County action reflects years of change in society
03/07/04
JUDITH BARRINGTON
When I came to Oregon almost 30 years ago, it was as hard to be a lesbian here as it was in most other places. We lived far outside the mainstream community, segregated even from most gay men.

We socialized in Portland's lesbian bars and at women's concerts, or at the Mountain Moving Cafe, home to alternative groups of many kinds at the corner of Southeast 39th and Stark. Leaving those relatively safe havens, we expected to be called names on the street and were very careful about holding hands in public.