Here are 10 of the year’s biggest stories from Just Out; for additional tidbits from the past 12 months, check out our timeline of ’08 queer news.

No. 1—Pregnant Trans Man!

Last spring, Bend resident Thomas Beatie caused an international uproar when he became known as the “world’s first pregnant man.” Not since Christine Jorgenson’s 1951 sex change has a transgender person so captivated people around the globe. But unlike bombshell Jorgenson, Beatie was alternately portrayed as hoax, miracle and—quite literally—sideshow fodder.

Beatie, a 34-year-old trans man who retained his female sex organs and got pregnant through artificial insemination, told his story to The Advocate and then went on Oprah—after the show reportedly offered him seven figures for the rights to his first television appearance. It was hardly his last. In fact, Beatie has been criticized for exploiting the media to garner attention for his autobiography, Labor of Love, which was published this fall by Seal Press.

Many of the news stories, from the United Kingdom to Sri Lanka, referred to Beatie by male pronouns despite calling pregnancy “the most womanly thing possible,” and reporting salacious details about his sexual organs.

Not all journalists were so supportive. Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC’s Morning Joe called Beatie “disgusting” and claimed the photos made her sick, Bill O’Reilly pitied the Beatie baby, and Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby referred to Beatie by his female name.

The idea of a pregnant man challenges the traditional view of pregnancy as a state that is only natural to women. Beatie’s masculine appearance and obvious baby bump obliterated that fantasy and revealed the way medical technology and body modification have altered human reproduction, gender presentation and the human body. But it hasn’t necessarily benefited the transgender community.

With news that Beatie is pregnant again, one can only hope he’ll use his second 15 minutes of fame to shed light on issues that really matter—like the economic disparity and violence that continue to plague the trans community.

No. 2—Oregon Hits LGBT Alphabet Soup Political Jackpot!

We’ll take a “T” for transgender mayor, please.

With the election of trans-identified Stu Rasmussen as mayor of Silverton, 2008 was the year Oregon politics earned its fourth letter in the queer alphabet soup. Some serious bragging rights came with it: Oregon is now the only state in the union to boast at least one openly lesbian (House Majority Whip Tina Kotek), gay (Portland Mayor-elect Sam Adams and Lincoln City Councilor Rick Brissette), bisexual (Secretary of State-elect Kate Brown) and transgender (Rasmussen) elected officials.

The election of so many openly queer candidates to top office signifies “big steps for our community,” says Chuck Wolfe, CEO of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, a national nonprofit that provides support and money to queer candidates. “It’s indicative of good people wanting to step up and run in Oregon. Obviously, the voters keep supporting LGBT people in office in Oregon.”

So why is Oregon the first state to strike it rich in the queer political alphabet soup jackpot, especially in a state known previously as a hotbed for anti-gay activism? Wolfe attributes our unique status to Oregon’s being among the first states to host a queer Democratic Party caucus, as well as the “groundwork laid by many organizations.”

Additionally, Brown and Adams are emerging as Oregon politicians with ever-larger national profiles: Both were guest speakers at the 2008 International Gay and Lesbian Leadership Conference this month in Washington, D.C., where they rubbed elbows with the likes of legendary gay politicians Barney Frank and Tammy Baldwin. Adams, Just Out’s 2008 “OUTstanding Person of the Year” and the first openly gay mayor of a major U.S. city, will also enjoy a nationally heard voice on the U.S. Council of Mayors.

While Oregon’s out queer politicians position the state uniquely, Wolfe says it’s also right in line with what he sees as a national trend. “It’s very indicative of what national polls tell us, which is: ‘Look, the electorate doesn’t make a case of sexual orientation. They want good leaders.’ ”

No. 3—Queer Filmmakers Go for the Gold

It was a very good year to be a gay filmmaker with Oregon ties.

Hometown hero Gus Van Sant scored big with Milk, his most mainstream film since 1997’s Good Will Hunting and his first queer-themed film since 1993’s Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. Besides being a success at the box office—the first gay drama to test out the post-Brokeback Mountain cultural climate—the biopic of slain San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk is already collecting plenty of prizes. Milk has received awards from the New York and Los Angeles Film Critics Circles, National Board of Review and Producers Guild of America and is up for eight Critics’ Choice Awards, four Independent Spirit Awards and one Golden Globe Award. Expect major Oscar recognition when nominations are announced Jan. 22.

