Imperial Sovereign Rose Court History

“Crowning Achievement – Drag Court enters its 50th landmark year.” Was the headline in the Just Out magazine’s article of September 21, 2007. Of course, like all good things, there’s even a question about the date and what has occurred in those fifty years. The early years of the court are a bit murky in details but through this document, hopefully, some of it will be cleared up and some will be left for discussion.

Citing the article published in The City Open Press page 15 October 25-November 21, 1985: The Imperial Sovereign Rose Court of Oregon, states, “Twenty -seven years have elapsed, and Portland’s Rose Court, spawn forth from the ashes of Transylvania, now heralds twenty-seven Empresses and eleven Emperors, then Crown Princes and fifteen Crown Princesses. It has evolved into a socially organized entity, having overcome tempers and tempests. It has remained perennial towering sentinel in the spirit of Pride, Unity, and Harmony…Transylvania, Pruitts and the Portland Forum, each added their building blocks.”

Per an article in Just Out newspaper, October 16, 1988, by Will O’Bryan entitled ABCS of ISRC, The court was officially recognized in 1971 as the Imperial Rose Court of the Inland Empire of Oregon, says Cicely, with the first elected monarch, Rose Empress XIV Tracey St. James. Princesses appeared simultaneously. The first elected male monarch, Rose Emperor I Kim, made his debut in 1975, as did the appointment First Imperial Prince Bobby Hoblit. The court changed its name to the now-recognized ISCR in 1970.

Per the Alternative Connection, page 19, October 1991 – A BIT OF COURT HISTORY by Philip Staley [researched for W Holman who wrote the June 1977 article in the Northwest Gay Review A Gay History lest it be forgotten]

The guy, who’s wearing I dress, and the gal who’s dressed to it obsess and the jewels shining up to finesse, that’s entertainment. The folks who arrive in a Rolls and the Tux which Izis fit for a stroll and the rest who just got off from parole, that’s entertainment.”

 Wait a minute… wait a minute! Before any more lyrics of lore, let’s go back and see just how all this hoopla began … and where the begins have a beginning h In or around 1958, within the hallowed halls of the original Half Moon Tavern, a group of humorists created what is, for history’s sake, the oldest “Court” on the West Coast, the Court of Transylvania. Complete with Queen Eugene I, some princes and princesses, a regent here, a regent there, and one Lord High Sheriff.

These merrimakers of old strutted their stuff in and around Portland, impressing few, nevertheless, they existed. This band of renegades lasted a mere five years, give or take a year, finally disbanding with disgruntled titleholders except Queen Eugene I. She appeared to be the object of affection.

Things became too quiet following the demise of Transylvania, so without Warning, in a little house secluded amongst the trees of Upper. College Drive, another group of ambitionists plotted to take Portland out of the twilight into the Day. The Pruitts emerged and began plans for a Halloween Ball to be held at– Beaver Hall, entitled “Road to Ruin” and it did.

A “Queen of the Ball” would be chosen by audience appreciation, although the judges seemed to hold the wand for the winner. More shows were to follow. While some of these “Queens” prefer to remain anonymous, 1967 chose Kissy Dickie as Queen, the numerical backing of some may come later in this digest. [Note per article in October 1979 NW Gay Review “In The Beginning” states that the first ball was produced by the Pruitts at the Neighbors of Woodcraft Hall entitled, “April in Portland.” At this event, Dicke Mynre was crowned.] In the fall of that year, at Gracie Hoyt Hotel, Ginger Bob became another victim of the scepter. [Note per article in October 1979 NW Gay Review “In The Beginning” states, '“That fall, “Halloween Popourri” was staged at the Beaver Hotel. - no mention if anyone was crowned]. The Pruitts boiled victim of the scepter. The Pruitts boiled another batch of frothy mirth in the sunken ballroom of the Masonic Temple;” The Days of Wine and Roses.” Rochelle was crowned X, the numbering system a year later. [Note per article in October 1979 NW Gay Review “In The Beginning” states, “The spring of 1968 saw “Moonlight and Roses Ball” with Rochelle being elected Queen.]

The following Halloween, the Pruitts engineered their final effort; “Anything Goes”. They disbanded and scattered. This final effort produced Scarlet, Queen XI. [Note per article in October 1979 NW Gay Review “In The Beginning” states, “Sunday Night at the Movies” was the theme for the ball show in the fall of 1969 with Scarlett O’Hara as Queen, this event was held in the newly opened Roaring 20s Room at the Hoyt Hotel. This event opened up both the doors and windows for the Portland gay community.]

