Queer Eugene News

07/31/2025

COMMUNITY ASKS -- WHY ARE THERE ONLY WHITE PEOPLE ON EUGENE PRIDE'S BOARD OF DIRECTORS?

A number of local LGBTQ community members have raised concerns about the composition of Eugene Pride's board of directors, asking why there are no people of color included in the board's membership.

Eugene Pride had a volunteer social media manager (a former Eugene Human Rights Commissioner) who was working on this issue, via efforts to recruit people of color and transgender community members to serve on Pride's board. He was fired after raising questions about bias and discrimination by the current board.

According to long-time Pride volunteers, the Eugene Pride committee held elections in past years for its board of directors, with efforts made to reach out to underrepresented groups and encourage them to run for the board. But the current practice is for the board to appoint only people they personally know to its ranks, instead of allowing candidates to run for board office. For at least the past three years, those board appointments have gone only to white people.

06/27/2025

Information about the 2025 Eugene/Springfield Pride Festival on Friday, June 28th at the Lane Events Center.

06/02/2025

Disability rights activists took their inspiration from q***r activists.

06/02/2025

As a child, the U.S. government forced George Takei and his parents to live in an American internment camp during WWII. After the war, his family was left without a home, bank account, or any resources to get by.

He went on to become an award-winning actor and a lifelong advocate for immigrants' rights. We celebrate George this AAPI Heritage Month, and fight alongside him against our nation’s unlawful attacks on immigrant communities.

06/02/2025

Looking for fun plans next Friday? Or maybe you’re looking to spruce up existing plans… we have got the event for you!

EGMC is performing Friday, May 30th at 7pm at the Farmers Market Pavilion for the Eugene Neurodivergent Art & Performance Expo! Come see the chorus you know and love, led by the brilliant Evan Miles, bringing passion, devotion, comedic antics, and fabulous vocals in celebration of neurodivergent artistry.

The Expo runs 3–9pm and celebrates the brilliant work of neurodivergent artists—showing up matters, especially when just existing can feel like a protest. So come clap, cheer, shop some cool art, and grab a snack. We have a VERY special piece composed for us that we plan to debut!

06/02/2025

06/02/2025

06/02/2025

submitted by: Andy Futter


[Image Description: Rainbow-striped hearts surround text with colorful flourishes. Text says: Wishing all (emphasized) the homophobes a super transformative month. A chance to put down their prejudice, listen and develop empathy and allyship. End text. Image and quote origin unknown, End ID].

03/31/2025

Sending love to our trans community today and everyday! International Transgender Day of Visibility is an annual day of recognition dedicated to celebrating the trans community, raising awareness to the discrimination they face, and acknowledging their contributions to our society. We celebrate you always! 🏳️‍⚧️

03/31/2025

Outliers and Outlaws: Q***r Storytelling from the Archive

From the 1960s through the 1980s, Eugene, Oregon, was a haven for lesbian-identified individuals seeking a supportive community where they could live and work with joy. Branded as outsiders by the larger culture, they built a safe harbor on their own terms—ultimately shaping mainstream culture and politics in the process.

PSU film professor and film director Courtney Hermann’s new documentary, Outliers and Outlaws, uncovers the history of this resilient community. Through candid personal stories, the film reveals the power of courageous and creative living.

The documentary premiered to a sold-out audience at the QDoc Festival in November 2024, followed by a sold-out run of screenings at Cinema 21 in December. Outliers and Outlaws is part of the Eugene Le***an History Project, an award-winning digital humanities project that also includes an oral history archive, a traveling museum exhibit, and an online digital exhibition.

Join the School of Film and the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department (WGSS) for a public screening of Outliers and Outlaws on April 24 at 3:30 PM in Lincoln Hall 75. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Courtney Hermann and special guests from campus, local, and regional libraries and archives, who will discuss the theme “Q***r Storytelling from the Archive.”

This program is the 2025 installment of the annual Walk of the Heroines Event, presented by WGSS.

01/30/2025

COMMUNITY MEMBERS RESPOND TO LOCATION OF NEW EUGENE, OR LGBTQ CENTER

Eugene's new LGBTQ center is located two miles northwest of Valley River Center. This is inconvenient for many people, as there are only two buses that service the center per day. No buses run during evenings and weekends.
Roundtrip travel time by bus can be quite time-consuming due to the center's remote location. From SE Eugene, for example, it can take up to 3.5 hours to get to the center and back via bus.

COMMENTS:

Craig Willis
I was told by someone involved that they didn't factor in the lack of service in accepting this location. Surprising, as I remember quite clearly, when I served on the board of the HIV Alliance, one of the first questions asked about any potential new location was "is it well served by public transportation and will it be readily accessible to clients."

Ken Snyder
It's not a community center, not even close to being one

Sandra-Lee Mason
As someone who’s worked at a transit agency it’s not that easy to get them to change routes. Because of people are used to certain routes with certain pick up times, etc..
The better thing would’ve been to put this facility along an already existing and established route.

Dillon Wymore
Lmao once again organizers refuse to do their homework and want to put the blame on someone else.

Kim Kirk
Why did they choose to put the facility in an area not served by public transit?

Cj Haynes
Kinda sounds like the wrong people were in charge of working out the details. Hopefully lessons were learned about researching areas, accessibility and transit

Leeann K. Lucas
I would have thought that they would have found a location closer to city center and amenities, as walking traffic and bicycles would increased the usage of the center.
Amenities found closer to the city centers would make it easier to hold events there. People could just walk in off the street to meet there.
As it is, people can’t just grab a coffee or snack to take to the center. It’s going to be a car drive to bring anything there. There will have to be a lot more planning and logistics involved.
The structure appears to be a neighborhood church repurposed, which probably made it cost effective for the group. So there is that to consider.

Marc Cronk
I was wondering why they put the center way out on Maxwell road. It's too far and it's too hard to get there. I don't remember a bus ever going down there, I thought the center should be more centered in downtown Eugene somewhere where it's easier for people to get to!

Scooter Milne
This (lack of bus service) is exactly why I haven't gone to check it out yet.

Rowen W. Nido
Hoping this means The Lavender Network is working to overcome this huge barrier.
Also, the bike racks at the location are awful.

Julie B
To HIV Alliance, the location was announced more than a week before it opened and at that time there were only a couple of buses a day. Even if there was "robust service" (there was not pre-CoVID when I needed to be in that neighborhood regularly in the evening), did you really feel that it was appropriate to require people who cannot walk very far headed to go quite a distance the other direction in order to either stay on the bus and come back or transfer in one or the other direction?
As a disabled person, even one is lucky enough to be able to drive right now, that alone makes me feel unwelcome.

Note: Our editors were not able to find any public comments in support of the center's location