Category Archives: Portland, Oregon

Sam, Writer and Painter, Portland, Ore.

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

Sam, in his own words:“When I was fifteen I moved far from the place where I spent most of my childhood, and naturally I became depressed. I spent a lot of time on the computer, writing, talking to the friends I left behind, pirating music, trying to make new friends in town, and watching porn. My family thought my depression was directly caused by an obsession with technology, and with some snooping they found links to porn sites.

I wasn’t bothered much by being forced out of the closet to my family so suddenly (seeing how I was out to everyone else), but I was traumatized with the thought of my family having seen gay porn that I had seen, fantasized over, jerked off to.

My family at first was in disbelief of my homosexuality; they thought that it was just an angst-ridden teenage phase. It hurt that they all had their baseless assumptions of what being a homosexual meant.

What bothers me more though is the growing process of a queer. The rejection, the sneering, the pain… And all from within our own community, the brothers and sisters that are supposed to know similar pains and hold your hand, and all based off assumptions still.

I’ve been told what it means to be a man, what it means to be queer, what it means to be an Asian homo, what it means to have a partner that is older… And you know what? Pretty much everyone was wrong.”

Michael, Grade School Teacher, Portland, Ore.

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong


Michael, in his own words “The gay community in Portland is very unique compared to other gay communities I’ve experienced. The standards for attractiveness is greatly altered. Being comfortable with who you are is important here and people are walking billboards for how comfortable they are in their own skin. Almost all are accepted here, especially if you are ‘alternative’ to main stream ideas. Name brands and expensive clothing will get you nowhere here, however chubby, hairy, pierced and tattooed guys are more than welcome. You are practically a virgin without a tattoo here.

The challenges I’ve faced as a gay man have been a little complicated. Trying to maintain my small town humble side while evolving with the alternative and progressive gay community is always a delicate balance. I enjoy going out and being social with the diverse gay population of Portland, though it can be difficult to connect with gay men on a personal level. Though they’re open minded here, they still care a lot about what people think of them and maintaining a certain status. I suppose we all fall for that from time to time however it exhausts me and I try to stay away from that mentality as much as I can. “

Jake, Hair Stylist, Portland, Ore.

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong


Jake, in his own words: “My parents are Pastors of a church here in Portland. So I was born and raised with strong religious values all my life; raised in the pew is the term church people use. So as you can imagine, my story is much different than the normal “coming out” stories.

Like many other Christian faiths, I was raised to believe that being homosexual was an abomination and you would burn in hell for it. So understandably, I grew up in fear of ever exposing the feelings I felt about myself (sharing them with anyone was definitely out of the picture). And so over the years, I reluctantly shunned any non-Christian feelings that tried to overcome me and proceeded to live the Christian life as a Christian man. I married the youth pastor’s sister at the age of 22 and settled into, what I thought was, a normal life and began to accept it. Then after a year or so of wedded bliss, we had our first child – a beautiful son. And not long after, my daughter was born. So here I am, a Christian man, from an extremely religious family, married to a woman with children. The happiness and content I displayed with the life I was living was all for my faith and my community, but the suppressed feelings I had hidden deep within myself had wanted to resurface. I knew I was fighting a losing battle and the need to confront them was growing much stronger. I knew that I could no longer live the life that was expected of me, but to live the life I was meant to live – that being, a homosexual man of the Christian faith.

So I came out in 2004.

Being that my parents were Pastors, I was worried about telling them the truth, mainly for fear of rejection and non-acceptance, but they needed to know. And I was willing to accept their reactions.

My dad turned his head in disgust and said to me, “You are not gay.”

My mom cried. She stated that she prayed to God to give her a son, which made me think, so because I am gay I am not your son? I realize now that she was just scared and uneducated about what it means to have a homosexual son. The rest of my family had similar reactions. My older sisters have basically decided to sweep my sexuality under the carpet and blatantly ignore the fact I just exposed. They don’t talk about it, because to them, it’s not true. My little sister, on the other hand, loves me for me. So for now, they are choosing to not accept what I have told them, as hurtful as it is, I did not argue because I know who I am.

And so, having lived the “straight” life for so long… my journey into my real life is just beginning. I moved on from that day, stronger than I was the day before, and now live my life true to myself – as a homosexual, Christian man, father of two beautiful children – exactly as God created me to be.”