1969 In the auspicious name-sake year 1969, the Portland Forum was formed. They changed, through no plausible reasoning, the title of Queen to Empress. While they might be, they would bear the title of Empress or else. Lisa Jean became the first Empress crowned by the form as Lisa Jean XII of the Inland Empire. [Note per article in October 1979 NW Gay Review “In The Beginning” states, “1969 also saw the first Forum’s production, “Broadway ‘69” also at the Hoyt Hotel with Lisa Jean crowned Empress. The Forum of Portland came to being as an outgrowth of a discussion on the way home by the casts of one of the Portland shows presented in Seattle.]

A yearly Ball which selected an Empress added still another rite: A Spring Spree which would select a Princess Royal or backup Empress. While certain freedoms began to spring up around the community, ie: City Hall and the like, so within the Gay Community changes became abundant. The Empress would be chosen by public balloting, not by prejudicial judges. Tracy St. James, Empress XIV, was the first selected. This Empress turned to Vanessa of Royal Regentry titledom, stripped her of this, and so proclaimed Vanessa to be Empress XIII …filling in the gap by the long departed Telanie.

The update is well-known history, but Darcelle XV; 1973 Doni Lame XVI (proclaimed by the end of her reign to (proclaimed by the end of her reign to find a male image as Emperor…no trees, no forest; 1974 Elsa Daniels; 1975 Mona Greer (her first Emperor, Kim C.) 1976 Backstage all these glorious chaotic Set decorations must be placed to a tee, Nerves run rampant. Nevertheless, the participants pull off some of the most exquisite productions available for your entertainment pleasure.

“The guys, and the dolls, the short, and the talls, the effects which is the best of them all, you’ve got it!

However, some of what was written by Philip Staley in October 1991 with his article A BIT OF COURT HISTORY may not all be correct. The first article known to write about gay history in Portland was in 1977 an article by W Holman for the Northwest Gay Review in A Gay History, lest it be forgotten.  Cited on page 3 of the Special Issue he begins with The Beginnings of an Organization.

“Within the hallowed halls of The Tavern, Portland’s Gay Territorial Imperative – a Fantasy Kingdom - was created, to become the oldest court system on the entire west coast. Why its sinister theme was chosen, no pioneer remembers. There was no evidence of vampires or blood suckers extant; they weren’t out for blood! Possibly goosed by the grandeur of Rose Festival, a group decided to spoof the spectacle with a different concept. IT would give Portland a new pomp to call its own. For the auspicious occasion, a reigning substance of some type was mandatory. One individual decreed to be just that; a self-proclaimed, tarnished cenobite became the first reigning monarch. Without audible dissension. Portland possessed a Rex Regina – of sorts. Queen Samuel, The First, Mother Superior to the Kingdom of Transylvania.

A Queen was just the beginning, Sam (of a soup strain), upon taking his own oath of office as Empress Eugene I, ordered that a royal throne be produced, that he/she might property squat, supported with dignity, when at court. With imagination, ingenuity, diligence and a great deal of timber, a simple low-backed chair with arm rests was converted into a high-backed thrown. Excessively reinforced, it was trimmed in satins, velvets, and mildewed gold paint.

[continued]

A Court of haphazard dimensions and titles were appointed. Whether these honorable personages were designated or whether their regality was self-inflicted no one remembers. Stunning appointments included such titles as Lord High Sheriff (Dolly Madison), Prosecutor (Bill, of razor fame), Archbishop (Ruby), Crow Prince (Nell) and Crown Princess (Dick Heath). With Mother Superior came one of the lesser being with equal rank: The Immaculate Assumption, Sister Marijuana, Order of the Holy Smoke.

[continued]

There were several Grand Dukes and Duchesses of Wishram scattered throughout Transylvania, usually appointed on the spot by the Visiting Court, to honor a tiny hamlet in Washington State.

[continued]

Storm clouds slowly formed over Transylvania, whipped to a frenzy by a growing number of undisciplined royal commands by Eugenie I. The tolerant became intolerant, her Royal Court rebelled. Dissension among the rank. Like an ominous caul, the court hovered around the Queen and, like a herd of marsupials at play, the assembly decreed: trial by Kangaroo Court, away from the waterfront castle. Both with tenderness and legal maneuver unheard of in history, the court, each, one by one, disqualified themselves and their vote. But the word got through. As Court disbanded, so Mother Superior, Eugenie I, Portland’s First was abandoned. Woe, In the following years, the kingdom survived as a lowly serfdom. The struggle was embarrassing but there was strength and courage.

