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We’ve all been there…privy to too much public canoodling by overzealous couples. PDA can elicit reactions from “awww” to “ewww.” But the question of whether the line should be different for same-sex couples is the next topic the Q Center will address in its Face2Face conversation series. The July 14 discussion, “Where is the Line? Showing Sex and Affection in Public,” comes on the heels of recent local controversies over gay and lesbian couples showing public affection, including two women kissing on a Rose Festival parade float and billboards that show two men kissing. “We’re at a point where same-sex couples are accepted in concept, but it still hasn’t really been tested what it’s like to actually go out in public holding hands,” says Jimmy Radosta, a facilitator of the conversation series. “There definitely seems to be a lot of strong reactions when people actually see a same-sex couple showing affection.” Adds Aleksandr Peikrishvili, another facilitator: “I don’t want to have to go through that inner dialogue about whether or not there’s going to be a reaction if I’m going to show my affection in public.” Before you go and give your opinion, check out WW’s idiot-proof PDA line drawings—a guide to a few common types of affection we’ve spied around town—and totally approve of. Aaaand one we don’t ever want to see anybody (straight or gay) do in front of us in public. Ever.
Harmless Hand Holding
Verdict: So sweet!
Half-Assed Peck
Verdict: Awww. I think these two crazy kids have a future together.
Hot And Heavy
Verdict: You should probably get a room. Also, it’s making me feel funny down there.
Too Horny to Handle
Verdict: What you’re doing is beautiful...for you. But you’re scaring nearby animals.
GO: “ Where is the Line? Showing Sex and Affection in Public” at the Q Center, 4115 N Mississippi Ave., 234-7837. 6:30 pm Wednesday, July 14. Free, donations accepted.
Headout Picks
WEDNESDAY JULY 14
[MUSIC] SHABAZZ PALACES
The year’s best new hip-hop group hails from Seattle and features Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler of jazz rap staples Digable Planets. Stranger things have happened! Rotture, 315 SE 3rd Ave., 234-5683. 9 pm. $10 advance, $12 day of show. 21+.
FRIDAY JULY 16
[MUSIC] BUILT TO SPILL, QUASI
Two of the biggest bands to emerge from the Pac Northwest’s indie-rock boom are still around and making some of the best records of their careers. Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell St., 284-8686. 9 pm. $20 advance, $23 day of show. All ages.
SATURDAY JULY 17
[STAGE] GLORY HOLE-LLELUJAH!
Comedian Brad Fortier performs his solo show about semi-anonymous sex. Audience members are encouraged to bring a sheet of cardboard with a hole the size of a fist through which to watch the show. Someday Lounge, 125 NW 5th Ave., 248-1030. 7:30 pm. $10.
[LA LIBERTÉ] PIX BASTILLE DAY BLOCK PARTY
Celebrate Bastille Day at Pix’s block party with a bike scavenger hunt, grape stomp, dance-off, live music and more. Pix Pâtisserie, 3901 N Williams Ave., 282-6539. 11 am-midnight. Free.
[SCREEN] GONE WITH THE POPE
In 1975, Dean Martin wannabe Duke Mitchell made a Mafia movie about kidnapping the Pope. It was never released, but the guy who edited The Hurt Locker spent 15 years splicing the raw footage together. In 2010, it premieres. Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd., 493-1128. 7:30 pm. $7.
[STAGE] JAW
Portland Center Stage’s festival of new theater kicks off with Portland playwright Ebbe Roe Smith’s Night Terrors, a black comedy inspired by that Fuseli painting of the man tormented by nocturnal demons. Gerding Theater, 128 NW 11th Ave., 445-3700. 8 pm. Free.
[DANCE] PRETTY CREATIVES
Who will make the dances of tomorrow? Northwest Dance Project offers a suggestion with a showing of work by Loni Landon and James Gregg, winners of NDP’s international choreographic competition. Northwest Dance Project Studio, 833 N Shaver St., 421-7434. 7:30 pm. $10.
MONDAY JULY 19
[MUSIC] ANTIBALAS
Who needs Fela! when you can see Antibalas tear up a small room like Berbati’s? Just watch the stench of the hippie next to you. Berbati’s Pan, 231 SW Ankeny St., 248-4579. 9 pm. $16 advance, $18 day of show. 21+
