Suzette Smith

2 weeks ago | portlandmercury.com | Nolan Parker |Suzette Smith |Lindsay Costello

Everyone knows Portland Pride starts in June‚ÄĒdespite the parade kicking up zir heels in July. Pride is already here, and the Merc is keeping a rolling calendar of event picks you might love. In this installment: a dedicated meet-up for queer Asians at a wife-and-wife owned wine bar, bingo from Tomorrow Theater's ORIGINAL bingo queen Violet Hex, a queer disco dance night at Kenton Club?

3 weeks ago | portlandmercury.com | Suzette Smith

If you appreciate the Mercury's interesting and useful news & culture reporting, consider making a small monthly contribution to support our editorial team. Your donation is tax-deductible.  Good Morning, Portland: It's fucking beautiful out—forecasts promising a high of 85 degrees—and Comedy in the Park starts tonight! SOME BAD NEWS: Sunday and Monday are going to have highs of 95-96 degrees, so let's all look out for one another.

3 weeks ago | portlandmercury.com | Nolan Parker |Suzette Smith

Don't make the mistake of thinking that Portland only celebrates Pride in July. That's when the parade is, but we all know Pride is in June, and Pride is already here with all her loud-ass bike rides, cute meet-ups, and shocking developments. Portland Pride 2025's top shocker may have already dropped: longstanding nightclub CC Slaughters announced on June 1 that they will cease business on August 3. Can this town buy enough jello shots to change their minds? We're certainly going to TRY.

4 weeks ago | portlandmercury.com | Suzette Smith

If you appreciate the Mercury's interesting and useful news & culture reporting, consider making a small monthly contribution to support our editorial team. Your donation is tax-deductible. Good Morning, Portland: We're calling in Walt Whitman this morning, who wrote in "Song of the Open Road:" "Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road / Healthy, free, the world before me / The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose." How 'bout a little news for that road?

1 month ago | portlandmercury.com | Suzette Smith

If you appreciate the Mercury's interesting and useful news & culture reporting, consider making a small monthly contribution to support our editorial team. Your donation is tax-deductible. A Bit of Housekeeping: Since Monday, the Mercury has been publishing stories from BlackOut: A Five-Year Retrospective on Portland’s Racial Justice Movement which you'll also find in print all over Portland, inserted into the paper's 2025 Food Issue.