There is a great enigma in the numbering of Queens or Empresses. The first absolutely without doubt, was soup strain Sam, Queen Eugenie I. Where or not the Forum acknowledges the fact, there are white and bald-headed individuals, as well as a few closet cases extant in Portland, we know Leon assumed the Dubious title of Queen I-A, self-proclaimed (as was Sam-Eugenie I), Queens II through VII are listed in court records but are to remain anonymous, forever. Kissy Dickie, Queen VIII, 1967, is for real. Ginger-Bob, Crowed Queen IX at the 1967 “Pot Pourri” Roaring 20s ball is also real. Aside from a Polis abacus on full-tilt, there is no other explanation for the recorded numerical lineage of reigning Wath-Evers in court records.

[continued]

IN 1966, at Mama B’s Sweethearts Ball, Kimberly was crowned Queen of Sweethearts.

[continued]

Things were too quiet in Portland, even with the city’s annoying harassment. In a house on Upper College Drive a group met to remedy the situation. It became a release more than remember. The Pruitts of Portland was formed, the first original group of aspirants to west release from serfdom.

[continued]

The glamours Pruitts, still twitching on Upper College Drive, inculcated such famous denizens as Miss Ira, Dolly (Auntie Mame), Kissy Dickie, Jeanette MacDonald (Looking for a Mountie), Allan Smith, Erland, Bob Whitney, and again Razor Baron Bill, as producers. The Pruitts stated their first show at Beaver Hall, Halowe’en 1966, entitled “Road to Ruin.” Miss Ira, in black tights, yards of boa, and Augustino’s chandelier, was Mistress of Ceremonies. Many mores’ shows were to follow. Each production brought forth a Queen of the Ball, chosen by a panel of judges and audience participation Competition was open to anyone. Supposedly judged by both audiences and judges, most of the awarding seemed that of the judges.

[continued]

In spring of 1967, the Pruitts stated another show at the Neighbors of Woodcraft Hall. The show, “April in Portland,” gave Kissy Dickie the title of Queen which somehow seemed to fit. All the growing and glamour did not go unnoticed. One columnist freeloading at the Hoyt, got wind of the gala affair and expostulated to none end on its nasty ways. The “lavender group” had been, to him, a lower-than-lumbar backache.

[continued]

In the fall, the Pruitts stated another show, at the Hoyt’s Roaring 20s entitled “Pot Pourri” it gave Ginger-Bob the Queen crown That was a surprise-a deserved on-to all concerned. The show and audience added a glowing chapter to the annals of Portland’s most famous night club. Gracie Hansen was more than just Gracie – which is one helluva lot! The show was more than just a show – it was a spectacle. The entire production, as well as its audience, was a masterpiece. Even the free-loading reported thought it best to keep his reporting (and opinions) pointed elsewhere.

This was written in 1977, Mr. Holman did ask for people’s input before he wrote the piece, so it stands to reason he had basis of knowledge when he wrote it. However, as you will see, as it has been said, there are some questions that remain on dates and events.

POSSIBLE DETAILING OF MONARCH’S

1958 – First Court meeting “Court” on the West Coast; the Court of Transylvania.

Where: Half Moon Tavern OR The Tavern – one in the same [photo below Right possibly the building] Years: 1950s – 1960 72 S.W. Morrison

Years: 1960 - 1981 122 SW Yamhill [sold to Ray Wilston in 1975]

Theme – none

Crowned - Queen Eugene I

Per the Alternative Connection, page 19, October 1991 – A BIT OF COURT HISTORY by Philip Staley: These merrymakers of old strutted their stuff in and around Portland, impressing few, nevertheless, they existed. This band of renegades lasted a mere five years, give or take a year, finally disbanding with disgruntled titleholders except Queen Eugene I. She appeared to be the object of affection. If true, the Court of Transylvania lasted from 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962 – not changing their status, Queen Eugene 1’s reign lasted five years.

This section is from research on the Half-Moon Tavern.

