Theresa Reed, who has run two campaigns for statewide office in Oregon as a Libertarian, began using the pseudonym “Darklady” when she discovered bulletin board services in 1991. She later worked for Portland’s T&A Times and was the editor of Exotic Magazine for three years.
Reed began hosting exclusive events like salons, slumber parties and potlucks for diverse communities in the mid-1990s. “Some of what I do at my parties can't be done in some areas of the country,” she told XBiz, “so this is a good place for me to be a sex radical. Portland is the grooviest.”
Her annual parties include the Masturbate-a-thon, a Halloween/Day of the Dead party for the polyamory community called PolyWeen, and a New Year’s Eve party. She also throws outdoor summer events and smaller gatherings throughout the year.
She said that her parties weren’t always sex-themed; they just became that way. “And rather than tell people, ‘Don’t have sex at my parties,’” she said, “I told them, ‘If you’re going to get jiggy, do it safely.’” She has been a professional party host ever since. Portland and Eugene, she said, have thriving leather, polyamory, swinger and LBGT scenes. “We’re not loud about our tolerance here,” she said, “but it’s a good community.”
Reed emphasizes that guests respect the neighborhoods in which she hosts events. She has held parties in her home, a Russian restaurant, a converted church and the Oregon Theatre.
Along with Exotic Magazine and Pervertradio, Portland’s sex-aware scene seems unlikely for what Reed describes as a “big town that thinks it’s a city but acts like a town.” Still, her two unsuccessful campaigns for office were positive experiences, she said, which never resulted in her lifestyle being denigrated.
“The press never gave me any hardship for what I do for a living,” she said. “They saw that even the way I discuss sex or sexual activism is intelligent and coherent, so they chose to look at me as a Libertarian.” She does not rule out future runs, but thinks she might keep them local.
