December 11, 1890 – Mark Tobey: "According to one critic, my works looked like scrapped billboards. I went to look at the billboards and decided that more billboards should be scrapped." Famed painter Jackson Pollock saw Mark Tobey's work in 1944 and described Tobey as the … [Read more...]
#BornThisDay: Rock Icon, Jimi Hendrix
1967, Wikimedia Commons November 27, 1942 – James Maurice Hendrix: "Music Is Getting Too Heavy." Hendrix could have stayed in the US Army, where he probably would have been sent to Vietnam. Instead, he pretended he was gay. That was all it took to be discharged … [Read more...]
#QueerQuote: “I’d Rather Be Hated For Who I Am, Than Loved For Who I Am Not. ” – Kurt Cobain
I was living in Seattle when Grunge happened in the early 1990s. Young people around the globe embraced the "Seattle Sound" of fat sludgy guitar riffs, fuzz and feedback. I became aware that the city was becoming a center of American culture. The look of angst and the raw sound … [Read more...]
#BornThisDay: Burlesque Queen, Gracie Hansen
Photograph via Seattle Public Library Archives April 9, 1922– Gracie Hansen: "The only difference between a rut and a grave is the dimensions." The irrepressible Gracie Hansen is remembered, if she is remembered at all, for presenting showgirls in her … [Read more...]
#BornThisDay: Kurt Cobain
February 20, 1967– Kurt Cobain: I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not. The best television episode of the 1990s starred a small blond young man and his band. On November 18, 1993, at Sony Music Studios in New York City, the band Nirvana … [Read more...]
#TransformationTuesday: QWERRRKOUT feat. Arson Nicki
Transformation Tuesday just got a whole lot QTer…New queers featured every week! Tag us, take a pic of us and follow us on Instagram at QWERRRKOUT, and you too could be the next QT! YOU BETTA QWERRRK! ([Read more...]
Elections 2017: Seattle Votes in its First Lesbian Mayor
Seattle elected its first woman mayor in 90 years and its first lesbian. Her name is Jenny Durkan and she won with 61 percent of the vote over opponent, activist Cary Moon. It was a crazy election season that saw Seattle's openly gay mayor Ed Murray resign as mayor on September … [Read more...]
#BornThisDay: Actor / Activist, Dan Savage
October 7, 1964– Daniel Keenan Savage: "Republicans have brass knuckles on and Democrats don't. Democrats need to pick up the brass knuckles and play the game that’s actually being played." I used to see him around town when we were both doing theatre in Seattle. He was one of … [Read more...]
Seattle’s Openly Gay Mayor, Ed Murray, Resigns After Repeated Accusations of Molesting Teenage Boys in the Past
It seems rather clear that openly gay public office holders need to lead very clean lives and not have any skeletons in their "closets". Portland's best mayor, Sam Adams, an openly gay man, declined to run for a second term in 2012 after being taken to task in the press and by … [Read more...]
#TransformationTuesday: QWERRRKOUT feat. Kaleena
Transformation Tuesday just got a whole lot QTer…New queers featured every week! Tag us, take a pic of us and follow us on Instagram at [Read more...]
