 film My Private Idaho was shot there. Several scenes of the Madonna movie Body of Evidence were shot in the historic property in 1993. The hotel is in easy walking distance from most of the LGBTQ+ nightlife in the city. Rental bikes are complementary.Hotel Lucia is also in the heart of the LGBTQ+ nightlife on SW Broadway at the corner of SW Harvey Milk Way. Like the Sentinel, it also offers free bikes. Lucia boasts that it is one of the first boutique hotels in Portland, and a hotel brochure focused on LGBTQ+s encourages visitors to celebrate pride every day.For those on a more limited budget, rooms with a shared bath are available at the gay-owned Portland International Guesthouse. Rooms at the four-unit inn start at $85, including a continental breakfast. Its conveniently located less than a mile west of Old Town Chinatown.SightsIf you are traveling in the summer, the clothing-optional Rooster Rock Beach is about a half-hour drive east of downtown Portland and very LGBTQ+ friendly. The east end of the beach is the gayest. Public transportation doesnt go there so you may want to rent a car to explore the beach.Portlands Hop-on/Hop-off Pink Trolley Sightseeing Tour is a great way to see highlights of the city without getting lost. It includes live narration as it weaves its way between 10 stops at major attractions in the city. A day pass costs $32.Over 600 varieties of rose bloom at the nternational Rose Test Garden, starting in May and ending in October. Photo: Dana PiccoliPortland is nicknamed the City of Roses. When Portland hosted the Worlds Fair in 1905, it planted 10,000 rose bushes throughout the city and, in 1918, the city received a variety of hybrid roses from England that were in danger from WWI bombings. Now, the citys famed International Rose Test Garden is home to 10,000 rose bushes in Washington Park, the citys crown jewel. You will also find the Oregon Zoo, World Forestry Center, Hoyt Arboretum, and the Portland Japanese Garden in the park.If you are traveling with kids, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry is worth visiting. It includes two theaters, a planetarium, and a retired navy submarine that is docked next to the museum.Other things worth checking out are a day trip to wine country or a trip to Mt. Hood. One of two queer sections is shown at the famous Powells Books flagship store in downtown Portland. Photo: Ed WalshPowells Books is the worlds largest independent bookstore selling new and used books. Its flagship store, Powells City of Books, includes two LGBTQ+ sections and a cafe. The store takes up a city block and boasts about a million books. Barnes and Noble in New York City claims to be overall the largest bookstore in the world, but Powells claims to have more shelf space.Dining Out Speed-o Cappuccino bills itself as a queer, Latinx, and sex-worker-owned vegan coffee cart on 1015 SE Stark Street on the east side of the Willamette River clustered with several other LGBTQ+-owned and -allied eateries. Speed-o features bar food with a vegan gourmet twist.Taqueria Los Puales gets its name from the word Pual that is sometimes used as a slur for a gay man in Mexico. The restaurant specializing in Mexican food was started by two gay men, Brian Aster and David Madrigal, and features delicious and inexpensive food in a very colorful setting.Tacos and agua fresca at Taqueria Los Punales. Photo: Taqueria Los PunalesThe lesbian-owned Meals for Heels provides one of the most unique restaurant services in the world. The eatery specializes in late night deliveries to sex workers, with a large clientele base considering the city has more than 50 strip clubs. Founder Nikeisah Newton boasts that 90% of her staff is LGBTQ+. Newton was recognized with a Game Changer award last year by the Black Women in Food Awards.Lesbian Vietnamese chef and entrepreneur Jenny Nguyen opened The Sports Bra bar and restaurant three years ago. It is focused on womens sports. The restaurant offerings include bar food with a Vietnamese twist with such items as Aunt Tinas Vietna-wings and Moms Baby Back Ribs, featuring Vietnamese clay-pot style pork ribs.For an even more queer-owned dining options, check out the Everywhere is Queer app and choose Portland. Getting AroundPortland has a great public transit system. The Max Red Line light rail system runs from the airport to downtown in about 38 minutes. The single adult fare is $2.80. You can buy a single ticket or day pass with a credit card at the airport station vending machine. Each ticket is good for 2.5 hours. If you need to transfer to a bus, you can use the same ticket. When boarding a bus, you can just tap your ticket or a credit card to the fare box. If you use a credit card, it will remember and not charge you twice if you use the card again within 2.5 hours. You can also pay with Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay.For more informationThe gay-owned mens clothing store underU4men runs a LGBTQ+ visitor center on the mezzanine level of its store on 800 SW Washington Street, in the heart of downtown. You can stop by and relax, and the center offers free bag and luggage checks. The centers website also offers links to discounts and special events.The citys official travel website is travelportland.com. The citys new visitor center is at 1132 SW Harvey Milk Street, across the street from Scandals.The post Explore LGBTQ+ history, culture and nightlife in Portland, Oregon appeared first on News Is Out.