Oregon can boast a rising star, too. Gay producer Byrd McDonald has been jetting to film festivals around the country promoting The Auteur, a raunchy indie in which “the Stanley Kubrick of porn” spends a wild weekend in Portland to receive a lifetime achievement award and to host a screening of his masterpiece, Full Metal Jackoff.

Former Oregonians also made their home state proud in 2008. Ex-Beaverton boy Jesse Archer co-wrote and starred in A Four Letter Word, in which he reprised the flamboyant role of Luke, last seen in 2004’s Slutty Summer. Meanwhile, Scott Prendergrast wrote, directed and starred in Kabluey as a socially inept man-child who takes care of his rambunctious nephews while his soldier brother is away in Iraq; the quirky film was loosely based on events that took place five years ago in the Rose City.

No. 4—Tribal Same-Sex Love Is Legalized!

Same-sex marriage may be banned along the entire West Coast, but members of the Coquille Tribe on the southern Oregon coast play by their own rules.

As a sovereign nation, the tribe is not bound by the Oregon Constitution. It legalized same-sex marriages between one tribal member and one spouse in August.

Coquille attorney Brett Kenney would not say whether any same-sex marriages were performed and if the law has been challenged. In August, he told The Oregonian that same-sex marriages would be delayed until 2009 to allow time to develop laws governing divorce and child custody.

Bob Funk, a constitutional law professor at Lewis & Clark, told Just Out that the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 prevents any same-sex marriage from being federally recognized. He said it was unclear whether Oregon would recognize those marriages.

Tribal law experts say the Coquille Tribe appears to be the first to legalize same-sex marriage. The Navajo and Cherokee tribes have banned it.

No. 5—Gary George Tells Gays to ‘Shut Up!’

And suddenly, he was an overnight sensation.

If Just Out can claim one new star launched into the media firmament this year, it’s gotta be Oregon state Sen. Gary George, no question.

Never heard of him? Neither had we, until we interviewed the Newberg Republican shortly after he signed on as a co-sponsor of an initiative to repeal the Oregon Equality Act, a new law that bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Speaking with me by phone about his rights-stripping initiative, George ripped on sexual and racial minorities, launched into long-winded broadsides on why gays should step back in the closet, how queers are inciting violent hate crimes by being “oppressive toward straights” and—this was interview solid gold—that his best advice to the queer community was to “shut up!” about their orientation.

Zing! The blogosphere and national media lit up with George’s incendiary words to Just Out, and he was deluged with angry e-mails and phone calls. George, for his part, told a McMinnville newspaper that his words had been taken out of context, and he just as quickly slinked back into the shadows. Later in the year, he showed further foul judgment by becoming a supporter of Oregon secretary of state pretty-boy candidate Rick Dancer, who lost his ludicrous campaign to out bisexual candidate Kate Brown.

The best news of all? George himself has decided to shut his trap in Oregon politics—he’s retiring from public office at the end of 2008.

No. 6—A Princess Parties with the Queens

Portland’s annual Red Dress Party always is full of juicy surprises…but most of them are not suitable for publication, if you catch our drift.

This year was an exception: The popular bash—which strictly enforces a red-dress code regardless of gender, creating a unique atmosphere of drunken unity—made national news when Chelsea Clinton crashed the party. While on an April 12 presidential campaign swing for her mother, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., the former first daughter got wind of the event, and organizers gladly bent the rules for the Gap-shirt-clad special guest.

“She was really happy to be doing something off the beaten path,” says Red Dress board president Brian Wilson, who noticed she seemed “overwhelmed” at first. “I think when she saw the magnitude of what was going on, it blew her away. But she warmed up really quick.”

During her hourlong stay at the party, she patiently posed for pictures with hundreds of revelers, then worked the long line before calling it a night. Just Out photos of the 28-year-old hobnobbing with men in dresses landed in New York magazine (“Chelsea Clinton’s Fierce Night Out with the Gays”) and on Extra.

“I was a Clinton supporter, so on a personal level, I was delighted,” Wilson says. But, he notes, the real benefit of her appearance was the added attention it brought to the party, which raised more than $35,000 for charities that provide food for low-income people with HIV/AIDS (Esther’s Pantry), shelter for homeless youth (Outside In) and a future retirement community for queer elders (Senior Housing and Retirement Enterprises).

“What we’re trying to do is build the notoriety of this event,” Wilson says. “The fact that it was somebody this big…is nothing but good news for us.”

