I’d like to believe if all of us had our way, we’d never have to worry about every ethical aspect of our purchases. In 2025, it seems just breathing is commodified, capitalized, and inescapable. I’m no socialist saint — but in my daily life, I have made (what I hope) is a concerted effort to avoid big chains like Amazon, and businesses whose anti-gay efforts are either clear or hidden. I am a firm believer in shopping locally, and if that business is also woman- and/or queer-owned, all the better. That’s why, when Travel Portland reached out to me about writing a piece on the city, I knew the exact angle I wanted to take.
Portland is no stranger to the queer side of life. After six years in Texas (even though five of them were in the state’s blue bubble of Austin), this short trip felt like a rainbow slap in the face. With the help of Ashlea Flowers and Sylvia Choi over at Travel Portland, we were able to curate a delicious itinerary of queer businesses and events to highlight in the city — ones that are not merely touting the rainbow flag as a moneymaking strategy but as an engagement with community-making. Through their generosity, patience, and love of the city, I was able to compile this list of what I loved during my visit, for y’all to support queer people year-round. Among the list includes something for D&D nerds, horror fanatics, women’s sports aficionados, readers, eaters — and in the spirit of sharing, I asked owners/workers to provide me with their queer Portland recs. Spread the love!
TPK Brewing
5051 SE Hawthorne Blvd
Something important to know about my girlfriend and I is that we are huge D&D nerds. (Fun fact: We planned the dates of this trip around the Seattle date of the Dimension 20: Quangle Quest tour.) Not only does Portland have a D&D-style tavern, but it’s queer- and BIPOC-owned. Located in the Hawthorne neighborhood, it comes upon you unexpectedly among colorful residential homes. At the corner of Hawthorne and 51st, the tavern resides in what used to be Tabor Bread, and the team takes full advantage of the European-style bakery feel of the place. Stepping inside truly does feel like you are an adventurer beginning your campaign: gorgeous wooden walls, bright windows, high ceilings, and each table full of families and friends playing any smattering of games.
Newly opened, TPK Brewing is equal-parts owned by Jess Hardie, Elliott Kaplan, and Dana Ebert, and employs full-time professional Game Masters to assist customers with their own D&D/TTRPG dreams. The acronym stands for “Total Party Kill,” a term in RPGs that refers to the entire group of player characters dying in one battle.
The brewery, featuring “An Ale for Every Tale,” has delicious and quippy selections from the Bard’s Tale Pale Ale to the Acid Splash cocktail. (My girlfriend got the Mango IPA and I got the strawberry frosé, because we are boring — but they were both tasty!)
In addition to a wide array of board games and tabletop sessions, TPK Brewing also prioritizes engagement with the Indigenous communities of the region, particularly through a commitment to the Native Land Beer Collaboration, and including a variety of indigenous organizations on their About page for readers to donate to.
“What I love about this collab,” says Hardie, the head brewer, “is you can choose the non-profit that speaks to you within the Indigenous community. I chose Not Our Native Daughters and dedicated it to my late mom, Gloria who unfortunately joined the ever-growing list of MMIW when she was only 39. Nonprofit events we’ve participated in since opening are pretty personal to the team. We’ve also done some charity events for a local queer community center (we have an IPA now called Critical Brick where a portion of sales goes to the Q Center) and we just wrapped an event with Camp Pride for Native Women’s Wilderness.”
Their recommendations? “Camp Pride in Oregon — a 5 day queer camp for your inner child, filled with ways to give back, build community, heal, and just be yourself. Lots of wonderful workshops, queer performers, games, swimming, late-night bunk chats..I’ll be there donating beer next year! For here in Portland, Books with Pictures. Go grab your next favorite comic series from this queer-owned slice of heaven.”
WILDFANG
404 SW 10th Ave
If you’re a queer woman even slightly interested in masculine/gender-non-conforming clothing, you’re sure to have found WILDFANG on any listicle of places to investigate. As one of those lesbians, I’ve often scrolled through their website, but I hesitate to buy any pants or jumpsuits over the Internet without trying them on first. As many with my body type may agree, masculine wear is often curtailed toward cis men’s bodies, and therefore can’t accommodate my hips, thighs, or breasts without accentuating them in unintentional and uncomfortable ways.