Around 1958, some who frequented the bar came up with the idea to erect a throne at the back of the bar for a ‘Queen’.  It is unclear why this happened, some say it was as a statement on the Rose Festival Court system and the golden anniversary of the Rose Festival. The group made up a whole kingdom known as Transylvania with a reigning Queen known as Rex Regina. These are the Latin words for King [Rex] and Regina [Queen], the combined the two into one. Play on words, some thought it funny to call the ‘Queen’ Salmon–ella [a play on words salmonella, a bacterial disease that affects the intestinal tract].  This is the precursor to what is now the Imperial Sovereign Rose Court. One of the court members at the time, Michael Patrick Dillion aka Sr. Mary Wanna got caught in a sex ring. Portland detectives and others were arrested after Police officer Detective Larry Brown was investigating a burglary and found some illicit photos. On October 1963 Thompson’s residence was raided and the raid netted “obscene still photographs and motion pictures, cameras and other photographic equipment.” Per the Oregonian, Oct 24, 1963, with a headline that read Sex Party Films Jail Two Men.  “Brown said that questioning of juveniles involved revealed homosexual parties were regularly held in Portland homes and apartments.  One juvenile told detectives he had been participating for about three years” Another “18-year-old youth told detectives he was introduced to homosexual practices when he was still a student in a Portland grade school and has been participating for six years.” Detective Brown said that between 25-30 juveniles and youth in their late teens have been quested about homosexual activities in Portland.  “…Youth admits being at a party in a northwest Portland home in August in which still photographs and motion pictures were taken.”  It was later revealed that films and photographs were taken at Thompson’s residence, other Portland homes, and wooded areas of Hayden Island.

Some have stated that most of the teens were willing and were picked up at a place called “The Camp” [see The Camp for information].

Close by there were businesses such as bathhouses, Mchann Baths, Aero Vapors Bath, a movie theatre or two, Circle Theatre, and some bars such as Mama Bernice’s, and the Red Carpet Lounge located within the Greyhound bus station.

1960 Leon assumed the Dubious title of Queen I-A, self-proclaimed (as was Sam-Eugenie I) per the 1977 article by W Holman for the Northwest Gay Review in A Gay History, lest it be forgotten.  Cited on page 3 of the Special Issue)

Also stated in the article published in The City Open Press page 15 October 25-November 21, 1985: The Imperial Sovereign Rose Court of Oregon, states, “Leon assumed the dubious title of Queens 1A, II, and III self-proclaimed. Queens four through seven are listed in the court records but are to remain anonymous forever. Aside from a Polish abacus on full-tilt or a calculator with burned-out transistors, there is no other sane explanation of the recorded numerical lineage of reigning tiaras in Court archives.”

1961 Queen II [Queens II through VII are listed in court records but are to remain anonymous, forever per the 1977 article by W Holman for the Northwest Gay Review in A Gay History, lest it be forgotten.  Cited on page 3 of the Special Issue)

1962 Queen III [Queens II through VII are listed in court records but are to remain anonymous, forever per the 1977 article by W Holman for the Northwest Gay Review in A Gay History, lest it be forgotten.  Cited on page 3 of the Special Issue]

1963 Queens IV [Queens II through VII are listed in court records but are to remain anonymous, forever per the 1977 article by W Holman for the Northwest Gay Review in A Gay History, lest it be forgotten.  Cited on page 3 of the Special Issue]

ALSO 1963-1965 It was when David Hamilton/Mame with others brought a new approach to balls and a system of fun. He later would become Rose Queen VI, a title that would later be changed to Rose Empress VI and given the title in 1973 by his friend Empress XV Darcelle “Minister of Madness and Mayhem” and for good reason – he was one to always have a party.  The year is unclear, but it seems around 1963-64 when David was 29, he traveled to San Francisco on occasion. He always said he loved San Francisco, though being offered a job there he declined it saying, “I really wanted to keep San Francisco as my Oz.” That didn’t stop him from making multiple trips. Once was when he attended a semi-newly formed group calling themselves the Imperial Court de San Francisco under the rule of Empress of San Francisco José Sarria and attended an event called a Court Ball.  He loved the idea so much that he brought this idea back to Portland. Per 1977 by W Holman for the Northwest Gay Review in A Gay History, lest it be forgotten.  Cited on page 5 of the Special Issue he discussed the concept with his friends [Miss Ira, Dolly (Auntie Mame), Kissy Dickie, Jeanette MacDonald (Looking for a Mountie), Allan Smith, Erland, Bob Whitney, and again Razor Baron Bill, as producers. they formed a group called the Pruitts of Portland.  It is said that this group of friends of the ‘gay persuasion’, took the name of Pruitt as a sign of solidarity. They were a theatrically oriented group who some say got their names from a short-lived ABC television show in 1966 starring comedian Phyllis Diller entitled The Pruitts of South Hampton that was being advertised in 1965. They began as a semi-comic relief against Portland City Hall’s attempts to close eight gay bars. Mayor Terry Schrunk along with the city commissioners and the Oregon Liquor Control Commission taking a hard look at bars and taverns in the Portland metropolitan area, especially eight known to have ‘homosexual and lesbian clientele’. Those eight bars were The Half Moon/The Tavern, Harbor Club, Old Glory Restaurant, Derek's Tavern, the Transfusion Inn, Milwaukie Tavern, Model Inn, and Mama Bernice’s. This hasn’t been verified but it is said that the group formed because they were to be the semi-comic relief against Portland City Hall’s attempts to close the eight bars. It is unclear what comic relief they would provide or where, but as many will attest, David was always one with a smile on his face and loved to party. 

