About the Project

How do places shape a person’s LGBTQ+ identity? How do LGBTQ+ people find community through place?

Mapping LGBTQ+ Portland is a research project designed to document LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, etc.) places in the greater Portland area in Maine and their development over time. As Portland’s keystone queer nightclubs and bars face closure, we aim to explore how people still use place to engage with the Portland LGBTQ+ community. Our hope is to compile community members’ experiences with LGBTQ+ places in Portland, creating a virtual walking tour, accessible to the public, that demonstrates the richness and complexity of LGBTQ+ Portland.

Are you interested in helping us with our project?

Include your experience with LGBTQ+ places in Portland!

Informed Consent Form

How to participate

To participate in our survey, click here or visit http://map-me.org/sites/portland.

tutorial video and transcript

Mapping LGBTQ+ Portland is a research project that aims to document LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, etc.) places in the greater Portland area in Maine. As anchoring queer institutions like gay bars and nightclubs face closure not only in Portland but nationwide, we hope to investigate how LGBTQ+ places still hold significance for queer people. In this survey, we’ll ask you to pinpoint LGBTQ+ places in or around Portland on an online map using a “spray can.” The “spray can approach” allows participants to identify a single place, to select a whole array of places, or to give a general idea of where a place is or was.

To participate in the survey,

  1. Navigate to https://research.bowdoin.edu/mapping-lgbtq-portland/
  2. Scroll down to the bottom of the homepage. You will read and sign the Informed Consent form later, but it is also hosted on the original research website for your reference.
  3. Click the links under “How to Participate” to navigate over to Map-Me, the platform hosting the mapping survey. You can also click this link or type it in your web browser: http://map-me.org/sites/portland.
  4. Read the introductory section of the Map-Me website.
  5. Read the informed consent form in its entirety. Then, type your name in the first text box to consent to participating in the study.
  6. Answer the demographic questions if they apply to you.
  7. Click the “Get Started” button.
  8. You will be taken to a page with an interactive map and questions on the side.
    1. You can zoom in and out of the map, and you can move the map’s frame using your cursor.
    2. If you get lost, click the “Reset Map” button at the top of the screen to return to the default view of Portland, Maine.
    3. When you are ready to pinpoint a LGBTQ+ place on the map, click the green “Click to turn the Spraycan on” button at the top of the screen.
      1. Click once to mark one place, or click and hold to identify a range of places. It does not have to be perfect, so do not worry about precision, exactness, or accuracy too much.
    4. After you are done, click the red “Click to turn the Spraycan off” button.
    5. If you wish to change your pinpointing, click the “Clear Spray” button at the top of the screen and start again.
    6. Answer the questions to the right of the screen. They’ll ask for information about the places you identify. Like the questions say, your answers can be as long or as short as you’d like.
  9. You can submit this series of questions and identify more places by clicking the “Submit & Spray Again” button. If you’d like to end the survey, click the “Submit & Next Question” button at the bottom of the side page.
  10. After submitting, you will be taken to a page thanking you for participating in the survey. If you have questions or concerns, you can email it to [email protected] or [email protected]. You can also type it in the textbox on the thank you page.
  11. After you click the “Finish” button, you will be redirected to the original https://research.bowdoin.edu/mapping-lgbtq-portland/

Your responses will give insight into the importance of place to the LGBTQ+ community in Portland. We greatly appreciate your participation in the study. Thank you!

Contact us

If you have any concerns, or if you need help editing the map, reach out to us at [email protected] or [email protected].