This is why I was so grateful to get to visit WILDFANG’s brick-and-mortar in person and finally see what the fuss is about. And my friends, the fuss is well-deserved: Located in Portland’s West End district, just a stone’s throw away from Powell’s Books, is a wonderful selection of androgynous and masculine clothing. The workers were extremely friendly and helpful, and the atmosphere felt relieving in a way most shopping experiences for me don’t. Being able to be in a store selling clothes built for those with my body type and gender expression, if you can believe it, is not a common occurrence! As a great admirer of the WILDFANG business ethos as well, it was great to see pieces in person, and be able to actually try them on. I splurged a bit on their essential high-waisted coveralls in lavender, which I am wearing as I type this with great physical comfort.
República
100 NW 10th Ave
A bit on the more extravagant side, Travel Portland was able to grant me an amazing dining experience with República, described as a Mexican-forward experience inspired by the “rich culinary history” of the country. Their kitchen is run by Chef Dani Morales, who proudly identifies as “a queer woman in a male-dominated space,” and their Beverage Director, Don Miguel Marquez, has curated a wine menu and Beverage Program consisting exclusively of BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and/or female producers — the first of its kind.
While the popularity of the location encourages reservations, my girlfriend and I made it early enough to snag one of the first tables of the night (big slay). Located catty-corner to Powell’s Books, República is slightly hidden in the hullabaloo of the area, but the inside is gorgeously decorated in hanging vines and natural light. They offer either a tasting menu or a la carte options, and we went with the latter; while the menu is always evolving, we decided to get the Esquites, Tladuya, and for drinks, each got the Xochipilli cocktail (Charanda, Tepache, Lime, Honey, Peach Sorbet), named after the Aztec god for beauty, love, sexuality, and “flamboyance,” according to our amazing servers. The drinks were deliciously decadent without being overwhelming in their sweetness.
Hear You Loud and Queer Comedy (Fracture Brewing)
An event rather than a location, but just as queer as the rest, Hear You Loud and Queer is a monthly comedy show hosted by Ally J. Ward and Mack Lee featuring queer and trans comedians across the PDX and PNW areas. This particular show was hosted on the patio of Fracture Brewing, surrounded by a cavalry of food trucks that smelled so good I wanted to faint. This month’s show featured four comics: Jules Field, Esau World, Sabrena Contreras, and Moisés Araguaney.
It comes as a surprise to no one that standup comedy is often a straight male-dominated sphere of creative outlet, particularly in the cities I’ve lived in (I spent six years in Austin aka the Rogan capital of the comedy world). It also likely comes as a surprise to no one that 9 times out of 10, queer people are miles funnier than any straight guy. Being able to attend a show that features a queer person is a gift, but a show featuring only queer people is a miracle — a welcome one that I got to experience!
All performers were delightfully funny, balancing pre-written material with expert (and flirtatious) crowdwork. I even got roasted by Contreras who, when making a joke about the crossover between daddy issues and haircuts, pointed out my grown-out bangs and said “Yours have grown out a bit, maybe you’ve fixed your relationship.” Woof, but a solid read, so I can only be grateful for the 5 seconds of fame I received at a comedy show.
Either/Or
4003 N Williams Ave
With a feature on Eater regarding its status as a queer oasis, it’s no shock I found my way over to Either/Or. Already its aphoristic name suggests a mutability, a space that can transform into whatever you need it be. In addition to nights themed to things like karaoke and country, the cafe also hosts Queer Soup Night, a fundraising event featuring chefs and bakers in the Portland area. On the weekends, a DJ booth set up by the front entrance comes alive with sets from baristas and outside DJs.
While there, my girlfriend and I had to get our signature choices when eating out: her, banh mi; me, a breakfast burrito. The food was outrageously delicious, accompanied by stellar coffee. The menu is designed to change and has ample vegan and gluten-friendly options. According to journalist Brooke Jackson-Glidden, Either/Or presents a fresh option for queer community not centered on dating. According to her Eater article, “Because of the ways Either/Or carves out a safe space for the larger public, it felt like there was infinite room to perform queerness in whichever way felt right.”
General manager Lauren feels similarly. “For the first time in my career I feel truly seen and cared for by the people I interact with daily,” they say. “When it comes to being vocally queer, it’s everything to me. We primarily hire queer people, and it needs to be a safe space for them. Being able to extend that safe space to the local queer community is a gift.” While we were obviously just travelers for the day, the cozy atmosphere of this corner shop clearly showed how lovable it could be.