This was a social group that put on charity fundraiser shows.

1964 Queen V [Queens II through VII are listed in court records but are to remain anonymous, forever per the 1977 article by W Holman for the Northwest Gay Review in A Gay History, lest it be forgotten.  Cited on page 3 of the Special Issue]

1964 – nothing, except - A bit of history: The Empress of Canada, Ted Northe is also well documented in 1964 traveling to San Francisco where he met David Hamilton aka Rose Empress VI Mamé of Portland. (SAD Magazine; 2011 Issue 7/8 "Dressed to Empress" interview) In this cited article Ted vividly recounted Mamé putting him into drag for the very first time during that trip; helping create the monarch persona he would take back and use as a platform to lead his community activism.

Further in the article: “During the late 50's and throughout the 60's figures such as José and the SF Tavern Guild, Ted and the Empire of Canada, Sam Campbell, David Hamilton and Kim Chidester along with the Portland Forum as well as John Graham, Del Greenlee and John Scott with the Dorian Society & Seattle Queen City Tavern Guild kept their communities well connected through vast growing friendships and correspondence; which helped them to launch the first system of Coronation Balls between Vancouver BC, Seattle WA, Portland OR, San Francisco CA and Los Angeles CA. Coming together in agreement they formalized these charters under one name as "The International Court System". 

The Documented First Five (5) Openly Elected Monarchs in the following order:

1) Saturday; January 2, 1971, at the Jack Tar Hotel's Majestic Grand Ballroom - Absolute Empress VI Cristal of San Francisco is crowned. [2022- San Francisco's 55th Absolute Empress]

2) Sunday; October 31, 1971, at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel's Spanish Ballroom - Olympia I Scotty of Seattle is crowned. [2022 - Seattle’s 49th Olympia]

3) Sunday; November 14, 1971, at the Hoyt Hotel's Roaring 20's Ballroom - Rose Empress XIV Tracey St. James of Portland is crowned. [ 2022 - Portland's 61st Rose Empress]

4) Saturday; November 27, 1971, at the Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel's Crystal Ballroom - Empress I LaRey of Los Angeles is crowned. [2022 - Los Angeles' 50th Empress]

5) Sunday; March 18, 1972, at the Commodore Ballroom - Empress I Charity Regina of Vancouver BC is crowned by Ted Northe [2022 -Vancouver BC's 49th Imperial House]

Daniel Surreal Foxx  Historian of the International Court System Daniel Barrows

The people's INTERNATIONAL COURT SYSTEM Facebook Group

November 8, 2022, at 12:52 PM  on Facebook.

1965 Queen VI [Queens II through VII are listed in court records but are to remain anonymous, forever per the 1977 article by W Holman for the Northwest Gay Review in A Gay History, lest it be forgotten.  Cited on page 3 of the Special Issue)

However, on the History of The ISRC (rosecourt.org) states that in 1965 the Pruitts began holding Rose Queen Pageants. Note the letter below LEFT from San Francisco in 1965 “San Francisco Halloween”.

TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HISTORY –

It should be noted that ‘balls and events” were put on around Halloween as then people could go in ‘disguise’ and attend various functions as a party – which then the police, City Hall, and the OLCC left them alone – they could party from Halloween through New Year's Eve and no one for a while was the wiser.

Note: There is some confusion about when the spring and fall balls started. In some documents, it shows it started in 1965, in others 1966.  The Monarch Court History shows that there were balls in 1965, however, through W Holman, the balls didn’t start until 1966. Possibly, there were small gatherings in 1965 but weren’t as organized until The Pruitts took over. This portion of the history is confusing and have spent numerous hours trying to figure this out – therefore I leave it as there is more documented history for the 1966 balls instead of 1965.

