This 1.5 mile tour will take you along Congress and Pine Streets to the Western Prom in Portland. Along the way, we will explore locations and events important to local LGBTQ+ history including City Hall (the site of 1990s civil rights struggles); Equality Community Center (where currently MaineTransNet, the Gay Men’s Chorus, and Equality Maine have offices); the State Theatre Building (which, in the 1990s, housed The AIDS Project and ACT UP Portland); Roland’s Tavern (the first gay bar in Portland in the 1960s); the Pine St. location of “Our Books” and “Our Paper, the 1980s queer bookstore and newspaper; the Western Prom (a gay cruising ground during the 1980s and 1990s); and Maine Med (where the first AIDS patients were treated and died in the 1980s and where a path-breaking Gender Clinic for trans youth was established in the 2000s). The route will be lead by USM Professor Emerita Wendy Chapkis, USM Librarians Mary Holt and Megan MacGregor, and USM student Ty Bolduc.
Wear comfortable shoes and bring water!
Accessibility:
The walk is level but it is a mile and a half and will take 60 to 90 minutes to complete. There is bus service back up Congress St. to City Hall (Route 1 or Route 9B) if you do not wish to walk or wheel back. Bus fare is $2.
Starting Location:
We will meet on the steps of City Hall located at 389 Congress St. in Portland
Ending Location:
We will end on the Western Prom in Portland (on the grass at the end of Pine St.).
Portland, Maine 04101
2:00 PM
- Advocacy
- History & Culture
Organization: Professor Emerita University of Southern Maine
City/Town: Portland
County: Cumberland
Language(s): English
