“All skate, all skate!” When Elynor Gould’s voice me over the public addrs system at Gay Blas Roller Rk, the skaters on the floor – sometim numberg the hundreds – knew that the upl’ skate, backwards skate, Hokey Pokey or other specialty spotlight was over. “All skate” was the announcement that everyone, no matter
Contents:
- FILE:GAY SKATE AT OAKS PARK ROLLER SKATG RK, PORTLAND, OREGON (2022)
- VTAGE ST. PETE: WHEN GAY BLAS WAS THE CENTER OF THE SKATG UNIVERSE
FILE:GAY SKATE AT OAKS PARK ROLLER SKATG RK, PORTLAND, OREGON (2022)
Startg January 2022, Oaks Park will host Gay Skate on the first and third Monday of every month. The first time I went to Gay Skate at Oaks Park, I was 19, and on a first date wh a girl om my llege. It’s been around for so long that now people who started g to Gay Skate as teens n brg their own children to the event.
Back when Safar first started spng there, Gay Skate looked a ltle different. Started 1991 as a fundraiser for gay men’s square-dancg group the Rosetown Ramblers, the event almost exclively attracted gay men s earlit days—no women and fely no LGBTQ youth. In her time, she’s seen Gay Skate go om an event that pulled 50 people to one that attracts hundreds.
In fact, the event has gotten so popular that, startg January 2022, Oaks Park will start prentg Gay Skate twice a month, every first and third Monday. But Gay Skate offers an alternative, all-ag space to e together.
VTAGE ST. PETE: WHEN GAY BLAS WAS THE CENTER OF THE SKATG UNIVERSE
“It was really eye-openg for me as a young person, seeg others who were totally fortable wh themselv out the open.” Years after she started workg here, MacKay has two dghters who e to Gay Skate nights.
The last skate of 2021 was Gay Skate’s 30th anniversary, and the team went all out. Few plac this world foster a sense of muny and well-beg, but the Cy of Glendale and the Gay and Lbian Communy are privileged to have the hospaly of Domic Cangelosi, Owner/Operator and the MOONLIGHT ROLLERWAY ROLLER SKATING RINK. The ia origated after beg approached by numero members of the Gay and Lbian Communy.
Cangelosi cid would be beneficial to both the Gay Communy and the skatg rk if he offered a Gay Skatg Night. It’s all, as attene, and my iend, Rebec, gleefully puts , “so gay. Five years to his tenure, a group of regulars approached him about startg a “Gay Night” for members of the LGBTQ muny.