It should be noted, it seems quick to have David Hamilton/Mame go down to San Francisco and then return, get men together to organize a ball all within months. That said, if that didn’t happen, then Mama Bernice’s Sweetheart Ball would be considered to be the first “organized” ball in Portland. There are photos of her ball, but not of The Pruitt’s Road to Ruin at the Beaver Hall.

As stated in sAD MAGAZINE  [SAD Mag is an independent Vancouver, BC publication featuring stories, art, and design. Founded in 2009, we publish the best of contemporary and emerging artists with a focus on inclusivity of voices and views, exceptional design, and film photography.] An interview dated November 14, 2014, with Ted Northe who established in 1964 the Dogwood Monarchist Society [the longest-running LGBTQ society in Canada] and the Imperial Empire of Canada that David Hamilton/Mame dressed him up in drag and they went out on the town in San Francisco. When he got back to Vancouver, BC, he established the court system there. 

Per the article, “Histories of the gay rights movement in North America typically begin with the Stonewall riots in New York City in 1969. However, Vancouver, Portland, and San Francisco, established strong gay communities’ years before the riots began, and were met with relative acceptance. In contract to the homophobia and police violence on the East Coast, on the West Coast community opened gay bars, hosted gay parties, and started fighting for equal rights much earlier with comparative ease. It should be noted, that back in 1912 when the Vice Clique Sex Scandal erupted in Portland, police from cities on the west coast were talking to themselves and again at other times. In the early part of 1960s when Terry Shrunk was mayor, he wanted to rule out sexual deviants very much as Mayor Dorothy Lee McCullough had tried in the early 1950s. A newspaper columnist Doug Baker, the Oregon Journal’s city gossip columnist, in one of his June 1964 columns wrote, “The Unmentionable People are virtually untouchable people, and they are growing stronger each week.” He went on to say, “A veteran police officer said last week, ’Either they’re growing in number or I’m just seeing a lot more of them.’” The unnamed sources kept coming: a Portland State student propositioned by another woman; a “businessman” vowing “vigilante” action. Baker noted the cops traditionally took a “hands-off policy with respect to the Unmentionables.”  “[T]hese biological rejects cling tenaciously to the myth that they are, in some strange way, something special,” the newsman typed. “It’s time the mayor’s office had a new look at this old problem.”

Per By Zach Dundas 5/22/2018 at 12:41 pm Published in the June 2018 issue of Portland Monthly in his article Pride: The Prequel “More newspaper articles, Oregon police made a series of arrests for various sex and pornography offenses in 1963, which triggered a classic media panic, with Oregonian headlines like “They Prey on Boys.” Portland’s mayor, Terry Schrunk, decided the time had come for action.” “By ’64, Schrunk had launched a Committee for Decent Literature and Films (!), and heated rhetoric swirled in city council meetings.” Schrunk and the council decided this would not stand (though one commissioner astutely noted that “these people are not going to disappear”). After a series of hearings in November and December, the city moved to shut down six bars, pressuring the OLCC to revoke their licenses.” “The denouement, then, was classically Portlandian: no billy clubs, no bold riots in the streets, just two rival bureaucracies and a well-framed legal argument. The unlikely agent of progress: the OLCC, which essentially dismissed the City of Portland’s attempt to crack down on “the Unmentionables” out of hand.” “Schrunk sputtered. He wrote the governor, who ignored him. The only casualty, in the end, was the Harbor Club. When the city pulled its food license, the waterfront redoubt shuttered.”

Per a 2004 Oregon Historical Quarterly essay by historian Peter Boag stated, “In one odd (arguable) byproduct of the 1964 episode, the Portland bars’ survival may have muted activism.” “In other cities, it was constant harassment*,” Boag says. “In Portland, after 1964, the bars were left alone, and as a result, Portland gays tended to be more lethargic politically.” We never had an incident like Stonewall.

* Bars in Portland were, for the most part, owned by people who ‘didn’t care about sexuality’ or as it soon would be, owned by gay people, unlike the east coast where bars were owned and operated by the mafia.

* [Per the 1977 article by W Holman for the Northwest Gay Review in A Gay History, lest it be forgotten.  Cited on page 3 of the Special Issue is the Pruitts first ball/show. Being the “Fall Show works as it appears the only ball that year – so was the article in the Northwest Gay Review wrong on its dates?]