Their recommendations? “As far as other queer businesses in Portland, I love Stem Wine Bar. Super cute for a gay date night! Otherwise, Rent-A-Butch for sure. They describe themselves as a ‘queer handyservice company’ and they’re completely owned and operated by dykes and butches. Now when I need repairs done at home, I don’t have to call a random man to come help me. Lesbians know how to get shit done.”
Always Here Bookstore
4555 N Williams Ave
A relative newcomer to the Portland literary landscape, Always Here feels true to its name. Located in a white clapboard house near the Alberta Arts District, Always Here’s atmosphere feels like it has been a longstanding locale. The shelves are populated widely with poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, but also supplemented by local artists’ prints, stickers, and crafts. There’s even a dedicated children’s book section right by the front window, where the natural light cascades across titles like Big Day: A Giant Celebration of Love and They Hold the Line: Wildfires, Wildlands, and the Firefighters Who Brave Them. In addition to a myriad of queer titles and products, Always Here provides informative zines regarding how to protect your neighbors from ICE raids, and masks at the door for disability accessibility. Their bathrooms also provide mutual aid lockers, wherein one can find chest binders, bras and breast forms, makeup, “and much more.”
While there, I got to meet and speak with the owners John and Rafael Hart, as well as their roommate and friend Seven, old friends from Jacksonville, Florida who moved up to Oregon together. We bonded over the frustration over the abandonment of Southern queers living in red states, and on how queer spaces in blue cities don’t always have the elements of accessibility and community involvement that feel integral. Always Here’s mission as both a queer- and worker-owned bookstore is proud and loud about its intention to not just be a place with a rainbow flag in the window, but an active participant against ICE, Israel, ableism, and other rampant evils in this country. “We want to model ways that people can run a business without sacrificing who they are for the sake of faceless, depersonalized ‘professionalism.’”
Their recommendations? “Rainbow Bloc is a grassroots collective of queer organizers who put on anything from Gays Eating the Rich in the Park (a queer resistance carnival) to protests in opposition of ICE’s presence in Portland. Getting tapped in with what they’re doing is a great place to start — they’re doing amazing work.”
Midslumber Media
1609 NE Alberta St
I was shocked to discover this store is less than a year old. It is rare and welcoming to see a store this young be so sure of its mission, but Midslumber has the confidence of a shop that’s seen decades of success. Touted as a “queer and woman owned horror media” purveyor, Midslumber Media is like a love letter to physical media. The black shelves are lined with VHS and Blu-Rays of films past; a tiny CRT TV plays Rubber with the comfortable flicker of static; books with pulsingly colored covers lie face- (and every other dismembered body part-) up with eager titles; ephemera of artisan crafts like stickers, magnets, and birthday cards dapple the rest of the available space. With a blood-slick aesthetic, the owner Michaela Granger had a vision for this tiny shop that she was gracious to share with me.
In our conversation, Granger expressed that, while she rarely had trouble finding other horror-adoring queers, a brick-and-mortar shop of the kinds of memorabilia they’d flock to wasn’t in the cards for Portland yet. A surprise, to her and to me. In the short amount of time I perused the shelves, there was never an empty moment in the store: who I can only assume were locals and tourists alike excitedly cast their eyes across such categories as Vampire, Final Girl, Paranormal, and more. A large poster marked “Final Girl of the Month” featured Us’ Adelaide Wilson (played by Lupita Nyong’o).
“I made it a point to try to find romance for all sexualities,” Granger explained in an interview with Willamette Week. “I’m still trying to expand that.” The effort is clear and appreciated in this little-shop-that-could.
The Sports Bra
2512 NE Broadway
If you have any proximity to women’s sports-watching lesbians in your life like I do, you know the 2022 grand opening of this bar was a big frickin’ deal. The first sports bar dedicated only to women’s sports, the Sports Bra was the brainchild and million-dollar-idea of Portland native Jenny Nguyen.