No. 7—Unity Project Drama!

Unity Project of Oregon faced insurmountable challenges in 2008.

After threats of a sexual harassment lawsuit against its former executive director in November 2007, the organization appeared to be back on its feet.

Alisa Simmons, the group’s former board treasurer, replaced Darryl Moch as executive director. Moch resigned in July 2007 and settled with former employee Loomis Hendrix, who is also known as Kourtni Dupree, before sexual harassment charges were ever filed.

Simmons renamed the organization, formerly known as Brother to Brother, and expanded its mission to meet the needs of all same-gender-loving African Americans.

Like Moch, Simmons resigned abruptly Sept. 11 and left the state after a year on the job. Just Out learned Nov. 4 that she faces a host of charges from her former employer—embezzlement, forgery and theft of property in excess of $15,000.

Simmons denies all charges and told Just Out she plans to fight them. The Portland Police Bureau is investigating the claims.

Unity Project board chairman Craig Tyson said Dec. 5 that the group has suspended services and will vacate its Union Station office by Feb. 1, 2009. He plans to stage Black Pride 2009 and to ask the community if Unity Project still serves a purpose.

No. 8—Haters Go Down in Ballot-Less Flames!

Crack open the Dom! Oregon was anti-gay ballot measure free this year, for only the second time in a presidential election year since—gulp—1984.

But this accomplishment didn’t come easy. Immediately after Oregon’s two landmark queer equality bills were signed into law in the summer of 2007, the usual coterie of anti-gay activists sprang into action, promising robust referendums, petitions, ballot measures and lawsuits to derail these hard-won laws.

Guess what? They failed at every turn. After a dramatic 11th-hour lawsuit from the conservative legal group Alliance Defense Fund temporarily stayed the enactment of Oregon domestic partnerships, the law went into effect in February. Meanwhile, a series of planned anti-gay ballot measures never made it past the petitioning stage, thanks to interventions from the American Civil Liberties Union and Basic Rights Oregon, and a later appeal of the Alliance Defense Fund lawsuit failed in the 9th Circuit Court.

So while states like Florida, Arizona and, of course, California went down in anti-gay defeat this year, Oregon’s 2008 ballot was a gay-hate free zone, and the state’s domestic partnerships law averted attack. This year, at least.

No. 9—Gay-Friendly Nike Launches Gay-Baiting Ad Campaign

Hey, Nike—WTF were you thinking?

In its quest to be on the cutting edge of cool, Beaverton-based sports apparel giant Nike launched a thinly veiled gay-baiting ad campaign last August that sparked a national flame of protest.

The ad, developed by the usually queer-friendly Portland marketing firm Weiden + Kennedy, featured male basketball players in various stages of basketball slam-dunking, with baggy-shorted nether regions in sweet-spot proximity to another b-ball players’ face and this caption plastered across: “That Ain’t Right.”

It reeked of homophobic sports slang, and frenzied reaction from the queer and allied community ensued, with national media pundits decrying the campaign as “homophobic,” “immature” and “the worst ad of the year.” After meeting with the company’s GLBT and Friends Leadership Network, which urged a campaign kill, the company’s marketing department pulled the ads, citing queer outrage as one of the reasons for shutting it down.

Nike PR reps refused to comment on the campaign, or what affect it had on the company’s relationship with the sexual minorities community.

No. 10—Queers Party with Pride in Small-Town Oregon

Pride ain’t just for the big city set.

Oregon queers in all corners of the state flew their Pride flags high in 2008—higher and in more places than they’d ever waved ’em before. From Prineville to Portland, almost a dozen Oregon Gay Pride festivals crowded the summer months from June to September this year, with new queer celebrations taking off in locales like Lincoln City (the weekend-long Iris Festival) and even tiny Hermiston, where Just Out reported on the town’s first-ever “Equality Event,” led by local activist Frank Roa.

So why is all of Oregon swelling with pride this year? “We see a community that is more accepting and valuing diversity,” argues Jenni Peskin, executive director of the Human Dignity Coalition in Bend. Her group organizes an annual Gay Pride day each June, with 300 to 400 visitors from as far away as Sisters and Redmond. She says that Oregon’s new domestic partnership and nondiscrimination laws are one cause to celebrate, and that what’s happening in places like Lincoln City, which reported huge turnouts for its fest, helps inspire smaller communities like Bend to step up their Pride game: In 2009, she’s expanding her community’s event from one day to three.