Oregon explicitly prohibits housing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, statewide, and has for years. That covers refusing to rent, quoting different terms, harassment, and retaliation. Portland adds renter protections most cities don't have, including relocation assistance rules and application safeguards.

Before social media, queer housing networks ran on physical bulletin boards in gay bars and community centers, classified ads in queer newspapers, and the oldest technology of all: someone who knows someone. If you were queer and needed a room in 1995, you didn't check a website. You asked around at the bookstore, the bar, the meeting. The network was real but tiny, and its reach depended entirely on who you already knew.

Hosting isn't charity and it isn't a gamble. It's rent from a room you weren't using, a grant for doing it through a qualified program, and the specific satisfaction of knowing your spare room is the reason someone's life got stable.