My girlfriend and I found our way to this spot late in our trip, following the green beacon of the sign down the street. A group of older lesbians raucously debated the best player of the WNBA at the outside table, and a collage of women athletes splattered the front door. On the inside, jerseys and banners of various teams flew in the rafters like pirates’ flags. Every TV featured different women athletes, including a skateboarding competition that immediately had us rapt. A Black Lives Matter sign sat beside a watercolor of Abby Wambach, and a string of little rainbow flags punctuated the space as efficiently as the dyke wearing a cowboy hat and a Caitlin Clark jersey in the corner.
The Sports Bra isn’t just a well curated space for sports fanatics, though — it is a movement unto itself. According to their website, the brand is ready and eager to expand franchises to any US cities with women’s sports teams to represent. A few are planned for Boston, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, and St. Louis (my hometown!). The success of this bar has proven to not only the Portland community but the country at large that there is a market for women’s sports and that people will rush to celebrate them. I for one am excited to eventually have a drink and watch a game in my family’s home, and back in Portland the next time I’m there.
Bishop & Wilde
2601 NW Thurman St
On an unassuming residential street in NW Portland, a bookstore named for lesbian poet Elizabeth Bishop and gay writer Oscar Wilde makes its home in a tin house. While I didn’t visit Bishop & Wilde on this particular trip, it’s a gorgeous space I would be remiss to mention — right off the bat, the shop sells a t-shirt with large purple letters asking “DOES READING MAKE YOU GAY?” (Answer: depends.) If that’s not enough for you, the wide selection of queer and non-queer writers hopefully is.
Bishop & Wilde isn’t just a bookstore, though; it shares the headquarters of Tin House, a book publisher and former literary magazine. Renowned for its diverse, colorful catalogue that includes such books as Kristen Arnett’s Mostly Dead Things, Katie Goh’s Foreign Fruit: A Personal History of the Orange, and three of Tommy Pico’s booklength poem quadrilogy. The dedication not just to housing but to contributing directly to a literary lineage is part of what makes Bishop & Wilde so remarkable. Melissa Amstutz, founder and owner of the store, says remaining vocally queer in this political climate is crucial. “They want us to stay quiet and in the closet, and we have to do the opposite!” When asked what brings her the most joy in this project, it’s “creating a real, tangible community,” and that she wants “people in the queer and trans community to not just feel welcomed, but feel at home.”
Their recommendations? “Friendship Kitchen is an amazing restaurant down the street from my shop owned by a really sweet queer couple. They have the best vegan pho!”
Friendship Kitchen
2333 NE Glisan St
Again, I didn’t dine at Friendship Kitchen on this particular trip; but when I was there for the same trip as Bishop & Wilde, I walked down the street looking for a place to eat. When I saw the lesbian flag swaying like a beacon in the November wind, I knew I was headed in the right direction.
Something more than friendship is the foundation for this restaurant: co-owners and founders Wei-En Tan and Trang Nguyen-Tan met at the now-closed Alouette in 2022, “when both were alone, sad, and had ‘given up on love.’” As of 2023, the two are married to one another, and operate Friendship Kitchen, Friendship Kitchen NW: From Saigon 2 Singapore, and Stem Wine Bar.
Trang expresses that, despite Portland’s status as a queer safe haven, it is not without its problems: Two years ago the location’s pride flags were brutally torn down, though they were replaced quickly. “We both have seen oppression,” Trang says of her and her wife, who grew up in Vietnam and Singapore respectively, two countries where the right to marriage doesn’t yet exist for queer couples.
“The name speaks for itself,” Trang tells me of the restaurant, as well as its mission. “We have met many new friends as well as met up with old friends at Friendship Kitchen, and feel that food can be such a unifying force. I used to be a flight attendant for Delta, and would cook for crew during long layovers and call it ‘Friendship Kitchen’ so that name stuck, and I am grateful for every person who eats with us.”
Their recommendations? “They are on hiatus but Gay Awakenings Coffee is great. Stem Wine Bar is our other very queer friendly location, so if you like wine, please head on over! Chelo, with the world’s awesomest chef, has the best Mexican cuisine. Luna has brought a lot of awareness to the trans movement since she appeared on Top Chef, and Chelo is just an embodiment of amazing food and love.”
I’m nowhere near Portland, but I love this! Autostraddle has a long series of Queer city guides, but I imagine lots are out of date now and I’d love if something like that came back!
Also v jealous of Midslumber Media, and checking if that great does reading make you gay shirt ships overseas…