Schneiderman’s Music Hall, on SW 10th, had classic vaudeville acts as well as drag performers. Women seeking women made their way to the the Buick Café on 12th and Washington, while gay servicemen home from the war would frequent Rathskeller on SW Taylor Street. That has resulted in many iconic local haunts shutting their doors, leaving some folks to bemoan the loss of their favorite sushi spot or neighborhood dive bar.įor Portland’s LQBTQ+ community, it’s just the latest blow in a string of closures to queer-centered spaces.Īs far back as the 1940′s, a small triangle of streets in Southwest Portland was already becoming known as a place to gather for the queer community. In September, the state’s Economic and Revenue Forecast found that revenue for Oregon’s bars and restaurants is down by 56%, and the leisure and hospitality sector as a whole has lost more than 50,000 jobs so far this year.