The Capitol Forum, a non-profit organization formed in 1976 serving about 200 people in the Salem area, opened the Valley’s first Gay Community Center in Salem on December 16, 1977. By 1977, Oregon enacted a domestic violence law that covered all cohabiters, regardless of gender and that same year Portland Mayor Neil Goldschmidt issued a proclamation for Gay Pride Day. In 1972, Oregon became the fourth state to repeal its sodomy laws which had been enacted in 1853. However, in the late 1960s in Portland, female impersonators began to organize and start providing social support and cultural activities through the Portland Forum.īy 1970 two other organizations, the Portland Gay Liberation Front and the Second Foundation, were formed in Portland and the Gay People’s Alliance was formed in Eugene.
There has been a long history of discrimination against the LGBTQ community in Oregon. Zachery Cardoso is the president of the executive board of Salem Capital Pride, the nonprofit organization that hosts the festival, and also helps manage our historic preservation program here in Salem. This year, activities celebrated and affirmed our LGBTQ community and included a run/walk and live entertainment. Salem’s Capital Pride in the Park festival was held Aug. A Jletter to the editor in the Capital Journal about Salem Area Gay Activists.