The Burnside Triangle housed a combination of gay-friendly businesses such as independent shops, restaurants, housing, and social services. However, Burnside Triangle helped those in the LGBT community feel as though they were not invisible by providing bars and clubs as social gatherings.
In addition, gay, bisexual, and transgender people did not have advocacy programs in their community therefore, they constituted a largely invisible population. Before this period, they had no civil rights or protections in employment, housing, or public accommodations. The gay liberation, lesbian feminism, and the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s helped bring attention to the problems faced by the people in the LGBT community. The Burnside Triangle was centered on Southwest Stark Street and comprises a triangular set of city blocks that anchors the north end and acts as a welcoming space to the district drawing visitors throughout the region to many different meeting spots, including bars and nightclubs. The Burnside Triangle, also known as Pink Triangle or Vaseline Alley, was a triangular district in Portland, Oregon, United States, known for its relatively higher density of LGBT and gay-friendly businesses. Rainbow flag displayed in the Burnside Triangle, near the intersection of West Burnside Street, Southwest 13th Avenue, and Southwest Stark Street Please be aware of changing local rules, and check individual restaurant websites for any additional restrictions such as mask requirements. The latest CDC guidance for vaccinated diners during the COVID-19 outbreak is here dining out still carries risks for unvaccinated diners and workers. Note the points on this map, like all Eater PDX maps, are not ranked rather, they are organized geographically. For more specific Pride events in Portland, check out this guide.
The bars may not be as packed and the party may end much earlier nonetheless, these gay bars are still kicking, even after yet another brutal year. June is normally a period of time when queer Portlanders cram themselves into bars for drag shows and dancing, and as restrictions begin to loosen, some bars are bringing back their drag brunches, scantily-clad performers, and long-awaited festivities. Still, not all is lost - there are still a slew of spaces that offer adult beverages, food, and great company, as this map to Portland’s best LBGTQ-friendly bars and restaurants attests. In 2020, Pride was a much milder affair - a necessity, given the circumstances - and the city’s few gay bars held on, in attempt to make it to the other side of the pandemic. Even before COVID-19 decimated much of the restaurant and bar industry, gay nightlife spots in Portland, Oregon were an endangered species - In fact, bars catering to local lesbians are nearly extinct, and in recent years, Portland’s queer community has said goodbye to holdouts like Fox & Hounds, Sullivan’s Gulch, and Embers.